Last night, I was in bed before midnight.
That's very unusual for me, but I was exhausted.
Anesthesia has that effect on me, but I think my fatigue was also due to the delay in getting this second cardioversion over and done.
The procedure had been scheduled for 10 AM, but did not actually take place until more than an hour later, due to someone else's surgery taking too long.
I had passed the time talking with Laura - yes, the same one from the ablation - who, like me, is the oldest of four.
Unlike me, her siblings are all girls.
She's actually a traveling nurse, as I found out later.
Anyway, so there I was in the operating room, with its icy air, and me all covered in warmed blankets that were losing their battle against the chill.
Then Dr. Cobb was there, asking me how I was.
"Lovely," I replied, "how about you?"
Yeah, I don't think he's accustomed to that kind of banter from patients, but that is a usual reply I give to such a question.
Joy told me the doctor wanted me to have bed rest for four hours, rather than the usual two hours, as he was wanting to be sure my heart was keeping a beat, not still in atrial flutter.
Resting was fine with me; I found "Sex And The City" on one of the channels and was good.
Surprisingly, a little after 1 PM I was told we were back to the 2-hour bed rest, so then it was a matter of getting together paperwork and contacting Smitty about the change.
She was the one to call him, as T-mobile, with all their bragging
about their vast network, has been useless to me at St. Joseph's
Hospital, right here in Savannah.
I'm so glad she did!
Lemon chicken with egg noodles - very nice!
Steamed squash and mandarin orange slices - yes!
When she asked how I liked it, I told her "any meal I don't have to shop for, prepare, cook, and clean after is a good one!"
She understood completely.
By the time I'd finished, she had the discharge papers, as well as a surprise for me: Jessica Hellman to wheel me down!
What a treat for both of us!
Smitty enjoyed meeting her, too.
(smile!)
Then, he whisked me home and I was on my own, as usual.
That was fine with me.
And, truly, all seemed well... until I decided to go to bed early to make up for lost sleep.
I don't know why the nightmare came upon me, but it laid siege to my mind the moment my head hit the pillow, making me think my heart was in serious fibrillation!
It wasn't... I knew it wasn't, as I'd taken my blood pressure and heart rate readings not even thirty minutes earlier... but I completely lost my breath and had to sit back up.
I tried to lie down again... nope, nope, not working!
Then I remembered an article that said sleeping on the left side was better to minimize fibrillation effects.
(As it turns out, I had that wrong. Sleeping on the left tends to increase episodes of nocturnal atrial fibrillation, especially in overweight people, like me. I should have turned over to sleep on my right side.)
But every time my head went toward the pillow, I would find myself in a panic, feeling like I couldn't breathe.
Eventually, I put both pillows on top of each other and tried to sleep.
That was marginally successfully.
I still kept finding myself in a panic, convinced that my heart was about to stop, convinced that I was going to stop breathing.
I was in such an emotional state that I almost - almost! - called 9-1-1 several times during the night, but I didn't know how they would get into the house.
I would need to get to the front door and unbolt it, at least...
and I didn't think I'd be able to do that without collapsing.
So, I stayed in bed, going through the nightmare of thinking my heart would stop or my breathing would, until finally the dawn had come.
That's when I gave thanks to God for getting me through the night.
I was aware that I must have slept, off and on, but I was exhausted from the ordeal.
But here's the good thing: as soon as the morning light was illuminating the side window in the bedroom, I knew I was out of the woods and would be okay.
i thank You, God.
During breakfast, I called Dr. Cobb's office to ask if the Sotalol dosage could be changed.
Paige called me back around noon and was surprised to find me in bed.
I explained about the nightmare I'd had and that I was trying to get some rest.
She had spoken to Dr. Cobb and he still wanted me to stay on the antiarrhythmia drug, but told me I could split the pills and take only 80 mg daily, instead of 160 mg.
In addition, she will call on Monday and see how that worked for me.
I told her that was wonderful news, and I would continue monitoring my heart rate three times a day, using that as a guide should I need to return to the original dose.
That was satisfactory to the cardiology office.
Just what is my heart rate, post cardioversion?
Well it had been running in the low 100's.
Now, it's in the mid- to upper-40's.
Better, but not in the 60's just yet, the readings I usually have when I'm able to dance.
Hopefully, those days are getting closer for me.
i thank You, God.
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