103 – Staying Alive, Part 3: 22 November 2024

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This was me in November 2015, three years before the Chain Saw operation in 2018

I spent three nights in Intensive Care – Tuesday 20, Wednesday 21 and Thursday 22 November 2018.  In the afternoon of Friday 23 November 2018, I was transferred to Coronary Care. 

Each night in ICU was agonising.  When the sleeping pills wore off, as they always did at about 1.00 am, I commenced a long, long, wait hoping the clock would crawl its way through the night out of darkness into morning daylight.  In ICU, I had tubes coming out of much of my body.  Even if the tubes had not been there, it would still have been impossible to sleep properly.  I was sore right across my chest and the pain was immense - even with a full dose of pain killer medication inside me. 

I was incapable to getting out of bed for any reason.  My waste body fluids were taken away by a catheter and then later by a pee bottle.

I produced no solid body waste while in Intensive Care.  My last poo before the Chain Saw operation had been on Monday 19 November.

By the time I left ICU, I wondered vaguely what would happen if my body continued to produce zero solid waste.  These thoughts were definitely vague because they were countered by a different thought.  I felt that if my body did force me to have a poo, the masses of stiches holding me together might simply burst.  That did not seem like a good scenario.  I doubted the doctors would be able to put me back together again if the stitches did come apart like that.

Nothing like that did happen in hospital, but the bursting of my body along the stitch line was indeed an issue throughout the years 2019, 2020 and 2021.

In the afternoon of Friday 23 November, the doctors decided I was sufficiently recovered to make it safe to transfer to Coronary Care.  The transfer was a blessing. 

After my transfer to Coronary Care on Friday 23, most of the tubes sticking out of me were removed.  I immediately felt more comfortable.  I became able to move my torso without fearing I might cause something to get ripped out of me.

I had a private room in Coronary Care and the nurses encouraged me to hobble around on a walking frame.  On the Saturday morning, doing just one circuit of Coronary Care on the walker left me completely spent and barely able to move.  

There was an upside.  It was good to be able to get out of the bed again, even if it did leave me exhausted. 

There was a stool in the bathroom attached to my Coronary Care room and I was allowed to take a shower – so long as the nurse was physically present while I sat on the stool during the shower.  I obediently sat on the stool while the nurse watched carefully for any signs that I might fall over.  Fortunately, I never did fall over and the circuits of Coronary Care gradually got easier.

In the morning of Sunday 25 November, one of the pathology lab people came to take the blood sample.  These were needed to make sure I was not starting to die.  The assistant missed the vein on her first attempt and became visibly flustered.  I reassured her that I was not concerned and she should try again.  She did try again and unfortunately she still failed to get the blood.  By this stage she was so flustered by what had happened that she said she needed help from her supervisor and left to get help.  When the supervisor arrived, I suggested that if all else failed, they could smack me with a brick and use the blood from that as their sample.  The supervisor found the vein and got the blood, so the brick was not necessary.

Something glorious happened in the morning before the pathology people took the blood.  I was standing up and I KNEW my bowels were about to move and that my body would not be torn apart.  I walked slowly to the bathroom and the necessary happened without pain.

I spent the nights of Friday 23, Saturday 24, Sunday 25, Monday 26, Tuesday 27, Wednesday 28 and Thursday 29 November 2018 in the Coronary Care Unit.  I remained very weak, but I steadily began to recover.  In the morning of Friday 30 November, Margaret was allowed to pick me up and take me to a rehabilitation hospital.  I insisted that she stop at our home before we got to the rehabilitation Hospital.  I needed to be certain that my home still existed and had not somehow disappeared.  I know this doesn’t sound completely rational, but I REALLY needed to see my home again.

I was in Griffith Rehabilitation Hospital for the nights of Friday 30 November, Saturday 1, Sunday 2, Monday 3, Tuesday 4, Wednesday 5, Thursday 6, Friday 7, Saturday 8, Sunday 9 and Monday 10 December 2018.

On Sunday 9 December I was given permission to be driven to Morialta to have coffee with my friends.  Seeing their faces again helped restore some solidity to the world.  It was very difficult to walk the 30 metres from the hut where we had coffee to the park toilet.  I am very persistent though.  I knew I could definitely walk such a small distance.  I was determined to resume my normal walking in Morialta Park as soon as I possibly could.

 

102 – Staying Alive, Part 2: 21 November 2024

 

 

The Chain Saw Operation

After the TOE test and the angiogram, I had to see heart surgeon Dr James Edwards.  He conditionally agreed to do the Chain Saw Operation on Tuesday 20 November 2018.  Before Dr Edwards could definitely agree to do the operation, I needed approval from the anaesthetist.  There could not be an operation at all unless the anaesthetist thought I had the strength to survive the operation.

I saw the anaesthetist on Thursday 15 November 2018.  He decided I was fit enough to undergo the open heart surgery.

The anaesthetist asked what exercise I did, so I told him about my regular walks in Morialta.  By November 2018, my Morialta walk took 3 hours 45 minutes instead of a mere 2 hours.  By then, I regularly walked around most of the Park boundaries and I always walked from the lowest part of Morialta to its highest part.

As I described my walk to the anaesthetist, I saw unmistakable concern on his face.  He lived very close to Morialta, he walked there regularly and he knew the precise route I was describing. 

I told the anaesthetist I wanted to do one more Sunday walk at Morialta before my operation.  His face took on an expression of horror. 

I was not to do any mountain climbing before I had my operation. 

I would not be able to have open heart surgery if I had a heart attack in Morialta and died. 

I promised not to do my big Morialta circuit on the coming Sunday before my hospital admission for my open heart surgery.

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Photo above is the view of Adelaide central business district from deep inside Morialta park.  It is very steep and the anaesthetist banned me from walking there before my Chain Saw Operation

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I was admitted to hospital for the Chain Saw Operation at noon on Monday 19 November 2018, the day before the operation was scheduled.  Nothing much happened that day apart from a full body shave.  I had my own room in the Cardiac Ward.

The anaesthetist arrived in the evening to ask me what I wanted him to do if the operation went to shit.  I told him that unless I had a reasonable chance of a normal life, he was required to let me die.  Margaret was visiting and I told him that if anything was in doubt, he had to do whatever Margaret told him to do.  Margaret knew exactly what I wanted.

I was not allowed to have breakfast the next day, Tuesday 20 November. 

I was steered in a wheelchair to the waiting area immediately outside the operating theatre.  I remember the anaesthetist paid me a visit and inserted various tubes into my arm.  That is when my reliable memories of being fully conscious cease. 

I have only jumbled memories for the time after the anaesthetist’s visit before the operation. 

My jumbled memories all relate to when I was having the Chain Saw Operation on my heart.

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I remember being in an alien place filled with multiple clanging noises. 

I remember being told I could stop having to be concerned any longer about the world in which my heart was about to collapse. 

I know I was given a clear choice of continuing to live or take a much easier path to somewhere else. 

I have no clear memory of who or what was offering me this easy way out, but I KNEW my continued life was completely in my own hands. 

I could either live or I could die. 

It was completely up to me. 

I definitely did not have to keep living unless I really wanted to.

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I am aware that in near death experience stories, a common theme is the presence of lights and an invitation to approach the lights. 

I have no memory of any lights. 

Either I was not shown any lights or (perhaps) my memory of any lights that were there, has been erased. 

I distinctly remember rejecting the offer of an easy way to end my suffering. 

I refused to abandon Margaret. 

I also felt I had more work that I should do and that I needed to do it in this specific lifetime.  I had no idea what the “work” was that I ought to do - and I still don’t. 

I definitely felt I must not die until I had done whatever it was, I was meant to do.

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It would have been so easy to accept the offer of no more suffering.

By Passes and the Repair Ring

My next “I am definitely awake” memory came in the Intensive Care Unit. 

A persistent voice kept saying “Mr Hankin, Mr Hankin”.

When I blinked and showed signs of waking from the anaesthetic stupor, the nurse at the side of my bed said “I want you to do the hardest thing you have ever done in your life”. 

I murmured something which she interpreted as me being awake and she told me her name.  I forgot her name almost immediately.  She then said she wanted me to sit up, swing my legs over the side of the bed, stand up and then sit down in the armchair that that could not have been any closer to the bed.  She told me it would be the hardest thing I had ever done in my life.

My totally beautiful nurse was correct.  Sitting up and moving to the chair was easily the hardest thing I had ever done.  Having reached the chair, I was allowed to return to my bed, completely exhausted and with zero physical strength.

My other memories of Intensive Care are patchy.  Tubes poked out of my body in multiple places and there was constant machinery noise as the machines kept me and the other patients, alive. 

The nights had no ends.  Once the sleeping pills wore off at 1:00 or 2:00 am, my sleep came to an end. 

From where I was propped on the bed, I could see a digital clock on the bottom of the screen of a monitor.  I regularly closed my eyes and kept them closed, willing myself into a meditative state, opening my eyes only after what seemed like many hours.  When I checked the time, about two minutes had passed.  I kept repeating the process.  When daylight started peeping into the room, I knew the endless night had finally gone to continue its taunting somewhere else.

My most persistent memory of the Intensive Care Unit is that every staff member who came near me was immensely kind.

 

 

101 – Staying Alive, Part 1: 21 November 2024

 

Running Out of Puff

There were advantages and disadvantages to living with a woman who had been a nurse her whole working life. 

The major disadvantage was the impossibility of hiding any health issues I wanted to hide from Margaret. 

At some point during 2015, I told Margaret that I always “ran out of puff” whenever I walked uphill.  Margaret immediately understood the significance of this. 

She insisted I see a heart specialist to find out exactly what was wrong with my heart.  Dr Mark Sheppard diagnosed in January 2016 that I had a leaky mitral heart valve.

The Australian Heart Foundation says this about heart valves.

Your heart has four valves that keep blood flowing in the correct direction between its four chambers (two atria and two ventricles).   Each valve is like a one-way door. During each heartbeat, the valves open to let blood flow from their chambers and close to stop the blood flowing backwards. The four heart valves are the:  Tricuspid valve – This controls the blood flow between the right atrium and right ventricle Mitral valve – This controls the blood flow between the left atrium and left ventricle Pulmonary valve – This controls the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery, the blood vessel that carries blood from the heart to the lungs Aortic valve – This controls the left ventricle and the aorta Heart valve disease means that your heart valve or valves don't open or close properly. This can cause the blood flow through your heart to and from your body to be disrupted.  What are the types of heart valve disease?  There are a few types of heart valve disease. Some people may have a combination of more than one type of valve problem.  Regurgitation (or insufficiency) This is when your valve flaps are ‘leaky’ and don't close properly. This lets blood leak back through your valve and can make your heart work harder to circulate blood around your body.

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Me at Morialta in April 2020, 18 months after my Chain Saw operation.

 

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My mitral valve was “leaking”.  When the valve pumped blood into the left atrium and left ventricle of my heart, it did not close properly and blood leaked back into the right side of my heart.  My difficulty in walking uphill was caused by my heart’s inability to pump enough blood when I walked uphill - extra blood was always needed to walk uphill.  Given my leaking heart valve, it was not surprising that when I walked uphill; this slowed me down to a crawl.  Dr Sheppard was amazed that I could walk up the Morialta mountains at all.

Dr Sheppard said the options were open heart surgery to repair the vale and, as a temporary alternative, monitoring my heart to detect if the problem became worse.  Dr Sheppard said open heart surgery was an extremely difficult and recommended monitoring.  This would postpone the date when I needed surgery

Before the Chain Saw Operation

My leaky heart valve got worse. 

I had a Trans-oesophageal echocardiogram (TOE test) in the afternoon of Thursday 1 November 2018.  The Australian government website Health Direct says this about a TOE test.

A trans-oesophageal echocardiogram (TOE) is a procedure to look at your heart chambers and valves using a flexible telescope placed down your oesophagus (gullet). The telescope has an ultrasound scanner attached to it so your heart specialist can get close-up views of your heart.

I was given a local an anaesthetic and the monitoring device was inserted down my throat.  The urge to vomit was overwhelming while the device was down my throat and next to my heart.  The alternative to a local anaesthetic was a general anaesthetic.

The TOE confirmed that the leakage from my heart valve was very serious and the heart operation was urgently needed.

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I had an angiogram on Friday 2 November.  This was much easier than the TOE and anaesthetic was not necessary.  Health Direct says this about angiograms.

An angiogram is the image created by angiography. An angiograph is an imaging procedure to look at blood vessels in your body. A special dye called ‘liquid contrast agent’ is injected into your bloodstream to make your blood vessels visible on a scan. Conventional angiography uses x-rays and contrast agent to produce angiogram pictures. More recent techniques use CT scans or MRI scans. Angiography can be used to look at blood vessels in or around your: heart

The angiogram said three of my arteries were blocked.  Even if my heart valve had been operating normally, my heart would have still been unable to supply my body with enough blood.  An artery is “a blood vessel in humans and most other animals that takes oxygenated blood away from the heart in the systemic circulation to one or more parts of the body.” (Wiki)

As well as repairing or replacing my mitral heart valve, I needed three bypasses so that my blood could circulate properly. 

This is what the Mayo Clinic says about bypass surgery.

Coronary artery bypass surgery creates a new path for blood to flow around a blocked or partially blocked artery in the heart. The surgery involves taking a healthy blood vessel from the chest or leg area. The vessel is connected below the blocked heart artery. The new pathway improves blood flow to the heart muscle.

To keep me alive, my heart operation needed to:

·         Repair (or replace) my mitral heart valve.

·         Find three separate lengths of unblocked arteries somewhere in my body; and

·         Insert the lengths of unblocked arteries in a way that allowed my blood supply to bypass the three blocked arteries near my heart.

To do this, the surgeon needed to use the equivalent of a chain saw to cut through my ribcage and get access to my heart.  Operating on my heart meant my heart had to be stopped and my blood supply had to be provided by a machine.  While the machine circulated my blood, the surgeon had to quickly do the repairs because if my heart stopped for too long, I would die. 

As well as repairing my very quickly to let my heart resume its intended function, the surgeon also had to find three unblocked arteries somewhere on my body, remove them from wherever they were and implant them to enable my blood supply to avoid the three separate arterial blockages.

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Once all this had been done, my chest had to be put back together again so that I could have a “normal” life if I survived the operation.

 

 

100 – Alfred Pearson Enlists in World War 1, Part 3: 20 November 2024

 

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Photo of Alfred.

This is a copy of the Enlistment form completed by Alfred Pearson when he enlisted on 2 September 1914 in the 18^th Battalion of the King’s Own Liverpool Regiment on 2 September 1914.  I have reproduced the exact layout as well as the content of the enlistment form.  The words “DURATION OF WAR” appeared in red print on the form and they ran across the form in the way shown below.

 

13 Have you ever been rejected as Unfit for the Military or Naval Forces of the Crown?  If so, on what grounds?	13 No
14. Are you willing to be vaccinated or re-vaccinated?	14 Yes
15 For what Corps are you willing to be enlisted, or are you willing to be enlisted for general service?	15 Yes
16 Did you receive a Notice, and do you understand its meaning, and who gave it to you?	16 Yes   Name S Jones               Corps [Blank}
17 Dou you understand that, notwithstanding you enlisted for a dismounted corps, you are liable to be trained and employed in such mounted duties as may be required?	17 Yes
18 Are you willing to serve upon the following conditions provided His Majesty should so long require your service? (a)     For the term of 12 years, for the first none years in Army Service and for the remaining three years in in the Army Reserve.  If at the termination of such period of Army Service, you are serving beyond the seas, you will be sent home, with all convenient speed, for transfer to the Army Reserve. (b)    If, at the expiration of the above-mentioned term of Army Service a state of War exists, then, if so directed by the Competent Military Authority, to serve in Army Service for a further period not exceeding 12 months. (c)     If, at the expiration of the above-mentioned term of Army Service, you are so required by a Proclamation from His Majesty in case of imminent national danger, or great emergency, to serve in Army Service so as to complete your term of 12 years, and for a further period not exceeding 12 months. (d)    If the above-mentioned term of years expires while you are on service with the Regular Forces  - (i) beyond the seas, or (ii) while a state of war exists with a Foreign Power, or (iii) while Soldiers in the Reserve are required by proclamation to continue in, or re-enter upon Army Service, and you, in accordance with such proclamation, have re-entered upon Army Service, then to serve for a further period no exceeding 12 months.	18 Yes
I, Alfred Pearson do solemnly declare that the above answers made by me to the above questions are true, and that I am willing to fulfill the engagement made.   Alfred Pearson SIGNATURE OF RECRUIT RM Williams Signature of Witness
OATH TO BE TAKEN BY RECRUIT ON ATTESTATON   I, Alfred Pearson do make Oath, that I will be faithful and bear true Allegiance to His Majesty King Edward the Seventh His Heirs, and Successors, and that I will, as in duty bound, faithfully defend His Majesty, His Heirs and Successors, in Person, Crown, and Dignity against all enemies, and will observe and obey all orders of His Majesty, His Heirs and Successors, and of the Generals and Officers set over me.  So help me God.
CERTIFICATE OF MAGISTRATE OR ATTESTING OFFICER The recruit above-named was cautioned by me that if he made any false answer to any of the above questions he would be liable to be punished as provided in the Army Act. The above questions were then read to the recruit in my presence. I have taken care that he understands each question, and that his answer to each question has been duly entered as replied to, and the said Recruit has made and signed the declaration and taken the oath before me   At Liverpool on this 2 day of Sept 1914 1914 Signature of the Justice Wm Denton

 

If any alteration is required on this page of the Attestation, a Justice of the Peace should be requested to make it and initial the alteration under Section 80(6) Army Act.  The Recruit should, if he require it, receive a copy of the Declaration on Army Form B

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This is a reproduction of a different document called Military History Sheet: Alfred Pearson

MILITARY HISTORY SHEET: ALFRED PEARSON   1.       Service at Home and Abroad Country From To Years Days N. B. – The Country only to be shown – it is not necessary to show separately the service in the different stations of same country.  England, Scotland and Ireland to be shown under the general term “Home”. For mode of computing Service Abroad, see King’s Regulations Home 2.9.14 6.11.15 1 66   France 7.11.15 1.7.16 Nil 237         1 303   2.       Whether educated at (Applies only to boys) * Name of School to be stated Duke of York’s Royal Military School Royal Hibernian Military School Industrial School under Home Office* Or Local Government Board* Initials of Officer making the entry 3.       Certificates of education     4.       Passed classes of instruction† † This includes any authorised class of Instruction, e.g. in swimming, chiropody, &c     5.       Campaigns (including actions) B. E. F. France, 1915 – 1916 [BEF = British Expeditionary Force]   6.       Wounded     7.       Effects of wounds     8.       Special instances of gallant conduct and mentions in public despatches     9.       Medals, decorations and annuities -          1914-1915 Star -          British War Medal -          Victory Medal   10.    Injuries in or by the Service     11.    Name and address of next of kin Father Thomas Pearson 69 Granton Road Everton Liverpool [Illegible initials] 12.    Particulars as to Marriage (a) Christian and Surname of Woman to whom married, and whether spinster or widow (b) place and date of marriage (c) name of officiating Minister or Registrar, and (d) name of two witnesses Date of being placed on Married Roll Initials of Officer               13.    Particulars of Children Christian Names Date and Place of Birth Date and Place of Baptism, and Name of Officiating Minister     Note – These entries are to be made from time to time as they occur, and initialled by the Officer making the entry.

 

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This document is called STATEMENT of the SERVICES of No. 18/ 16332 Name: Alfred Pearson.

Corps Battalion or Depot Promotions, Reductions, Casualties, &c. Army Rank Dates Service not allowed to reckon for fixing the rate of Pension Service in Reserve not allowed to reckon towards G. C. Pay Signature of Officers certifying correctness of entries   Years Days Years days     Service toward limited engagement reckons from 3.9.1914 Joined at L[iver]pool on 2/9/1914   King’s Liverpool City Battalion C[ity]. B[attalio]n 2 Attested and posted Private 2.9.14     W. D.   18th  [Battalion] Promotion Lance Corporal 19.6.15     W. Nash Captain   18th Battalion Promotion Corporal 1.9.15     W. Nash Captain   18th Battalion Killed in action Corporal 1 September 16     W. Nash Captain   18th Battalion Rate at date of death Corporal 1 September 16     W. Nash Captain

 

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On 10 June 1920, Alfred was awarded a medal called the 1914-1915 Star.

On 11 September 1921, Alfred was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.