Right from the heart

There is a joke Harriet Page likes to tell. It's one of those 'laughter through the tears' sort of jokes that perfectly captures the way we try to deal with situations that might otherwise be unbearable. "I've always known I wasn't normal!" she says, in the style of one of those TV comediennes pretending to be a teenager. "I've got a bit missing!"

The first time she said it was at Scarborough hospital a year ago. At 22, she had just been told she had a hole in her heart. It was the first response that popped into her head - and she has used it often since then, with friends and colleagues.

"If I had thought about it too much," she says, tucking her blonde hair behind one ear, "if I had really kind of thought 'I've got a hole in my heart, there is a chance I could die', I could have lost the plot."

She learned, to her astonishment, she had suffered from the condition since she was born but, for some reason, it had never been picked up. When she was a newborn baby, doctors did detect a slight murmur. When she went back six months later, however, it seemed to have disappeared - and no further action was taken.

It was only when Harriet, the Evening Press' bubbly exhibition sales executive, began having dizzy spells at the beginning of last year that her GP referred her to a specialist.

"I had been passing out on quite a regular basis, at work and at home, and being really dizzy," she says matter-of-factly.

That, it turned out, had nothing to do with the hole in her heart: it was because of low blood pressure, a quite unrelated problem. But on going through her medical notes, he GP also discovered there had been that suggestion of a heart murmur when she was a baby. This was also investigated, and she was given an ECG and a battery of scans by experts at Scarborough.

She says the hole was in the internal wall which divided the left and right sides of her heart. It was about an inch in diameter. "The blood was going from the left side to the right side of my heart, which was quite substantially enlarged."

What amazes her today is the thought she had been walking around, leading what seemed to her a perfectly normal life, with this ticking away inside her. She has never been any good at running - something that was put down to asthma. "But I was going out doing 15-mile bike rides!" she says. "That wasn't doing any good."

She was told the hole wasn't an immediate threat to her life: but it needed to be dealt with. "If it hadn't been found when it was, in the next ten to 15 years, by the time I was 40, I would have been a goner.

"It her heart would have carried on getting more and more enlarged on the right hand side, and eventually I would have had a heart attack or I would have suffocated because it would have put pressure on my lungs."

She gives a bright smile. "So I'm lucky to be here!"

She was referred to the heart centre at Leeds General Infirmary (LGI). Experts there explained that ideally they would like to use keyhole surgery, inserting a tube through a blood vessel in her groin and using it to thread a special mesh 'patch' all the way up to her heart. Such a technique would be comparatively simple, she was told - and would require her being in hospital for only a day or two.

They also told her, however, that there was only a 50 per cent chance that such a procedure would be a success in her case; and that if it wasn't, they would have to perform open heart surgery.

That was probably when it hit her just how serious her condition was. She made a decision.

"You always think it is someone else it happens to, never yourself," she says. "I remember thinking 'I'm happy to have keyhole surgery, but not open heart surgery. I just made a decision I would not have that. I felt if I had to have it I was not going to come out of it."

Luckily, it never came to that. The next few months were "not very nice". Most of the time she managed to put on a brave face. She kept working and tried not to think about her condition. But at home, in private, she did have "bad moments".

"It was: 'oh my God, I've got a hole in my heart, am I going to live or die?'" Family, friends, and work colleagues, all of whom were great, she says, helped her get through it. She was admitted to hospital in Leeds last September for keyhole surgery and it was successful.

She still can hardly believe how quick and painless it was. Within two days she was back home, her heart successfully patched: within two weeks, she was back at work. There was some soreness and discomfort at first, but nothing like what she expected and the operation left only a tiny scar.

Now, six months on, she is feeling like a new woman. She has occasional painful muscle spasms in her chest - but her consultant is confident everything is settling down well. And she has much more energy than before.

"I know now that I was never able to breathe properly before I had my operation," she says.

"My mum says 'why didn't you say anything about your breathing before?', but the truth is I never realised until now. I didn't realise I was ill.

"I have a lot more energy now. I feel like a walking miracle." She laughs. "I will be the only person who gets to 40 and it will be the best birthday I've ever had!"

In fact she feels as though she has been given a new life.

"I can do absolutely everything. I can get pregnant, go deep-sea diving, I can just be a normal person again."

What she plans to do first is take part in the Heart Of York Jog around the centre of York on April 6. The two-mile run is being organised by the British Heart Foundation - and Harriet has asked that the money she raises should go to the Leeds General Infirmary's heart centre.

She says she probably won't run the full two mile course - it is, after all, only six months since she had major heart surgery. "But I will get round one way or the other, whether it is walking, running or crawling." She also hopes to do a parachute jump later in the year, to raise more cash for the LGI.

Normally, her condition is diagnosed at birth, she says. One thing she will never forget is the tiny babies she met at the LGI who were being treated for the same condition. "Every time I went for a check-up, there were these tiny babies and little children.

"Every penny I can raise will help. I feel as if I have this need to take part. This time last year I didn't know whether I was going to be here. It's just something I think I should do."

The two-mile Heart Of York Jog on April 6 will start from the Tower Place gardens, go down the riverside walk to the Millennium Bridge and back up the other side of the river. The British Heart Foundation hopes as many as 500 people will take part - and that the run could become a regular event.

To find out more email region1events@bhf.org.uk or ring 01937 835 421.

To sponsor Harriet Page, phone 01904 653051 ex 234.

Taming the killer within

HEART disease is the UK's biggest killer, according to the British Heart Foundation. It accounts for more deaths than cancer.

For somebody such as Harriet Page, who has had her heart condition from birth, too much exercise can be harmful. But for most people moderate exercise and a healthy diet can greatly reduce the risk of heart disease.

The British Heart Foundation recommends eating five portions of fresh fruit and veg every day, and taking 30 minutes of moderate exercise a week - although it stresses anyone with a health condition should consult their doctor before doing too much exercise.

Getting into training for the Heart Of York Jog is one way to get into shape. But for those who are too busy, the British Heart Foundation has issued tips on how to be healthy at work - and why it matters.

Ten reasons to be active at work

Energy: activity peps you up, giving you plenty of enthusiasm

Metabolism: you willl burn more energy by being active, so it is great for maintaining or losing weight

Mood: activity stimulates the 'happy hormone' noradrenaline which makes you feel good

Concentration: even a short active break helps to re-focus the mind and improves the quality and quantity of work you do

Stress: activity helps you cope with life's ups and downs, relaxes the mind and body and helps to reduce the build-up of tension

Strength: you get weaker with age if you are inactive. Keeping bones and muscles - including your heart - strong protects you from disease

Health: activity is the best investment you can make in your future health. It can protect you from heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis and some cancers

Immunity: activity boosts the immune system, preventing those irritating illnesses that really get you down

Self-esteem: lots of physical activity builds self confidence and new skills

Social life: Activities in teams, clubs or leisure centres are great for meeting new people

Ten ways to get healthy at work

A ten-minute walk before or after work helps clear your mind and establish your priorities for the day

Take time to move and stretch during the day, especially your neck and back. Short breaks will help you re-focus

Always use the stairs instead of the lift

Take a walk when you need thinking time, or walk with a colleague to brainstorm ideas

Taking an active lunch makes for a more productive afternoon

Get off the bus a stop earlier or park at the furthest end of the car park

Walk to talk, don't send emails when you could easily talk or leave a note with someone

Treat yourself - save the money you would usually spend on cigarettes or sweets and crisps so you can treat yourself to something special at the end of the month

Get together with colleagues to arrange activities - its much easier when you've got other people to motivate you

Take part in the Heart of York City Jog to kick-start a healthy lifestyle

FACT FILE

Cardiovascular disease is the UK's number one killer, accounting for 41 per cent of all deaths (256,000 people a year).

Most deaths from heart disease are because of a heart attack. Every year, about 270,000 Brits have a heart attack - about half are fatal.

More than 135,000 people die from coronary heart disease each year. Of these, more than 50,000 are premature deaths, that is, under 75

People think coranory heart disease (CHD) is a man's disease. But it is also the most common single cause of death among women. Five times as many women die from heart disease as from breast cancer

Two million Brits today have, or have had, angina and another 760,000 have heart failure. And 28,000 have bypass surgery and another 25,000 have angioplasty to clear blocked coronary arteries.

About 5,500 babies are born with congenital heart conditions. Half will need treatment or surgery.

CHD costs the economy £10 billion a year in treatment and working days lost

Updated: 09:14 Tuesday, March 09, 2004