On Tuesday 9 December, W Bro James Dunlop of Harmony Lodge No. 5835 (meeting at Harrow District Masonic Centre) returned to Harefield Hospital—this time not as a patient, but to give thanks. On behalf of his Lodge, he visited the hospital and presented a cheque for £250, a small contribution offered with heartfelt appreciation for the care that had quite literally changed the course of his life.
This donation follows major surgery earlier in the year, after W Bro James was referred to Harefield Hospital following a visit to his GP. His symptoms were shortness of breath and numbness in his forearms. At the hospital he was seen by a consultant nurse who carried out routine checks, which were all satisfactory, and he was close to being returned to his GP’s care.
However, W Bro James had researched his symptoms on the NHS website and shared what he had found. As he was not experiencing chest pains, there was no immediate trigger for further tests—but he was offered a place on a research project, which would explore the concerns he had raised.
Soon after, a baseline chest scan for the research project revealed an unexpected issue requiring further investigation. An angiogram was arranged, and W Bro James went in thinking that, at worst, a couple of stents might be needed.
Instead, while he lay awake on the operating table, the consultant monitoring the procedure delivered sobering news: a triple heart bypass would be required. Surgery was booked for the following week. He met the heart surgeon only minutes before the operation, who explained that, to save time and get him into surgery sooner, a longer consultation had been dispensed with—adding that had the angiogram results arrived earlier, he would not have been allowed home, with one artery 90% blocked.
The surgery went well. Living alone, W Bro James remained in hospital for five days, during which the Lodge Almoner, W Bro Ken Hutchings, visited twice. After discharge, he undertook eight weeks of cardiac rehabilitation, noting that surprisingly few patients take up the offer.
His message is simple: look up your symptoms on the NHS website and act on them. “It saved my life.”
Edited by W Bro Peter Swatton, ProvGCO
