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i A iia... I DS NG RA ve Heart attack: One survivor's story Stories and photo by Julia Dempsey When Mable Fairman landed in Victoria, British Columbia for a two-week holiday at her sister's home, she never dreamed her trip would be ex- tended two months. Nor did she realize the cir- cumstances that would lead to her staying in the west coast those extra eight weeks. Three days into her holiday back in February of 1987, Mrs. Fairman blacked out. "I was out of the picture for a few minutes," she told the Port Perry Star. Doctors could not find the cause of the problem, but thought that she had suffered some kind of seizure. Two weeks later while she was still in Victoria, Mrs. Fair- man suffered a heart attack. If it had not been for the ex- cellent staff at the teaching hos- pital where she was a patient, Mrs. Fairman fears she would have died. "I feel I was in the right place at the right time," she said. "They did not leave one thing unturned." Because of her heart attack, Mrs. Fairman was not allowed to fly home immediately after being released from the hospi- tal. Her heart was tested for two minutes each day on a stress test machine. Part of her recuperation time 'was spent at her sister's home. "She was good therapy for me," Mrs. Fairman said, adding that her sister encouraged her to do needlework and other mo- tor skills activities. While in Victoria, Mrs. Fair- man missed two anniversary parties. Her sister purchased a couple of cards for her to give. Mrs. Fairman said her writing skills were so bad at the time, it took her two days to sign the cards. She finally returned to Onta- rio on April 29. Doctors from B.C. had set up appointments for her with a Peterborough doctor for the next day. Dr. Hughes performed nu- merous tests on Mrs. Fairman in Peterborough and sent her to Kingston for additional tests. The doctors decided to per- form a bypass operation on Mrs. Fairman. She agreed and went into the triple bypass operation very re- laxed. Besides having complete faith in her doctors, Mrs. Fair- man believed she had had a good life. If she survived the op- eration that would be wonder- ful, but if she didn't, she had no regrets. ~ Within one week of the opera- tion she was back home in Port Perry and feeling great. "I never had any pain," she said, commenting on how amazing it is to have major sur- gery and feel great afterwards. Surgery did change her life- style. Although she was not in pain, Mrs. Fairman had to get up from chairs and her bed by rolling. She could not push her- Number one killer is circulatory diseases Nearly 80,000 Canadians died in 1988 due to cardiovascu- lar and cerebrovascular dis- ease. Over 30,000 of those deaths were Ontario residents. Statisics recently released . by the Heart and Stroke Foun- dation report that 78,392 Cana- dians, including 30,100 people from Ontario, died of circulato- ry system diseases in 1988. The number one killer of Ca- nadians beats out all cancers (which claim 50,756 lives each year), respiratory diseases (15,979), accidents, murders and suicides (13,628), diabetes mellitus (3,819), birth defects (2,427), chronic liver disease (2.067) and all other causes of death (22,943). Men are more likely to die than women from all of the above causes, except diabetes mellitus and the "other causes" category. Of the 3,819 people to die of diabetes mellitus, 2,067 were women while 1,752 were men. In the "other causes" wig ry, women edged out men by 11,607 t011,436. Ischemic heart diseases (the reduction of blood supply to a part of the body) killed 46,665 Canadians (including 18,523 Ontario residents) in 1988. Men are more prone to this dis- ease. Other heart disease killed 9,681 Canadians in the same time period. Almost 2,900 were from Ontario. Hypertension claimed 1,271 lives nation-wide. One-third of those deaths were Ontario resi- dents. Women slightly edged out men in the number of deaths recorded. The statistics alsoreveal that women are more likely to die from a stroke. Ofthe 14,078 Canadians that died of a stroke in 1988, 8,212 were women compared to 5,866 men. In Ontario, 3,309 women succumbed to a stroke, while the problem killed 2,183 men. Other circulatory diseases killed 6,806 Canadians, includ- ing 2,778 Ontario residents. Deaths-among men and women were almost even in this catego- ry. Although the number of deaths due to cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease are staggering, great strides are being made each year to curb that number. About 32,000 lives are being saved each year due toimprove- ments in diagnosis and treat- ment, as well as lifestyle chang- es, the foundation reports. The number of Canadians aged 65 or over who have died from coronary artery disease has declined approximately 36 per cent since 1971. Mortality from stroke for the same group has decreased 43 per cent. The Heart and Stroke Foun- dation of Ontario funds 67 per cent of all heart disease and stroke research in the province. That commitment soaks up 68 per cent of the Foundation's annual budget. Research projects -- aimed at finding new medical tech- niques, drug therapies and oth- er discoveries -- is conducted at several Ontario universities in Kingston, Hamilton, London, Ottawa and Toronto, as well as a couple research institutes. self up using her arms because that would put a strain on her heart. Mrs. Fairman was also in- structed to start walking each day. Doctors suggested that she gradually work up to about one and a half to three miles each day. She still continues this dai- ly routine. She must also take three heart pills, a blood thinner pill and half a cholesteral pill each day. Other than those few chang- es, Mrs. Fairman has found her life to be virtually unchanged. In fact, so quick was Mrs. Fairman's recovery from heart surgery, one of her neighbors asked if her one day while she was out walking, if she had had the surgery yet. She still enjoys her favorite activities, including her bridge games with her friends. And Mrs. Fairman is an excellent cribbage player, although she doesn't get a chance to play that game very often. During the recent Christmas holidays, Mrs. Fairman was dealt a perfect cribbage hand -- the first one she's ever had. PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, January 29, 1991 -- 19 ? Mable Falrman has been dealt a good hand. She Is one of many Canadians who have survived a heart attack because of the research being done on circulatory system diseases. Mrs. Falrman underwent a triple bypass. Three years later, she still enjoys her favorite pasttimes, including bridge and cribbage. Over the Christmas holidays, she was dealt her first ever perfect cribbage hand. - Scugog goal is $16,200 Scugog Township residents are all heart. That fact is evident each year during the Heart and Stroke Foundation fundraising drive in February. Last year, Scugog residents generously donated $15,987.90 in the door-to-door drive. This year the local campaign co-chairmen -- Dorothy Bour- geois, Gwen Taylor, Judy Smith and Joan (Mrs. Wes) Lane -- hope to increase that amount to $16,200. That equals about a $1 con- tribution per person in Scugog - Township. But Scugog's commitment to fighting Canada's number one killer goes far beyond the mone- tary donations. Volunteers who give their time freely, help to cut down the Foundation's costs and free up more of the money for re- search and prevention pro- grams. Besides the four co- chairmen, 21 area captains have been selected in Scugog. Those captains are responsible for organizing a team of volun- teer canvassers for their area. And according to Mrs. Bour- geois and Mrs. Taylor, volun- teer support has been tremen- dous this year. "There are a lot of people out there that are so good at it," Mrs. Taylor said, commenting on the calibre of Scugog volun- - teers. "I find it (the fundraising campaign) really rewarding," Mrs. Bourgeois added. Scugog doesn't stop giving once the February drive is done for another year. More contri- butions are collected from this area from memorial donations and the popular Jump Rope for Heart program that gets ele- mentary-aged school children involved in raising funds. And residents have also supported the Foundation by Rurchasin the Lightheart- ed Cookbook by Anne Lindsay. The Foundation receives $7 for every $16.95 cookbook sold. During the month of Febru- ary, the cookbook will be availa- ble at the Port Perry Star, Bru- tons Drugstore, Big V Drug- store and From My Heart. The cookbook is sold year-round at the Port Perry Star. "We must have a good (year- ly) donation coming out of this area," Mrs. Taylor said. Provincially, the Heart and Stroke Foundation hopes to raise $29.4 million this year through individual and corpo- rate donations. Last year, 18 per cent of the foundation's monies came from the one-month drive. The pro- gram was second only to the planned giving contributions that raised 31 per cent of the offeri course. 9from9a.m. to 5 p.m. couple, plus GST. St., Suite 106, Whitby. "events (17 A Heart smart courses Education could be the best prevention in avoiding heart. problems or saving a loved one. | During heart month in February, Durham Save-a-Heart is three educational courses designed to inform the general public on heart disease and prevention methods. The Heart Saver course covers heart disease, causes of car- diac arrest, prevention, recognition, cardiopulmonary resus- citation, as well as a host of other topics. 'The four-hour course is being held on three different Satur-- days in different areas to accommodate as many people as possible: Feb. 2 at Durham Save-a-Heart in Whitby; Feb. 9 at Trinity United Church in Bowmanville; and Feb. 23 at the Ajax-Pickering Red Cross Office. All Heart Saver courses run from9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Because February is Heart and Stroke month, Durham Save-a-Heart is offering a reduced fee for the Heart Saver Registration is $15 plus GST (down from $22). The organization is also hosti CPR course. Classes are on Monday and Wednesday even- ings (Feb. 11, 13, 18, 20) from 7-10 p.m. Another session is available on Friday, Feb. 8 from 6-10 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. . The program will be held at the Durham Save-a-Heart of- ce. ; Cost for the Basic Rescuer course is $44 plus GST. The final course being offered is the Infant/Child CPR course on Saturday, Feb. 23 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Dur- ham Save-a-Heart office. The fee is $28 per person or $53 per Advance registration is required for all p For further information call Durham (416) 666-0995. The organization is located at 1450 Hopkins annual revenue. Other fundraising programs include the jump rope for heart (11 per cent), memorial dona- tions (16 per cent), special r cent) and direct marketing (7 per cent). Research projects to find medical techniques and drug therapies extinguish 68 per cent of the budget. Education costs -- for preven- tion, intervention, rehabilita- tion and community interven- tion programs -- absorb an additional 9 per cent. Fundraising (14 per cent) - and administration (9 per cent) account for the rest of the bud- get. a 12-hour Basic Rescuer ams. ve-a-Heart at I... eo As i... TI dd... I I I A I MM mmm oe