Today I had an electro cardioversion in an attempt to get my heart back into a regular rhythm. I think I mentioned in an earlier post that my heart went into atrial fibrillation due, likely, to Daniel’s suicide. The procedure was performed at Kaiser in Modesto and I am thankful to report that it worked. I was concerned about having it done but found during my research that it is effective 90% of the time and there is only a 1% chance that something would go wrong. Everyone I talked to who had it done or knew a family member who had it said it was successful. Nonetheless, I am a Faddis and it seems that “bad things” happen to Faddises.
I made sure that Linda knows what to do in the event of my death regarding our finances, computer passwords and my pension. I then joked a lot about dying, seeing you on the “other side” and who she might find to replace me as a husband. She said that no one could replace me but then I caught her on the computer looking at dating sites. J/K
We got to Kaiser at 9.a.m to begin the prep which included putting on that lovely hospital gown, an EKG to ensure my heart was still in defib, meeting with the anesthesiologist and the cardiologist and having the seven hairs on my chest shaved off by a nurse who didn’t seem to care the battery on the shaver was almost dead and that she was practically pulling my hairs out.
When we got into the room where the procedure was to take place, two nurses busied themselves hooking me up to the blood pressure monitor, placing more EKG stickies on me and connecting the heart paddles to a 12 volt car battery. As we waited for the cardiologist to arrive, they just stood around speculating about when he would get there.
Then, my doctor arrived with another cardiologist in tow and they discussed how much of a shock they would give the “first time,” that one of the shocking paddles should be moved to my back (which they did) and how it was necessary as I was “thicker” than most their patients. We all shared a good laugh over that. I guess it’s not PC to call one’s patients “fat.” They use other words like thick, husky, or mutant. They settled on 150 volts saying that 250 might be “too much” for the first shot. I asked how many jolts might it take and the doctor said his limit was three. I wondered to myself what he would do if three didn’t work.
The anesthesiologist came over again, told me he was going to put me to sleep and that everything would be all right. He then released some anesthesia into my IV saying it would sting “a little.” It stung A LOT. In about 10 seconds I felt very drowsy and in five more seconds I was down for the count. The next thing I know, they were waking me up saying I was done and all was well. About 25 minutes had passed and I was told it only took one jolt (even for this “thick” body). I remember nothing about the actual shock which was a great relief.
I now am a member of the Jim Harbaugh club since he had the same procedure done on him last week. I wonder if this might get me a sideline pass to a future 49er’s game. Nah.
I made sure that Linda knows what to do in the event of my death regarding our finances, computer passwords and my pension. I then joked a lot about dying, seeing you on the “other side” and who she might find to replace me as a husband. She said that no one could replace me but then I caught her on the computer looking at dating sites. J/K
We got to Kaiser at 9.a.m to begin the prep which included putting on that lovely hospital gown, an EKG to ensure my heart was still in defib, meeting with the anesthesiologist and the cardiologist and having the seven hairs on my chest shaved off by a nurse who didn’t seem to care the battery on the shaver was almost dead and that she was practically pulling my hairs out.
When we got into the room where the procedure was to take place, two nurses busied themselves hooking me up to the blood pressure monitor, placing more EKG stickies on me and connecting the heart paddles to a 12 volt car battery. As we waited for the cardiologist to arrive, they just stood around speculating about when he would get there.
Then, my doctor arrived with another cardiologist in tow and they discussed how much of a shock they would give the “first time,” that one of the shocking paddles should be moved to my back (which they did) and how it was necessary as I was “thicker” than most their patients. We all shared a good laugh over that. I guess it’s not PC to call one’s patients “fat.” They use other words like thick, husky, or mutant. They settled on 150 volts saying that 250 might be “too much” for the first shot. I asked how many jolts might it take and the doctor said his limit was three. I wondered to myself what he would do if three didn’t work.
The anesthesiologist came over again, told me he was going to put me to sleep and that everything would be all right. He then released some anesthesia into my IV saying it would sting “a little.” It stung A LOT. In about 10 seconds I felt very drowsy and in five more seconds I was down for the count. The next thing I know, they were waking me up saying I was done and all was well. About 25 minutes had passed and I was told it only took one jolt (even for this “thick” body). I remember nothing about the actual shock which was a great relief.
I now am a member of the Jim Harbaugh club since he had the same procedure done on him last week. I wonder if this might get me a sideline pass to a future 49er’s game. Nah.
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