Nothing New

Noting new to report lately. I did have a short run of eptopics a day last week that I thought were surely going to lead to an event. Fortunately they were short lived and did not progress.

Tickets and reservations are made for my July trip back to Austin for my 4th and hopefully last ablation. I'm excited and ready to put this chapter of my life behind me. Hopefully forever.

I'm also excited as I will be able to see and have my ablation done @ TCAI's new Electrophysiology Center.

Outpacing Myself

Had another break through the other day. Came home from work and was helping with dinner when it happened. this one was the worst thus far. My heart rate reached 204 bpm which is by no means a record for me but its been a while since I have seen numbers that high. Ended up taking 200 mg of Flecanide and 7mg of Metoprolol and converted about 3 hours later.

This event really sapped it out of me. I was completely wiped out through the following day into the evening. So much so I took the elevator at work and did nothing when I got home from work. This is the issue with afib. It almost always gets worse instead of better. You may plateau but it will eventually take a stronger hold.

The Date Is Set

I took some recordings with my KARDIA and sent the best one to DR. Natale's nurse. She got back to me right away and we discussed when I was coming back for a touch-up ablation. I told her I was just waiting to hear back from his scheduler to set a date since I had passed on the last date that was offered to me. Things at that time did not seem that bad but after the other night I feel its time. His scheduler got in touch with me yesterday and I scheduled an appointment for July 18. That's 2 months away but that time will go quickly. It will also give me time to continue to regain some fitness before hand.

Afib Break Throughts

I have had a total of 3 Break Through events this year.Feb 15, April 1 and April 14. Two of them happened wile relaxed and the other at the gym. Non of these happened under any conditions I am used to. My events were always just after or during sustained cardio exercise whereas 2 of these happened in relaxed states. The latest being after being called out to work and not getting any rest.
The event happened @ the 18 hour mark of being awake and lasted for an hour. I took a Flecanide since I had so little sleep and didn't want to chance not converting on my own. This event lasted 1 hour as the other 2 about 1/2 hour.

I was able to have the April 1 event captured on a 12 lead EKG. I was at the gym when I went out of rhythm so I Gathered up my son and headed to the local ambulance service. They have 2 centers in town and I just happened on the one that only schedules transportation. After spending a few minutes trying to tell them that I didn't need an ER just a 12 lead EKG they said I should try their other office.

So back to the truck and across town the their other facility. I walk in and they are having a paramedic class. One of the instructors came out into the hall and I again start explaining my needs. Their first response was to ask if I wanted to go to the hospital. After a few minutes of explaining that all I needed was a 12 lead EKG before I convert back to NSR. That I did not need a hospital that was going to charge me $1000, maybe or maybe not get to me before I converted, then try to admit me the finally got the comfort level that I was aware of what I was doing.

They took me over to the Paramedic side of the building and they briefly explained my situation and what I needed and the manager grabbed their Portable EKG and lead me to their lounge. They hooked me up and got a recording. I thanked them and made my way back to the truck and converted back to NSR without meds, so I was out of rhythm for about 30 minutes same as last time There was allot of other conversation and banter in between, mostly them trying to tell me I should go to ER. They were also confused why the doctor would not want me to go to the ER. I tried to explain the situation but they didn't seam to understand. I did appreciate their concern though.

I am currently waiting to hear back from Dr. Natale's scheduler to set a date for a touch-up ablation. I was offered a May date but decided to wait for something a little later. Hopefully June or July at the latest. She is waiting for him to release his dates for those months.My family wants to come along so I think we will make it a road trip. My son and wife can both drive so I can relax coming home. This ablation should be a walk in the park as the main focus will be on the LAA and the completion of its isolation. I have never felt to bad following any of my ablations so all should be good. We will just meander home from Texas and pass through Nashville and Memphis. Probably catch the Blue Ridge Parkway as well.

Still Riding

I've still been doing some riding to try to find the fitness I lost somewhere along the way. My rides have been averaging a minimum of 30 miles and I have had both the Pinarello and the Jari out. I took the Jari the other day out of necessity.I broke a spoke on the last outing on the Pinarello and am waiting on MAVIC to send me the spokes to repair it. I ordered them a week ago and after speaking to them yesterday it looks like they may ship out tomorrow.

I really enjoy the Jari but it is a different animal from the Pinarello. Allot more relaxed and in by no measure a speed machine. At least it isn't with the tires it has on it now anyway. It does allow for me to get off of the beaten path which I did again the other day. I had hoped for a 40 mile day but time wasn't going to allow for that on the Jari so I opted for something a little shorter. I still ended up with 34 miles but was able to finish up on one of the local Rail To Trails in the area. It was nice as I was able to ride a portion of the trail I had never ridden before. Here is a link to the ride. I didn't set the world on fire so far as speed goes. And I didn't get the mileage I was looking for. But I did get close to 3 hours in the saddle and that is what I am looking for more than anything right now. Time in the saddle will translate to fitness soon enough.

Such a Disappointment

The shop where I bought my last bike sold out to another. I really liked Glens shop. Lots of eye candy and great customer service. Glen understood what it was to be a cyclist and also what it took to connect with the customer. I judge all bike shops on how I ran mine in another life time. Not to toot my own horn but I was good at it. Not only the mechanical side of things but also the sales side. The connecting with people and helping them find what they needed to make cycling enjoyable and hopefully become a passion for them as it is for me.

I never prejudged anyone that came though my doors. Not even the guy that came in to my store to purchase a bike to ride across the country that had only ridden some rails to trails up until that very day. That's a story in and of itself. Weather they wanted me to fix their Walmart special, purchase a comfort bike or something super high end for those that already had the passion. It didn't matter to me. I love cycling and love to share that with others and get excited to see someone interested. I got to know so many interesting people on my cycling journey and continue to to this very day.

So my wife and I ventured to the shop that had bought out Glens place. I've been three before as they sponsor a cycling team that I used to sponsor. I have never been real impressed and this time was no different. Not only did they not have the parts I needed which has happened before their customer service also sucks. 

My wife was window shopping as her interest in cycling has returned. She was unfamiliar with the store and happened in a part where they sell electric bikes which she has zero interest in. A sales person approached her and started to try to sell her on the electric bike. Her response was why would I ever want something to help me i would rather exercise. Instead of helping her he just walked away. She would have never been neglected like that at Glens place or mine for that matter. this is a woman that cycled almost 3000 miles, completing several centuries the summer leading up to the birth of our son. She actually cycled up until she was into her eighth month of pregnancy.

As we were leaving, both disgusted, she eyed a Pinarello with pink graphics hanging on the wall. She inquired about it and the salesman blurted out a price and walked away. We left even more disgusted after that. She was really interested and would have like to take a look at it but after that decided to look elsewhere.

Lots Going On

Not much new on the heart front. Only a few eptopics hear and there but nothing sustained. I've been getting to the gym, Zwifting, riding my bike and working on the falcon.

I got out on the bike 3 days last week. First day was cool, the second day in the 70's and the third day back to the 50's with wind gusts in the 30's. That third day wasn't a whole lot of fun. I ended up with almost 80 miles over the three days. I hit the road the first 2 days and took my gravel bike on the third. Ended up in whites woods for the tail end of Fridays ride.

Tanoma Road

 

Five Points

Coal is alive and well in Pennsylvania. They have been talking about putting this coal loading facility in for a long time now. They finally got it up and running last year. Since I was unable to ride last year this is the first time I have been past it. They bring coal out of the mine on the right side of the road the convey it across the road to load trains.

  

Coal loading facility

 

Coal pile waiting to be loaded

Third days ride ended up in whites woods. Was supposed to be a recovery ride but the high winds put a quick end to that. The woods weren't much better since the trails are still soft from the spring thaw.

 

Soft ground

 

WHAHOO

Me and a tree in Whites Woods

Steady As She Goes

Not a whole lot of new news to report. I did get the results of my Zio Patch and there wasn't allot to report from that. There were 17 or so recordable events, the longest lasting 17 beats. Other than that there was not much to tell. The events didn't last long enough and the Zio patch is limited in the amount of information that can be gleaned from it. In order to get any real information I will need to capture an event on a  lead EKG. and for that to happen the events are going to have to last a whole lot longer than that.

I did have a half hour long event that I converted using Flecanide. This was after I had sent the Zio back and had not yet heard from my doctor. I did get a recording of it on my Kardia but again it is indeterminable what exactly what the rhythm was. I'n not in the lease worried though as the worst case scenario is  I go back to Austin and have Dr. Natale sort it out. We discussed this possibility following my procedure and as anyone that has dealt with this knows this is not uncommon. I also talked to Shannon shortly after all of this came about and we had a nice conversation.

All of this of course has pushed back my visit to Austin to have another TEE done to ascertain the function of my LAA and see if I will be able to come off of the Elequis. So until then it will be life normal and being able to capture any oddities along the way.

Back On The Bike

I started back on the trainer a couple weeks ago and I have been back to the gym now for a couple of months. I have been pretty faithful at getting to the gym but wasn't real regular on the bike at first but I am getting to be more frequent. I always thought it was amazing how fast you lost fitness over just a few months but over a year off of the bike has really left it's mark. But I'm thankful that I can do either considering where I was this time last year.

Monitoring My Every Move

My heart rate monitor arrived last week and its unlike any I have ever had in the past. Its called the ZIO Patch. It is the smallest monitor I have ever been prescribed by a doctor. It's pretty simple in design and has no wires. The only issue I have encountered is the adhesive does not tolerate showers and exercise real well. So I had to come up with and alternative to help hold it in place that has worked out real well. I have been using Kinesio Tape in addition to the manufactures adhesive and it is working out real well. The other issue with the patch is there is no way of knowing if it is actually working. It will flash orange if it come unattached, which it did when I removed it. I should have taken a photo of that as well as it is very noticeable when this occurs.

I have thought of some other design changes I would make as well that are geared to those wearing it who are more active. These ideas would also benefit those with skin sensitivity as it would allow for re-positioning of the device every couple days. I may send them a suggestion or two as this is what I used to do for a living at one point in my life. I also verified that my addition of the Kinesio tape was successful as when I removed the tape it basically fell off and started blinking orange. The Kinesio tape was also less irritating to my skin.


The time frame for me to wear it ended Wednesday. I will then send it back and the results will be sent to Dr. Natale for review. If all is well I will come off of the metoprolol and be scheduled for a return trip to Austin for a TEE (Trans-Esophageal Electrocardiography) to check the function of my left atrial appendage. If that is ok then I will be able to come off of the Elequis.

Cycling In Place

I finally got the trainer set up the other day. I also purchased a Smart TV and a Lightning HDMI adapter for my I-pad so I can mirror the screen to the TV. It makes Zwifting allot more entertaining. I'm not a huge Apple fan but I got the I-pad for free last year so I'll use it for now.

I' been sick now for the past several days so really haven't had much chance to use the new setup but I'm feeling better and should get back to it this week. I also start my seven day break this coming Wednesday so I'll have lots of time to focus on this as well as some other outstanding projects I have been neglecting lately. 

Waiting With Bated Breath

That's how I picture the 2 or 3 of you that visit this blog randomly.

Anyway, things are going well right now. I am completely off of the anti-rhythmic drugs and my heart continues to stay in rhythm. Its really nice to be off of the Flecanide, though I have never had any issues with it. I can't say the same for the Metoprolol but I'm stuck with that for a while I guess. I am assuming that Dr. Natale will have me stop that as well within the next month.

So far as the spinal issues those are on the mend as well and had my last visit to therapy last week. I would still like to keep going for a while but my script ran out. She was sending a letter to the doc so we will see what he says. I also got a bike ride in last week as well so things are looking up. Its been just a little over a month since I was unable to walk from one end of the house without stopping to take a break. The bodies ability to heal itself is truly amazing, though I am completely aware that the slightest wrong move could set me back to where I was. That right now is my biggest fear.

I also made my first visit back to the gym last night. In the same way I am in awe of the bodies ability to heal itself I am also frustrated in the way that it loses its fitness so quickly. The upside to that fitness and healing are pretty much the same so I know that in a relatively short period of time I'll be back on top of it.

3 Months

Today marks the 3 month anniversary (blanking period) of my ablation with Dr. Natale in Texas. It has also been over a month since I have had any Arrhythmia issues so all is good. Dr. Natales office contacted me on Thursday and and said that he wants me to stop the anti-arrythmic drugs (Flecanide) to see if I my heart will maintain NSR without it.

This is the point where apprehension sets in. Of course I don't want to be on these drugs anymore, but I also don't want to have another procedure if I can help it. They said that I could just stop the Flecanide but I am going to taper off of it over the next week. I, as well as many other afibbers are firm believers in not stopping the drugs that promote NSR cold turkey as many have experienced rebound for doing so. Of course they usually convert back to NSR in a short time, but if that can be avoided, why not. Besides that, we all know that Afib begets Afib so why chance it. I've been on them since January so what is a few more days in the grand scheme of things.

The taper I will do will be to reduce my intake a little bit every 3rd day. I am currently taking 200 mg a day so I will start with 175mg for 2 days, then 150 mg for 2 days, 125 mg for 2 days....etc.

During this time and for an unknown period of time afterwards I will remain on the metoprolol and elequis.

5 Weeks In

Its been 5 weeks since my ablation with Dr.Natale in Austin. And my heart has been quite since my Cardioversion 2 weeks ago. No PAC's, PVC's, Eptopics or any other type of arrhythmia. To say I am happy about that is an understatement and I hope that it continues. There are still a couple months to go in the blanking period.

Of course I am still dealing with the Sciatic Nerve pain from my L4-L5 disc bulge. I've been to the ER twice over the past couple weeks with it as doctors have seemed to just leave me hanging with no way to alleviate pain. However, I have had the bulged disc confirmed by an MRI ordered by the ER doc. I also spoke with a Surgeon about it who wants to wait to see if the disc heals itself. So in the mean time he has ordered a nerve block for me. But as per usual that was Wednesday and today is Saturday and as of right now I wont be getting a nerve block until September 5th.

So here I sit in pain with no immediate relief in sight. I really thought that when I left his office on Wednesday he had a full understanding of my situation. Lots of pain and recent heart surgery that I am still recovering from that requires me to have little stress. So much for that I guess. Between me and the surgeons office we have contacted every pain clinic there is and nobody can beat the September 5th date as of yet.

I did have a glitter of hope Friday though. My wife actually knows someone that works in a pain clinic not to awful far away. Its actually one that I had already contacted that said they really could not help me. But is seams that maybe they can. The do what they call direct inject. this means that my doctor refers me and I go get the shot that day or within a day or two. So I called the surgeons office again and implored them to contact this particular clinic and get the ball rolling. Which they did. I also asked if they could give me something for the pain to bridge me to the time of the injection which they also offered to do. She said that they would get me some percoset. So i was a little be more optimistic at this point.

After talking with them I headed to the Chiropractor for some traction therapy. I do have the conversion table but it didn't seem to be helping and the traction uses intermittent pressure an actually seems to help. After my time on the Rack I started heading for the surgeons office to retrieve what I thought was going to be a pain med that might help me. Unfortunately it isn't. Just more of what they gave me at the ER that doesn't even take the edge off.

The Bright side, or at least I thought, was I got a call from the pain clinic. They had received the referral from my surgeon and only needed some paperwork from my Dr. in Texas which I had already started the ball rolling on a couple days before. She got all my information and what she needed from Texas and promised she would touch base with me before the end of the day.Which she didn't.

PAC's, PVC's & a Cardioversion

Last week was a cluster healthwise. Of course my sciatic nerve pain is through the roof right now and I was running allot of PAC's and PVC's. I went out of rhythm Tuesday morning for a bit but converted back. Then I went to the hospital Tuesday evening to see if they could do some tests to figure out if my sciatica was being caused by a disc or some other ailment. They did some exray's and a CTA scan to rule out any clots in my leg. Everything came back normal so I still don't know 100% what's going on. Pretty sure its a bulged disc though so I'll have to wait it out.

I had sent Dr Natales office some recordings on Wednesday morning as I had gone back out of rhythm and they called and asked if I could arrange to get cardioverted within next week. I called my local EP and they scheduled me for last Friday morning. I worked Thursday night so  headed for the hospital straight from work Friday morning.

Cardioversion

If you have been keeping up you already know that my I have
already had one cardioversion done this year back in April. You will also know that the worst part of any EP experience for me has been the TEE. I was however curious as to how this one would go. My Cardiologist retired last month so I knew that he would not be doing the procedure. Which,, even though I hold the man in high regard his TEE skills pretty much suck.

So I arrived at the hospital early and got all the pre cardioversion stuff done which basically consist of a chest x-ray and getting an IV so they can inject the propofol for sedation. They hooked me up to a monitor then decided to wait on my EP to some in and verify that I really needed a cardioversion. He came in not too long after to talk to me about what was currently going on and to also catch up on the festivities in Texas. I handed him a copy of the ablation report and he quickly took it out and looked it over. He was very pleased to find all his work was solid, as I was always confident that it was. We then talked about the cardioversion and some small talk. He said that I was in a controlled flutter and that they would be doing a TEE then cardioverting me.



It was a while before they came to get me so I was just laying there trying to catch a nap but I kept hearing this music, Kool and The Gang to be specific. I originally thought that one of the other patients in the holding areas family members was playing music but I would eventually find out it wasn't them and where the music was actually coming from.

Eventually a couple of transport girls came to get me to take me to the EP lab. I stepped from my bed to the transport table then they wheeled me out into the hall. As we approached the hall the music got louder and the girls started to dance. There was a doctor sitting right outside the room and Celebrate must have been the music his computer played when he opened his computer. What a light hearted fun moment that was. Always a great experience at UPMC.

I eventually ended up at the EP lab where I met Karl. A very animated prep guy. He made me laugh several times. Then the nurse anesthetist came on and we started talking. Now if you have never had a cardioversion before there are allot of folks involved. You have of course the EP, a cardiologist, nurse anesthetist and of course and anesthesiologist. So rangeling them all together can be a task as stated by the cardiologist that soon entered the room.

She was very friendly and animated. She introduced herself and we talked for a while. I had told her about my many experiences with TEE's, good and bad and we laughed. Finally everyone showed up, I signed a couple more forms, then off to lala land/ I never even knew that she dd the TEE. The cardioversion went well. it only took one jolt to convert me back into rhythm and I have been there ever since. Hopefully that will be it for forever. So far as weather or not I am concerned about the success of my ablation, I'm not. I am just over 3 weeks in at this point so the heart is still healing. The fact that I went into flutter does not concern me either as it was probably all the PAC's and PVC's that put me there. I also realise that I may need a touchup procedure as Dr. Natale addressed some issues that hadn't been addressed before.

Hit And Miss

I have a great appreciation for these old machines. Its rare to actually see one of these in action but every once in a while, while out on a ride, I will here one being used for plowing or bailing.

Anyway this is just how my heart was on Sunday. Hit and miss. Mostly miss.

The weekend started out the same as its been since my ablation, nice calm NSR. I did some shopping with the family in the afternoon followed by church . Then home for a quiet evening. Sunday morning I awoke to find myself out of rhythm. This was the day I planned to start weaning myself off of the Ticosyn because the nerve pain has been creeping back. So I decided to wait until I had the opportunity to speak with my Afib nurse at TCA. Meanwhile I took some recordings throughout the day with the HEARTRAK (Kardia on its way).

The other odd thing that happened was Monday morning very early. I had woken up around 3am still out of rhythm. I got out of bed to get a drink and came back to bed, At some point shortly after I converted back to what felt like sinus rhythm. However, my heart rate was very low, 37 bpm. It stayed this way for a while then jumped back to around 70bpm. Then after a while back to 37. Now I was using a pulse oximeter to record these rates so the accuracy and interpretation of what was actually going on is up for debate. Though the rate was steady with no fluctuation at both rates. I did run back out to the kitchen to grab the recorder to try and capture the event but what I was feeling and what was recorded were two different things. This continued for the entire morning; until my heart decided to just go completely haywire for the remainder of the afternoon into the evening. I converted back to NSR early evening and have remained there ever since.

This is the first time I have ever experienced such a low hear rate. My normal resting heart rate now is 62 bpm. And has been as low as 52 bpm when I was more active. One thing I think that may have contributed to this was that I had taken 75mg of Metoprolol the previous evening to try to keep my heart rate down as the 50mg I had taken in the morning was not enough. This is only speculation though. I had been taking 75 mg of Metoprolol with the Ticosyn prior to my ablation for the same reasons when the Ticosyn was not sustaining NSR without any issues.

The Day Is Drawing Nigh

It seems just like forever since I firsT started the process to see Dr Natale and now it’s just few days away.Failed ablation in January, Medications I had been using for years stopped working. Cardioversion in April. Then starting new medications (Ticosyn) shortly after that worked spartically. Now in just a few days I will be having an ablation with Dr. Natale. 

My last dose of Ticosyn was Friday evening and I started to taper off the Metoprolol. I will continue to tale Elequis straight through. I didn't have to stop the Ticosyn until Sunday but I spoke to my nurse and asked if it would be OK to stop a day or two early as I wanted to be certain that as much of it was out of my system as possible before the ablation. She said that would be fine so I did. I'm also down to a single dose of metoprolol.

Now the weird thing is that I have had nothing but issues since starting the Ticosyn. It didn't keep in me rhythm all the time. Sometimes I would stay in NSR for several days and other times several hours. Even up until last week I was in and out of rhythm a few times. But since I stopped on Friday I have only had a few stray odd heartbeats.Now I am not complaining as I figured I would be out of rhythm and miserable until Friday.

Don't get me wrong. I am more than happy to not be miserable but it does strike me as odd. Especially with all the issues I have had up until this point. Anyway, I am leaving for the airport soon and have an appointment for a CTA and I will finally get to meet the nurses and Dr Natale tomorrow in Austin. Needless to say I am excited. 

TSA$$hole

Now it’s been a long time since I’ve flown. Actually it was before 911 and someone decided that we should give up some of our freedom for supposed safety. Do I feel safer? No. Do I feel like TSAagnts are rude and obnoxious? Of course they are. Why not? You have zero recourse for I am sure if you call them on anything your TSA experience for infinitim will be horrible.

Getting Better

Although  I sometimes feel like this guy between my heart and sciatic nerve pain. Things do appear to be getting better daily on the pain front. The heart, not so much. As I think I stated before I am in rhythm now more than not, but still not where I hope to be someday soon.

I did hear from Texas today. The nurse that will be handling my care leading up to and after my ablation contacted me today. She sent me information on the procedure as well as a more detailed itinerary for my visit. I get more and more excited every day.

Teetering......

I received my Teeter Hang-Ups inversion table about a week ago now. I am seeing some benefits so far so hopefully it will continue. Though I must say the first days full inversion was a total failure. I really didn't think I was going to be able to walk after that one. But the pain subsided later in the day.

Finally Some Good News......

Heard from Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia the other day. I had just emailed them to make sure that being put on the cancellation list was not going to prevent me from having a hard date set. I no sooner hit the send button that I gat an Emil to confirm my appointment.

So the date is set for July 20 which is about the time back in 2009 that I had reached a point with my affib that I couldn’t ride bikes anymore. I was. Pretty much in affib all the time with hints of flutter. I had my first ablation in August of that year. I’m really excited and looking forward to the date.

Teetering......

So my sciatica is still being a pain in the ass so I broke down and purchased a Teeter Hang-up. I was going to go get a used one today but they are hard to come by. I did find one though but it was only $100 less than new and didn’t have all the bells and whistles. I’ll keep you up to date on how it works. 

Ugh.....

Spoke to my EP yesterday. I had sent him an email concerning my current state and asked him about another drug to use along with the Ticosyn. He felt it not to be a good idea for my type of arrhythmia. So I am staying the course for now. I will be seeing him next week to discuss the next move which is to see Dr. Natale in Texas for a 3rd ablation.

He did mention what he thought should be the next step which would be a Thoroscopic Maze Procedure. Which is similar to the Mini Maze or 5 Box Procedure. These are minimally invasive procedures but more invasive than Catheter Ablation and work from the outside of the heart in correlation with interior.  We shall see. On interesting note about these procedures is that they remove the Left Atrial Appendage which is thought to not only contribute to Affib but can also eliminate or reduce the formation of blood clots. Tere is also a current study being done using the LARIATE Suture System that isolates the LAA which has the same effect. This particular study is being carried out at Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia but I don't know if I am a candidate or not.

Cycling Fail........

So I did get out for a short ride the other day. Did not go so well though. High winds and torrential thunderstorm created need to cut the ride short. Te 200 plus heartrate at the end was not helpfull either.

Maintenance Outage Infinity.....

So our so called 2 week mini outage has turned into well over a month with way to many startups and shutdowns. Tonight involving yet another since the end of Infinity outage. Then we get the pleasure of putting it back on and taking the other unit of on Sunday. Assuming everything goes well which it probably won't.  This also means we will be bringing the unit back off before the heat to repair another gremlin that won't allow us to make full load when it gets really hot outside. It's a comedy of errors perpetrated by people I am pretty sure should not be in charge of the asylum.

Dagnabbit......

Well all was goo until Sunday evening when I went back into affib.
This weekend was our short turn and I did not get much sleep at all so I'll blame it on that. So that was a 5 day run in NSR so I'm still hopeful.

I converted back to NSR Monday afternoon and remained there until Wednesday evening. I converted sometime during the night. I remained in NSR until yesterday evening. The affib episode only lasted a couple hours though. But then this morning back out of rhythm again.

My sleep patterns the past couple days haven't been too good either. Was in bed both nights before 2200 but awake before 0200 both nights. That's got to stop.

Normalcy....

There has been some normalcy in my life though. Gabe and I hit the Hoodlebug trail on our new FUJI Jari bikes. Still need to make a couple adjustments but these are going to be great bikes for us. I was worried about mine as I had calculated some numbers wrong and thought that maybe I had bought a bike one size to large for myself but all is good. I doubt we will get to do our trip this summer due to my heart issues but should still be able to get some riding in for sure.

Worked outside all day yesterday. Got my garden started. Lettuce and onion sets are in and I'll get the rest of the plants in next week.

Turning Point?

Maybe anyway.....

Following my last post I had a run of 32 hours in NSR. Then into affib which only took 4 hours to convert back to NSR. Since that conversion I have been in NSR without a blip.

So as of now I have been in NSR for almost 48 hours. Needless to say my attitude is much improved. It's amazing what a normal heartbeat can do for your psyche. I'm not so naive to think that I will stay in rhythm all the time but this is a far cry better than it has been for sure.

The Grind......

Otherwise known as work isn't so bad. I have a good counterpart in the control room. We get along well and he is a wealth of knowledge. The rest of our crew is outstanding as well. We are a pretty cohesive group all in all and have zero qualms about helping each other out so nobody gets left out in the cold.

We currently have a Control Room Trainee on our shift right now. Unfortunately he does not mesh with the crew. He had asked me before taking the job if I thought he could do it. I have no doubt he can but he has a long way to go to gain the respect of everyone.

He has an issue with work and already has a reputation as being lazy. And that does not go over well when you are asking people to do work for you. He is also the type of person that needs constant reassurance, or in his own words needs to have his ego stroked, which can be pretty annoying at times. He's got a long row to hoe for sure.

Frustration.....

So it's been a week since I left the hospital and I am in rhythm about as much as I am out of rhythm. the longest I have gone in NSR so far is 28 hours. The shortest period of time it has taken me convert back to NSR is about 10 hours. So one migh argue that the Ticosyn is working, moderately at least. But quite frankly I'm really starting to get frustrated.

The other issue is when I am out of rhythm I take 75mg of metoprplol which really nocks me down. The 50mg I take daily nock's the snot out of me as it is. The whole thing has becom quite debilitating and depressing. It completely limits my activity and keeps me from doing th things I enjoy.

Back In The Saddle....

Got home from the hospital on Saturday afternoon and headed straight for the bike and a nice easy 20 mile ride. What a positive affect getting out in the fresh air doing something you enjoy has on your perspective. I made sure to keep my heart rate at a manageable level and just enjoy the moment.

I did the same thing on Sunday. The weather was not nearly as nice being about 20 degrees cooler but all in all a nice ride. Up until the point my heart went into affib again. It appears that my heart has gone back to its old ways by triggering the affib at low resting heart rates and recovering heart rates.

I went in to affib about 2 miles from the house. All I had left in the ride was a nice easy down hill then a decent climb before another flat stretch to home.I was just starting the downhill watching my heart rate. When my rate reduced to 85 bpm it converted to affib and shot up to 199 bpm. it then fluctuated between 199 and 100 for a while then settled in at around 150 bpm.

My heart converted back to NSR yesterday morning but went back out again just a short while ago. So we will see how long it takes me to convert back to NSR again.

That's a Relief....

Spoke with my Doctor yesterday afternoon. He called to follow up with me on my hospital stay and also my recent affib episodes. He let me know that he had spoken to his associate and that he was totally fine with me seeking out a second opinion. We had a really nice conversation and he offered up his assistance in any way he could to help me find a solution. He thought that my choice of surgeons I had chosen was top notch and referred to him as a Guru.

I actually spoke with that doctors office today and the process for seeing him is underway. They already received some of my medical records and the rest are in process for them to receive. So hopefully that will all work out and I will be going to see him. I will write more about that ast the situation progresses.

Failure.......

Well, not a complete failure. At lest not yet anyway. 

Last night when the nurse brought my evening meds. And probably about the time Brit Floyd was finishing up their first set, I went directly into affib. My heart rate was between the mid 90's  adn 150's. They called the doc and he had them give me another 25mg of metoprolol. This brought my heart down to around 105 bpm at thee high range, which he, and most importantly I could live with without concern to doing any damage to my heart. I think I mentioned that during my cardioversion TEE that it appeared that my heart may have weakened a little bit. Nothing it wont bounce back from but still not a place I want to go. 

So the options this morning were to either stay here and start another medication or go home on the Ticosyn and see how it goes. Knowing that I could still go into affib. On anecdotal note here is that yesterday for my morning meds I also to Singulair which I use for exercise induced asthma. Was this the cause for the breakthrough last night? Lord only knows. I did however communicate with a fellow affibber today and they said it took a good 3-4 weeks for the Tikosyn to fully take hold.

So now I sit here waiting on my wife to find her way to pick me up.

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do......

Like I said before one of my doctors associates was in this morning to talk to me. During our  conversation I mentioned that I had contacted Dr Andrea Natale concerning my condition. I wanted to bring this up with my regular EP but I really like the guy and I know he is doing everything within his power to help me. His partner was totally respectful of me being open and understood completely why I had such a hard time bringing this up to my regular doc. We covered some other options and his opinions on those and their success factors. He was going to talk to my doc about my current situation as well as what we talked about concerning Dr Natele.

Even though I was just speaking to one of his associates I still had that it's not you its me approach which we both laughed about. It's amazing the relationship that can be formed between a caregiver and patient. That is one of my concerns about maybe having him do another procedure. I don't want him doing or trying something he has not tried before or at the very least 100 times trying to fix teh problem.