How Hockey – and Our Cardiac Program – Saved Greg Arnold's Life
Published Wednesday, February 21, 2024
by Graham Strong
Greg Arnold believes hockey saved his life, though not in the way you might think.
Greg is healthy and more active than the average 63-year-old. He golfs, walks about 70 kilometres a month, coaches high school football, and plays competitive hockey. Even though most of the players on his team are about his age, they routinely win tournaments against teams 20 years younger.
“I'll play hockey until I can't play hockey anymore,” Greg said.
But at the beginning of the season, Greg noticed his game was a little off. He got winded faster than usual. He also felt dizzy at times and fell down so much he was convinced that his skate blade was cracked. The real warning sign though was the twinge along the top-left of his chest.
Thankfully, Greg listened to his body and got a referral for a stress test. After four minutes on the treadmill, the doctor gave him the all-clear.
“That's what we all want to hear, right? It would have been so easy to say, ‘Great!' and walk away,” Greg said. “But the stress test wasn't really pushing me. So I asked if I could keep going. I didn't want to leave until I felt that pain again.”
Sure enough, the pain showed up at eight and a half minutes and the doctor shut down the test. An angiogram revealed he had a 90% blockage. They booked his angioplasty for a week later.
“I was confident everything would be alright,” said his wife Kelly, who is the Director of Engagement at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation. “I've toured the Cath Labs. I've written about our Cardiac Program and medical professionals. From all this, I knew he was in great hands.”
“I went from trepidation to looking forward to getting the procedure done,” Greg said. “I realized looking back that all these little signs – dizziness, feeling winded, tweaks of chest pain – it was all because of this blockage. I knew once it was fixed, I'd be back to feeling normal.”
Greg was right. In fact, he felt like he could step out onto the ice again the day after his angioplasty, but his doctor told him to wait. Now, less than three months after being diagnosed, Greg is back on the ice and the team is getting ready for their next big tournament in April.
“Now I tell everyone: if you feel like something's wrong, go in and get it tested until you find out what's going on.”
Greg said that he felt lucky he was able to be treated right here in Thunder Bay.
“I know how people can be scared about going to Toronto for treatment. Some leave and they wonder if they'll ever see the city again.”
That's why the Northern Cardiac Fund is important, he said. Closer-to-home care is so much easier and convenient. “I'll tell you, there's nothing like going in for your procedure and getting picked up the next morning to go home.”
Today, our Hospital is bringing even more services, including cardiac surgery, here thanks to your help.
“I was happy to hear that they were bringing cardiovascular surgery to Thunder Bay. I thought it was about time. There's no reason that we should have to travel for something that they could do right here.”
Your donation to the Northern Cardiac Fund will fund a local cardiac surgery program as well as support the cardiac care programs we already have. That includes a new Cath Lab, which just became operational last month.
Every dollar helps! To make your gift this Heart Month, please visit healthsciencesfoundation.ca/cardiac-donate or call (807) 345-4673. Thank you!