Interview HF26

Age at interview: 72

Age at diagnosis: 59

Brief Outline: 1990 pacemaker (replaced in 1996 and 2003). Experienced tiredness and some dizziness since 1992. Not sure when heart failure diagnosed.

Background: Retired farmer; married with 4 children.

He describes his experience of an electrocardiogram.

The woman says, 'You're absolutely hopeless'. She says, 'You've got one speed, and you can't go any faster! That's why, because you walk every day, and you're a farmer and you walk every day, and you've got that speed and that's it!'. She says, 'Your heart won't allow you to do any more, and that's it'. She says, 'You're hopeless. You won't go any faster!'. So I came off it then.

How long were you on it?

Oh, about 10 minutes. Yeah.

And were you walking at an incline?

Yeah. Aye.
 

He finds that digging and other kinds of hard work take him twice as long as before.

Well, I could work hard, I mean, nearly anything, dig anything, all hard work, but I just got gradually worse and couldn't do it, that was the thing.

So, if you describe for me, would be helpful, I think, is if you describe what your daily life was like before you had the problem, and now what you can do.  That would be helpful?

I can do half as much as I used to. I can't do hard work now, or heavy work, no. I can do light work, and I could go all day, but I couldn't do hard work, no.

Right. I don't really know the difference between what you mean by hard work and light work, so if you could give me some examples, that would be helpful. What can you do?  

I could go and dig a hole. I still can, but it takes twice as long.