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e477 "18a dat vebasu FAT? Rua Yon 12 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, February 14, 1989 Jack still harbours hope despite battle with heart Last August Jack and Bonnie Davies bought themselves a fifth wheel camper. They were looking forward to driving down to Florida once in a while, and exploring our conti- nent's highways in their retire- ment years. But the camper hasn't moved from the couple's Honey' s Beach driveway. Likely it won't be go- _ ing anywhere for quite some time. Jack's heart just can't take it. At 57, Jack Davies has had more problems with his heart than any man his age has the right to expect. For the last 20 years he has battled heart disease. He has suf- fered one major heart attack, nu- merous bouts of heart failure and a by-pass operation. He has died and been resuscitated four times. And yet he manages to maintain a sense of humour, courage and hope. : His wife Bonnie says, "I can't believe how positive Jack is. He doesn't let all this get him down." Jack's problems began in 1969, when he was just 37 years old. He was building a rec room in the basement of his home (then in Markham--he and Bonnie have lived at Honey's Beach, north of Port Perry, for the last five years), with the help of a neighbour's 12 year old son, when he simply col- psed with a terrible pain in his oy The boy took off, frightened, leaving Jack to weakly call for help. "I felt really good that day. I coached ball at the time, and worked all day at the arena taking registration. I felt extremely well," he recalls. "I came home, went up and had supper, and went down to work in the rec room. "I hit a nail twice and bang, that was it. It felt like a horse kick in the chest." A doctor came to his house, and an ambulance, which took him to Scarborough General Hospital, where he did, in fact, die four times. He doesn't remember any of it, and didn't even know how close he came to losing his life for good, until he ran into a nurse six months later who helped resusci- tate him. His father had died young from a heart attack. Jack's brother was felled by heart problems when he was just 36. The father of three children and a salesman of automotive parts, Jack was under a fair amount of stress. And he smoked. In fact, the moment he realized he was having a heart attack, ly- ing on the unfinished rec room floor, he pulled out a deck of cig- arettes and lit up. He was a prime candidate for heart disease. A doctor at the time told him, "Now you've got the body of a Cadillac and the engine of an Aus- tin." According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario, there's direct link between smok- ing and heart disease. A family history of heart problems can make an individual more prone to attacks, angina or strokes. Stress and poor eating habits can also contribute. Jack says he ate reasonably healthy, so his diet didn't change drastically after the heart attack. But he did quit smoking and didn't touch a cigarette for nine years. Exercise is proven preventative medicine for heart ailments, but for a while after the attack (he was in the hospital for a month), he couldn't walk as far as the drive- way. Gradually he built himself up until, "for a long time after- ward 1 walked every day for a mile." His good habits, acquired by fear of another attack, were firmly en- trenched in the beginning. Slow- ly, over a period of years, he lost a little of his resolve. In 1978 he started smoking again. In 1980, he suffered heart fail- ure. He and Bonnie were living in Brooklin at the time. Jack was having problems sleeping, was tired frequently, and went down to Oshawa General Hospital for tests. It was heart failure, alright. He spent three weeks in hospital, quit smoking, and hasn't touched a cigarette since. pite his new resolve, heart failure continued to plague him. On New Year's Eve, while every- one else was ringing in 1988, Jack and Bonnic went to St. Mi- chacl's Hospital in Toronto. He stayed there waiting for doc- tors to find time to give him a by- pass operation. On February 8, they did. At 12:30 p.m. his chest was washed and shaved in the operat- ing room. He was put under, and doctors opened up his chest, hold- ing the ribs apart with clamps. Veins were taken from his one leg to replace damaged arteries nea his heart. Doctors had told Jack's family the operation might take four tc six hours. "But I was still in the operating room at 5 p.m." Jack says. When medical staff got a good look at his heart, they realized, Bonnie says, "His heart was dam- aged more than they thought." Jack wasn't out of surgery until 7 p.m. Two days after the operation, carrying 20 pounds of excess fluid in his body, with his chest held together by wire, "they had me walking." Seven days later, he was home to recuperate. He should have started feeling better once the basic healing pro- cess was over--most by-pass pa- tients do--but Jack says, "It was a terrible year. I never did feel good." When May rolled around he was ack at St. Mike's with three more bouts of heart failure, caused by the build-up of fluid. When he got home, he was taking 24 pills every day (plus insulin injections- -he's diabetic). By September, Jack was in terri- ble pain. Sick to his stomach, un- able to eat, still bloated by fluids, and suffering from pain in his leg, back and shoulders, life wasn't good. "I was so sick, I just prayed I would die," he says. When he went in for the by-pass operation he figured, "If I come out of this, I'll be fine." And while he admits the surgery did help sli , he says his heart was too b he ad for the by- pass to do wk good. When he had his first attack, Jack weighed 195 pounds. He now weighs 145. He cannot eat anything with sat- urated oils (butter, whole milk, (Turn to page 14) \ ON DEDUCTIBLE OF ANY INSURANCE WINDSHIELD CLAIM Limit One Purchase $10. WORTH OF FREE GAS After all the pain and uncertainty Jack Davies of Honey's Beach has suffered, he is still able to muster up a smile. His wife Bonnie claims Jack has an incred- ibly positive attitude towards life, despite serious heart problems. See story for details. row LEADERSHIP ON PARADE ------------ The biggest introduction of new equipment in John Deere history Is coming your way. Get ready to join the Tifa | JOHN DEERE DAY 89 | DATE: Wednesday, March 8, 1989 TIME: 1:30 PM & 8:00 PM AT: UTICA FARM EQUIPMENT i. 2 MILES WEST of 985-9701 MANCHESTER BT I. A -------- A A SA A Sa BGs, I Sl il