P.E.I. politician makes life-saving changes after health scare
CBC
It was just before Christmas when Sonny Gallant noticed he was a little short of breath.
"It would come and go," Gallant said. "Then on Sunday, when I went to church, I couldn't breathe through my mask so I thought 'OK. There's something wrong.'"
The MLA for Evangeline-Miscouche and interim Liberal leader decided to get it checked out.
He saw his nurse practitioner the next day and things got serious quickly. She sent him to the hospital, where he was admitted into the intensive care unit for six days, and then sent to the hospital in Saint John, N.B., for a dye test.
"The initial news that there was something wrong with my heart was scary. Then waiting for the dye test was quite a time because that's what tells you exactly what happened and what they can do for you," Gallant said.
The results of the dye test revealed a blockage in two arteries.
"Which is not something to take lightly," he said. "They saw there was some damage. They gave me some medication and I didn't need surgery."
They told him to head home, take the medication and change his lifestyle.
"It certainly puts things in a different perspective for you," he said, adding that while he was in the hospital, he thought about how he should have had a different diet and exercise more.
He made those changes when doctors sent him home — and now has lost a little weight and feels he can breathe a lot better now.
"Certainly a wake-up call," he said.
He took the opportunity during Friday's sitting of the legislature to thank all the medical professionals who helped him, and while thanking his wife and family, he broke down with the emotion of it. His speech won him a rare standing ovation in the house.
Gallant's story is one of about 100,000 like it every year in Canada, according to the Heart and Stroke Foundation.
And people like him — with a high public profile and willing to tell their story — are a big help getting the message about heart disease out to those who need it.
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This story is part of CBC Health's Second Opinion, a weekly analysis of health and medical science news emailed to subscribers on Saturday mornings. If you haven't subscribed yet, you can do that by clicking here.
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