The cardiology clinic

The cardiology clinic

We arrived at the cardiology clinic, a clean and bright ground floor unit in a residential part of town, to be greeted by Sophie, a chatty nurse with a lovely smile. There was no need to sit in the waiting room, she took us directly through to a consulting room and wasted no time in getting Adrian onto the bed and hooked up to the first set of machines. With clips on his ankles, wrists and wires on his chest he was told to lie back and not move, even his head. The doctor arrived, introduced himself, looked at Adrian’s notes and quietly watched the test results on his computer screen. This test was followed by an ultrasound scan of his heart and arteries while I watched on as images were frozen on screen and measurements were taken, and none of it made any sense to me.

It could have been very scary, seeing Adrian hooked up to machines and hearing his heartbeat amplified on the scanner. However it was just another example of French health efficiency and after twenty minutes we were on our way with a clean bill of health for Adrian’s heart.

To do any sport in France it is normal to need a medical certificate from your doctor, so with Adrian’s Ardechoise sportive and his Ride London Surrey 100 coming up we thought we ought to see our doctor, even though we discovered afterwards that the option he has chosen to ride in the Ardechoise isn’t classified as an event needing a cycling licence or medical certificate to take part. Our doctor, delighted to have a rare visit from Adrian, went to town checking him over and ordered a complete set of glucose and cholesterol bloods, that all came back normal. However, as his Dad has had heart issues and his Grandfather died in his forties, from a heart attack, our doctor wanted him to see a cardiologist, just to be safe.

It is certainly nice to know that everything is working as it should and the cardiologist has no worries about him pedalling away on his bike. To celebrate he achieved his first Strava King of the Mountains listing on a short hill section in the Charente Maritime – Go Adrian!