Omagh man credits cardiac unit for life changing care

For 16 years, Omagh’s Cardiac Assessment Unit (CAU) has quietly served the community, yet its existence remains relatively unknown until worrying – or even dire – circumstances prompt a visit.

Just ask Joe Quinn, whose declining health led him to the CAU’s doorstep.

“My wife and I are good walkers… But when I started lagging behind and feeling breathless, it was a stark change,” recalls Joe, a former UH employee for upwards of 40 years.

Now retired, Joe enjoys being active outdoors with his wife, Eileen.

“I was always the fittest of the two of us – taking long steps and always ahead,” he continued,

“But then it started to get to the stage where Eileen was passing me.

“She would ask ‘are you ok?’, to which I would reply ‘actually no, I’m a bit breathless.’

“I was sweaty, out of breath and my heart felt like it was vibrating inside my chest like a mobile phone – nothing was running right for me,” Joe explained.

It eventually got to the point where Joe became so short of breath that he didn’t want to walk anymore.

Eileen became concerned and encouraged Joe to seek help.

“Men are generally very slow at reaching out for help but Eileen kept on at me, and then one Friday morning I phoned the doctor,” he said.

It was a decision that would change his life. Joe, like many others, wasn’t ‘remotely aware’ of the Cardiac Assessment Unit and the life-changing services provided there.

“I didn’t know you could come straight to them with concerns,” he said.

Directed to the CAU by his GP, Joe found himself in capable hands.

“I spent around six and a half hours being treated here and it was the best move I ever made, because within days they had me back to a (nearly) clean bill of health.”

Joe is fulsome in his praise for the unit in terms of the ‘sheer speed’ at which they diagnosed him.

“I attended the CAU on the Friday and by Sunday I got a call to come back as they discovered what was wrong with me.

“They had my situation analysed that quick,” he stated.

DIAGNOSIS

Joe was diagnosed with Atrial Fibrillation, a condition which causes an irregular and often abnormally fast heart rate.

Joe’s irregular heart rhythm necessitated treatment, including cardioversion.

This is a medical procedure that uses quick, low-energy shocks to restore a regular heart rhythm, but Joe is back out walking with his wife and dogs.

“I’m now on a course of medication,” he explains.

“I wouldn’t say I’m 100%, but I’m 95%… as long as I take my medication regularly”

Joe credits the CAU team for their swiftness and expertise.

“They are a special group of people,” he praises.

“You can simply walk in and be taken seriously.

“I honestly don’t know where I would be if I hadn’t got my initial treatment that day,” Joe concluded.