Cardiac Ablasion: Week One

I went into Blake Medical Center on Monday, Feb 7^th fully pumped, not for the impending ablasion, but because the Green Bay Packers had vanquished the Pittsburgh Steelers the night before. I play softball with a bunch of guys from western Pennsylvania and wanted so much to go out and see them, wearing my Packers tee shirt and ballcap. Unfortunately my cardiologist, Dr. Akella, had different plans for me.

I got to the hospital as 8:30, as instructed, got jabbed a few times and prepped for the procedure. It got started later than expected because Dr. Akella was involved in an open heart procedure at the other hospital in town and got delayed because of complications in that session. Anyway, everything went well. I guess I was out for about five and a half hours, according to Pam. That evening I was getting along fine until later on when I tried to urinate, but it was too painful. The spigot just shut down because of the pain and I couldn't do anything at all. The nurse ended up catheterizing me, something I don't want to go through twice in my life. On a scale of 1-10, the pain was about a 12 or 13 when she inserted the catheter. After that was done, it was still painful to urinate but I was able to get past the pain with each ensuing whiz. I really didn't sleep much that night, and got sprung shortly before noon on Tuesday.

I've only had one bad day--last Thursday when I tossed and turned all night long. I felt sluggish as all get out, so I went in and took a nap for a couple of hours and that really recharged the batteries. I was out of A-Fib the day after the procedure, so I imagine they may have shocked the heart back into normal rhythm before doing the ablasion. Other than that one day, I have felt pretty good. Hoping it will continue.

I've just been chilling around the house, for the most part ever since. We went to do some grocery shopping late last week, with Pam doing all the driving (she hates to drive). I was unable to make Meeting for Worship on Sunday. I wasn't going to go, but decided Saturday I would like to go with a friend who lives nearby. However when I called her, she had a house guest and was not going. So I just sat home and watched a PBS documentary on the life and legacy of the Buddha. In fact, I ended up watching documentaries all day long, save for one movie. Yesterday we did some more grocery shopping and I drove for the first time. Today I headed back to class--a mini course at the Univ of South Fla on chamber music, a class I really love. It goes for another month and I had to miss last Tuesday's session. Afterwards I went to see Dr. Akella for a Coumadin check and follow-up. He told me that he did the cardioversion, shocking the heart back into normal sinus rhythm, so that he could do the ablasion without the heart sort of vibrating and beating irregularly. I’m still in normal rhythm, although we won’t know for sure if the procedure worked for about 2-3 months. We’ll have to wait that long to determine if scar tissue has formed to block the stray impulses in the heart. I'm also planning on resuming my hospice volunteering (Thursday at Hospice House and Friday with a patient at his house). In the meantime, I'm preparing an agenda for the Sarasota Friends Meeting for Business this Sunday.

So, in sum, I guess I'm getting back into the swing of things. Looking forward to Spring Training starting up. The Pirates train here in Bradenton and the Orioles train in Sarasota. Let the games begin! I’ve already got my tickets.