Alan Titchmarsh 'escapes' to his shed to show off his potatoes
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Alan Titchmarsh, whose father died from a heart attack at the age of 62, was airlifted from his home in the Isle of Wight in 2016 and taken to Portsmouth’s Queen Alexandra Hospital. Titchmarsh was having chest pain after eating fish and chips and an easter egg. Initially, he thought the pain was indigestion but it wouldn’t go away, indicating that it was something worse.
“I hoped I wasn’t going to die, and I was hanging on in there but the pain was so acute at one point I thought it might be a blessed relief,” Titchmarsh told the Bournemouth Echo in 2017.
“I didn’t know what was wrong and although I didn’t think it was a heart attack because the pain wasn’t going down my arm, it was frightening,” he added.
It turned out Titchmarsh had developed gallstones, a common condition in the UK that is caused by chemical imbalances in the digestive bile found in your gallbladder–an organ in the upper part of your abdomen.
Solid substances made of cholesterol are formed there, varying from the size of a grain of sand to a pebble.
Titchmarsh was given surgery by the Portsmouth hospital and has since been using statins which reduce the amount of cholesterol in your blood.
The most common procedure to deal with gallstones is called laparoscopic cholecystectomy, also known as a gallbladder removal procedure.
According to the NHS, “you don’t need a gallbladder”.
After this procedure, which is simple and low-risk, you will continue creating bile but it will go to the small intestine instead of the gallbladder.
Gallstones often have no symptoms but can become trapped in the opening of the gallbladder, causing sudden, intense pain.
Although Titchmarsh described chest pain, the NHS describes how the pain arises in your tummy and lasts between one and five hours.
There are also complications that can come with gallstones, such as inflammation of the gallbladder.
The symptoms of this are persistent pain, jaundice, and high temperature, states the NHS.
Other than taking statins, Titchmarsh has implemented a couple of simple lifestyle changes to reduce his cholesterol.
“I watch my weight and am careful with my diet, and it was a rare treat that day to have homemade fish and chips followed by an Easter egg,” he told the Sunday Post.
“Thankfully, after a straightforward operation, I haven’t had any more trouble,” he added.
This wasn’t the first time Titchmarsh has had health concerns.
Titchmarsh has already outlived his father by a decade, which he said has led him to be more careful about his health.
In 2014, he stepped away from his chat show The Alan Titchmarsh show, emphasising the need to “ease up a bit, and pace myself”.
Back then, he said: “The truth of the matter is that I’ve decided to ease up a bit, and pace myself.
“I’ve been doing the chat show for eight years now – and I thought it was time to move on while it was still doing well, rather than let it all dwindle.”
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