“High cholesterol runs in my family – but heart bypass surgery gave me a second chance” 

“Coming from a big family of 9 children, I’ve seen heart disease affect many people around me. My parents, oldest brother, and several close relatives all passed away from heart attacks.

One of my sisters lives with angina, while my niece was diagnosed at just 33 – then suffered a heart attack at 49. My uncle died from a heart attack at 54, and an aunt faced the same fate, while another needed bypass surgery. Even my cousins on my dad’s side weren’t spared, both suffering heart attacks in their late fifties and sixties.

With so much family history, I knew I was at risk – but I never expected my own diagnosis to come so suddenly.

Before my heart event, I was a teaching assistant in the same school for 22 years and I loved it. At weekends I ran my face painting business and helped with the 2 youngest of my 5 grandchildren, who all live nearby.

There were times I felt breathless, but I put that down to my asthma. I had no idea how poorly I was.

I fainted in the school yard

A few days before Christmas 2023 I was on playground duty at the school and chatting to the headmaster.

All of a sudden, I felt as if I had been winded. I said, ‘I’m going to faint’ and passed out. I was only out for a few seconds, but the headmaster said I should go to hospital.

At the hospital, doctors did an ECG and blood tests, and I saw a cardiologist. She mentioned that I had high triglycerides and high cholesterol, and she said I had angina.

I don’t remember being afraid when I heard that. I thought: at least mine has been found and hopefully it can be fixed.

I always ate healthily; fish and not a lot of meat and I used to go swimming and take my daughter Ceri Anne’s dog Bohdi for a walk.

When the doctor told me I had really high cholesterol, my response was, ‘I bet you think I eat a bag of chips every night’.

She replied, ‘no it’s genetic, it’s in your DNA and it is called familial hypercholesterolaemia’.

So I was put on statins straightaway to lower my cholesterol. My son has had his cholesterol tested, and my daughters and other family members will have to be tested too.

I was referred to a larger hospital in Liverpool and I had an angiogram, which is a heart test that looks at the blood supply from the coronary arteries to your heart. Then it was just a waiting game.

Reality hit

It was hard adapting to the changes I had to make in my life. The consultant said I could no longer use my exercise bike and advised against going to work while I was waiting my full results. She said, ‘you need to take it easy’.

At first I took some time off while still being paid – the school was very good to me. But then they suggested retirement to me as an option and to be honest I just thought it would be in my own best interests for my health to slow down.

I have worked since I was a teenager and although I did absolutely love my job it was hard work. Up at 6am every morning, on the bus at 7am for almost an hour to get to work. Standing waiting for buses in all weathers.

I used to feel breathless, but I put it down to asthma.

I just felt my body was telling me to take it easy, slow down and put myself first for a change. But it was hard leaving work, because I loved working with the children.

As I lived with my daughter Ceri Anne in a remote village, my son Gareth, his wife Sam and his family took me in and looked after me for 3 months until I was settled on all the new medication. I had a GTN spray to use if I got an angina pain.

But my breathlessness got worse as time went on to the stage that I could only walk up a few stairs before I got breathless. My whole life was turned upside down.

In February I had a call to say all my results were back in and I needed coronary artery bypass surgery because I had coronary artery disease and 3 of my coronary arteries were narrowed.

Heart bypass surgery

When in April 2024 I finally heard that I was going to have the operation, I felt relieved because it had felt like such a long wait. On the day, I was sat in my room awaiting to go down for my op, blasting my Whitney Houston and dancing in my chair.

The nurse came in and said, ‘I’ve never met a patient so calm going down for this surgery’.

I was really optimistic that once I had my op I would be sorted and also, because I was very grateful and thankful that it had been found and there were surgeons and cardiologists who could help to make me better.

Because the hospital was 10 minutes from where I was born, I felt like I had gone home. When I got to the anaesthetic room, I found a lot of the staff were from Liverpool like me, and I was laughing and joking with them.

The surgeon came to see me a few times after the surgery and he said it had gone well.

After the operation, I stayed with my son again for about 4 weeks to start my recovery. The main problem was pain in my chest from the surgery and I couldn’t get comfortable at night in bed.

Two of the bypass grafts were partly blocked

I got lots of support from the cardiac rehab nurses, who rang me weekly to check on my progress. They were a lifeline for me as they were only a phone call away.

By October 2024 I found I was getting out of breath again. I told the hospital, who did another coronary angiogram in November and found that 2 of the bypass grafts are partly blocked.

My son emailed the consultant who did the angiogram, and they said the main artery is compensating and doing the job of the 2 which aren’t working so they are not too concerned about it. But I have had to go back on medication for my angina.

I may need to have stents fitted in the future to reopen the bypass grafts. I was more positive before the surgery than I am now because the grafts I had have narrowed.

It has affected me. I feel more anxious than I did before, and I get worried if I have angina pain.

The signs were there but I ignored them 

Looking back, all the signs of my heart problems had been there. I sometimes felt breathless after walking slightly uphill.

One evening I remember sitting with my daughter chatting, and I’d said, ‘gosh I feel like I have run a marathon’, because my heart was beating really fast.

I only went to hospital because I fainted.

Working in a school I always tried to get my medical appointments during the school holidays. I kept putting it off for the next break.

I know now that keeping an eye on your health, your blood pressure and cholesterol, is so very important.

My family support network

I have a lovely family. Ceri Anne, lives with me and my other daughter, Natalie, lives nearby. My son Gareth is not far away. We’re all very close and we look after each other.

There were times when Ceri Anne would go to bed, and I would sit there crying. Because I was thinking, I can’t believe I’m not going to work. But I’d carried on visiting the school while I was waiting for my operation and when I did, it was like I was a celebrity.

The children all came flying over to see me. They did a service for me when I left. They had made up a song about me, which the whole school performed. It meant a lot to me to see how much they all valued me.

A quieter existence

My life has completely changed from working 7 days a week to a much quieter existence. I do take my daughter’s dog to the end of the road and back.

And one of the best things about being retired is that I can go and see my best friend, Nora, in her care home at least twice a week.

Nora is 94 and she has been in my life since I was 14, when I started going out with her son. She’s like another mum.

I know the nurses, and a lot of the residents. I start a sing song with Nora and all the residents join in. I take flowers for the residents who don’t get visitors, or I take in the dog, and a nurse said I bring a lot of joy.

I like to potter about in the garden, and I have carried on writing my book.

Recently I went out on Saturday night to a Motown night with a friend. I had one dance although I had to sit down afterwards!

I have joined the parent-teacher association of my grandchildren’s school and I donated little handbags that I make – I buy them ready-cut and I assemble them.

My old class will be leaving school soon so I will be making leaving gifts for them. I will probably make small mortar boards and put a gift inside them.

I’m only in my 60s and hopefully have a long life ahead of me. I only went to hospital because I fainted, but I just think it is so important to look for the signs before it is too late. I am one of the lucky ones.”

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