Do you know what yours is and do you....

.... know what it is supposed to be?

Having gone through the last couple of weeks, looking at my general well-being and monitoring symptoms such as cholestorel, I have had to pay particular attention to my blood pressure.

I had already invested in a blood pressure monitor, but hadn't paid much attention to using it with any great regularity, or worse understanding exactly what the numbers meant.

So post stent procedure and the new regime of drug therapy I have paid much closer attention and it's with great pleasure I can report that acceptable and normal levels of blood pressure have been achieved.

A very useful chart and explanation of the mysterious numbers can be found here.

I have been a bit quiet of late.....

.... because I am now the permanent owner of one of these.... a coronary stent.

At the age of 41, I have been fitted with a device that opened a blocked artery in my heart. Not entirely unexpected as my father had a quadruple heart by-pass at the age of 45. But nonetheless a sobering and frankly shocking turn of events in a very short period of time.

Hats off to GP, insurance company, specialists and North Hampshire Hospital at Basingstoke, I went from GP visit on 19th September to stent fitting on 6th October, with various appointments and milestones inbetween.

I am now recovering at home by watching Harry Potter and too many episodes of QI to mention. But in the future a return to the gym and regular walks are on the cards, plus cutting out any crap food that I did occassionally partake of.