[Shrek] So where have we been? (part 2)

Part one can be found here.

So off the the cardiologist's office we go, and after a couple more tests I'm presented with three options.

The first was to do nothing and hope it goes away on its own (which is can and does often do). Despite this being mostly a non-issue most of the time doing nothing didn't seem to me to be the best option.

The second was to undergo a transesophageal echocardiogram, where they would put a tube down my throat to check for blood clots on the back side of my heart, and them if that turned up clear undergo an electrical cardioversion. If you've ever seen a TV medical drama you've seen them perform an electrical cardioversion when they shock someone with the paddles.

The third option was to take blood thinners for a few weeks, and then undergo the electrical cardioversion.

Tube down my throat? Pass. I took option three.

Back home we went, and I spent the weekend getting used to having A-fib in preparation of going back to work Monday. I figured fatigue was going to be my biggest issue, so I did what I could to see how far I could push it before I had to stop and rest. By Sunday night I figured I was good to go, and went off to bed. But my heart had other ideas, and I was up most of the night. Well, so much for being a chicken. Looked like the tube for me.

So back to Dr Maki's office Monday morning, and we schedule the procedure for later in the week that will be performed by a different member of their practice. It was at the University campus of UMass/Memorial, which was good for me because my mother works at the Memorial campus so that would be one less thing to worry about. I was told it would be early in the day, but they wouldn't know the exact time until they called the day before. well, a teenager must do the scheduling at UMass because I was told to be there for Noon, and only a teenager would call noon "early". I arrived at Noon as instructed, and not being a patient person when I was still waiting at 3pm I was a little less than thrilled. I told them they had until 3:30 and then I was out of there, and amazingly enough at exactly 3:30 they took me into the procedure room.

They prep me for the transesophageal echocardiogram, and explain to me that with the sedation I'll be getting everything will be easy and it will be over before I knew it. That's easy to say when you aren't the one having a tube shoved down your throat. Although when it was over they turned out to be right. The procedure was to be done by a "fellow", which is a doctor that's gone through all his training and is a full fledged "MD", but is now beginning additional training in a specialty. I don't recall his name, but I do remember he was a nice guy.

As I'm laying on the table, laying at sort of a 30 degree angle so my right side is higher than my left side they begin by giving me a sedative. "Give him 1 to 25" is what I think the doctor said, and we chatted for a short while about, of all thing, the Red Sox and WEEI (the sports talk radio station in Boston). All of the sudden he asks me "what were we just talking about?", and I reply what we were talking about. He looked at the nurse and said "give him another 1 to 25"...

...and that's the last thing I remember until about two hours later when I suddenly realized I was back in my room talking to Fiona.

It turns out the sedation I was under is refereed to as "conscious sedation", which apparently numbs my brain so I have no memory of the transesophageal echocardiogram because they need me conscious and able to follow instructions while the procedure is going on. When they do the electrical cardioversion the patient is given enough regular anesthesia to knock them out for a couple of minutes. From there I was good to go.

Except (and isn't there always an "except"?) once you have had A-fib it can return, and mine has a couple of times. Each time it's gone away with 10-12 hours...except (there's that word again) for the this time, which is at about 36 hours and counting. Knock on wood so far everything is OK, so if it doesn't clear by Monday I guess I'm calling the doctor again.

Now that that long story is over, hopefully there will be more frequent posting, even if it's just quick posts containing some interesting links we've come across.