The Visitor (part1)

Just after the 'cardiac event' walking on the Greenway behind the house where it all took place was not easy. My colleague from the Achill Writers Group wrote a poem: The Visitor. The visitor was death and it described how you reacted to death when it came on a visit to someone you know. I made drawings to go with the text but made it so death was waiting for me.

The daily walk

After the ‘cardiac event’ I got a lot of documents. One of them was the ‘activity and exercise guidelines for the first six weeks at home’. Taking walks is one of the most important things to do. It begins right away in week 1 after the ‘event’ with a daily walk around the house and garden which increases with an added five minutes every week till one has reached half an hour at the end of six weeks. The walk is described in detail: ‘walk at a pace where you can have a conversation or whistle a tune. Choose a route that is level and remember, when you walk a distance you have to walk the same again to get back. It is best to avoid hills, however if there is a hill take it on your outward journey as it will make the return journey easier.’ As it turned out strong winds were the thing I had to deal with.

Walking the bog road

In the beginnig every time I went out to take a walk on the Greenway or on one of the adjoining bog roads I drew a picture first from the car.

The last hours at ICU

After leaving the ICU I spent one more night in the hospital and was sent home four days after the 'heart event'.

The technical details

Heaven or Galway

Time is running out

All the attention goes now to my neighbour. But I get some good news.

The morning get under way

I'm settled. Now my attention gets focused on my neighbour

From night shift to day shift

Amazing how few of the data went on computer.

Until the morning comes

I never thought I would sleep with a steady Beep-Beep-Beep in my ear, reminding me that my heart was still working, but I did.

ICU the first hours

After a heart attact on 18 January 2015 and after having been put in a number of stents in Galway University Hospital, I was transported to the Intensive Care Unit in Mayo General Hospital. There I stayed 19 hours. In the ICU I made a graphic report. Enjoy!