BUT YOU LOOK SO WELL.....?

The healing process was going well, there were hiccups along the way and the pneumonia certainly was a challenge I hadn't considered, but in general I started to be able to enjoy life with the constant threat of arrhythmia becoming more of a memory than an everyday con...

Doug was to go on to tell me more about the circumstances of the accident.  I was under the impression that James and Mary had been in a car crash, I desperately hoped that the accident hadn't been caused by a defect on James' car.  Were there other casualties?  Doug e...

The door to the theatre had clearly been fitted with a Men In Black style memory wiping device as I don't recall anything past that point.

Paul has subsequently relayed the events from the three days I was in ITU to me.  He informed me I was kept at a forced low body te...

I arrived at the hospital mentally prepared and full of optimism.  I felt empowered and proud knowing my experiences and challenges of the past six years hadn't broken me.  I'd been denied of any physical control of what was happening inside my body but I was still the...

The prospect of my parents marriage breaking down was something I'd never thought possible.  I recall it occurring in friend's lives throughout school and thinking "I'm so glad that will never happen to my mum and dad". It was simply incomprehensible.

My parents did a g...

The day of the scheduled ablation came around quickly. I'd had to stop my sotalol in the run up to the operation, a crucial part of the procedure is the "mapping" where the consultant will produce an electrical map of the right ventricle to find the precise pin point o...

In the run up to college, 1993 was very kind to me.  The sotalol, despite my misgivings, proved to keep me out of trouble.  It was also great to have my brother Paul back home from college in Bristol where he was training as an aircraft maintenance engineer. The events...

I was aware that beta-blockers were abused by athletes who sought to make performance improvements and as such they are a banned substance.  However, in my naivety, I didn't appreciate they are only of benefit to the likes of archers, golfers, marksmen and those that r...

Picture the scene, it's summer 1992.  Ah the 90's, fan-bloody-tastic!  Life is good, I'm loving everything, school, mates, no bills, leisure time seemingly ad infinitum, copious amounts of hearty food served up by my mum meaning even more energy for my real passion, sp...