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Bub Bamford is well aware of how serious heart disease can be - it nearly killed him. It all began in November 2003, when the Conestoga College teacher, then 58, noticed a slight-twinge in his chcst in, he left a class. "II just felt like a pulled muscle more than anything, except I also felt 2 little odd," he recalled. He called his doctor who told him to come in right away. “Walking out. I felt very odd," he said. "This idea started coming to my mind that this could be my last step." His doctor rushed him in and he underwent the first of what would become a litany of tests. All came back clear - there was no sign of a heart attack -- but he was prescribed med- ications to slow his heart rate and Cort- trol his cholesterol. The next step was a 12-minute stress test, which the cardiologist stopped after only three minutes because something was wrong. "l was quite stJnned becalise I did nt feel anything," he said. - A little while later he was shopping for heart-health books with his wife, Leslie. when he started to have stronger chest pains and flu-like symp- toms. After debating what to do, she dropped him at the emergency room, where doctors ran the usual tests, which, once again, revealed he hadnt had a heart attack and his electrocar- diogram. or EKG, was normal. To ease the pain, he was given nitro- glycerin spray that he began using once a day. He was told to call 911 if his pain persisted after he had taken it three times at five-minute intervals. By this point he was off of work. He couldn't stand for long. And his chest pains where becoming mqre frequent. The doctors still couldn't diagnose his illness - and questioned if it was everything from angina to a pulled chest muscle -- and he went for an echocardiogram and angiogram. The latter test revealed he had five blocked arteries, which he would need surgery to repair, as well as minor heart damage. He was put on a waiting list for sur- gery at St. Mary's Hospital and sent home. Increasingly, he found himself relying on the nitroglycerin spray. But the pain always subsided after three sprays. Heart disease can change lives BY lawman Omsnm thro"icly vy)l, sand-yum of Runners . . . Not Just End Rolls . Carpet . Berbers . laminate . Ceramic . Hardwood so Victoria Street N., Kitchener . 519-570-2722 'ietgriasi# gil; Canada's largest retail flooring chain'. '/'irC') a Waterloo3 Bob Bamford, who has heart disease, encourages the public to support the Heart and Stroke Foundation during February, which is Heart Month. He turned down an opportunity to have the operation in Mississauga, and waited in the hospital for three weeks to have it done locally. One day, however, that changed, and he was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. "It's quite a procedure," he said. "What they do is they stop your heart and open up the chest and put you on a heart-lung bypass machine, and they cool your body down to about 90 degrees orso Fahrenheit." During the operation. he bled a lot - for which he was later given two blood transfusions - and there was concern about whether or not he would survive. As well, his blood pres- sure fluctuated dramatically. He made it through, arid was back in his Waterloo home five days later. LIFESTYLE His struggles didn't end then though. He developed an infection around his incision, for which hé required wet dressings that nurses had to change daily for 10 weeks "That was, in some ways, the most troublesome part of the whole thing because my chest wasn't my own, it still belonged to the medical commu- nity," he said. "That was followed by rehab at St. Mary's, which he attended twice a week for six months. "It's quite a long, surprising experi- ence," he said, adding although his life is back to normal, he makes an effort to avoid stressful situations and people. Now a volunteer for the Heaft and Stroke Foundation of Waterloo Region, Cluttlh" The Area's Lut6ttt Solution Continued on page 15 KNEE WON more Focus for Ethnic Women will be holding the sew enth annual Focus on Friends celebration on March 4. during International Women's Week. The event cientres on an award ceremony recog- nizing local women who demonstrate the strong spirit of volunteerism Waterloo Region is known for. The honourees are Renu Bhandari, a certified management accountant from India, and Ramona Servellon. a Sun Life Financial support clerk from Honduras. The event, which also includes dinner, entertain- ment byTraces Steel Band, and a popular silent auc- tion will be held at Golf's Steak House. Tickets are $60 with a $35 tax receipt provided. For more information, to purchase tickets or to make a donation, call 519-746-34ll. You can also email frewtPgolden.net or go to www.few.on.ca. The Waterloo Historical Society will be holding a general meeting at the Waterloo Community Arts Centre on March 5 at 7:30 p.m. - Sharon Jaeger of Wilfrid laurier University, the co-author of Waterloo: An Illustrated History, 1857- 2007. will be speaking on the topic of the changing face of uptown Waterloo. Everyone is welcome. For Gore information call 519-742-4990 or email rychmills@goldenmet or sjaeger@wlu.ca. The public is invited to a free informative and interactive symposium presented by Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation on March 5 at Binge- mans Embassy Room. Doors opefi at 6 pm. Take some time to visit the display booths. Light lefreshrnenty will be ayailable. Presenters include Dr. van der Kooy from the University of Toronto, Sean Doherty, who remotely monitors diabetic patients' daily activities, and Pip Mitten, who is an Islet cell recipient in her second year of living without type 1 diabetes. A - - Please Rifvp by Feb? '27 to Usa at 5i9-745-2426'or lmilligan@idrf.ca. There will be a free screening of Mike Leigh's Oscar-winning film Topsy-'Nrvey on March 1 at 7 p.m. at the 404 Wing Rotary Adult Centre, 510 Dut- ton Dr., in Waterloo. It is presented by the Waterloo Regional Gilbert and Sullivan Society. For information, go to www.gswaterloo.ca. Focus for Ethnic Women holds annual event Diabetes symposium Free movie screening Author talks about changes in Waterloo WATERLOO CHIDNICLE . Wednesday, February 27, 2008 . t I 14tti'i