Dee & Derek Blackman
The success of coronary bypass surgery is reflected in the declining number of deaths from heart disease in recent years. The number of operations is said to have doubled over the last decade - with approximately 30,000 carried out each year in the UK. lthough it is one of the most common heart operations, patients and their families can be overwhelmed by the prospect of surgery and convalescence. Experienced staff at the Wessex Cardiac Centre are on hand to placate and encourage, and it's always uplifting when their efforts are reciprocated.
One couple who are both involved in creating heightened awareness of the Wessex Heartbeat Charity is Dee and Derek Blackman from the Isle of Wight. They moved from the mainland in the 1980s to run a B&B at Wootton, but after about 15 years, Derek started to have major problems with his back including a crumbling spine. After major surgery on his back in 2007 he had problems with his recuperation and following several different infections, found himself very short of breath.
It was during a day out in Southampton that Derek experienced excruciating pains in his chest and an angiogram revealed that his arteries were blocked. Derek, who had worked in the motor trade for nearly 25 years, went into the Wessex Cardiac Centre on December 26th, 2007 and needed a quadruple heart bypass operation. He had conventional surgery which necessitated his chest being split open under deep anaesthesia to enable his surgeon, Mr Viola to gain direct access to the heart. During his 6-7 hour procedure, a heart-lung machine took over from his heart, pumping blood round the body and keeping the vital organs supplied with oxygen.
"As you can imagine it was a very stressful and worrying time," said Dee, a fitness instructor, who entered the 2008 Great South Run on behalf of Wessex Heartbeat. "Thankfully, I was able to stay at Heartbeat House for a week. I know that it sounds like a cliché that trips off the tongue, but it really was a home from home. To be able to stay close by to my husband during this time helped enormously, especially as we live on the Isle of Wight."
"Being with other patients' relatives who were in the same situation was comforting as we chatted to each other and reassured each other," added Dee. "I had my own key to my own room and use of all the facilities. The staff at the house were always on hand if you wanted to talk and kept the house clean and tidy. Prior to my husband being admitted for this operation I was not even aware of Heartbeat House. After experiencing the benefit of being able to be close by, I felt compelled to raise funds for this as it relies on fundraising to maintain its running costs."
Derek, is supporting his wife's fundraising efforts by distributing forms at his cardiac rehabilitation club in Newport - known colloquially as "The Zip Club", and by creating general awareness of Wessex Heartbeat among the island's residents.
He said: "Knowing that Dee had somewhere very close by to stay and wasn't having to journey back and forth across to the island each day on her own was very reassuring and a great weight off my mind."
Derek also paid tribute to the staff at the Wessex Cardiac Centre. "The nurses on E4 were absolutely wonderful. Our ward overlooked the docks and on New Year's Eve we had a grandstand view of the fireworks display. At midnight the nurses came round with a little drop of hooch - just a thimbleful - but enough to toast the New Year!."
