Cardioversion

Today is round two of life in the cardiac unit. This time it's cardioversion for Jeff. Cardioversion is a fancy way to say the doctor will zap his heart so that it stops and restarts in (hopefully) normal rhythm. The entire procedure takes 10 minutes. But there are considerations going in this morning. First thing being he has to be in atrial fibrillation, which he has been for months so he's pretty sure that won't be an issue. And secondly, he has to have a coumadin level between 2 and 3. Since this requirement has to be attained for a month before the procedure, with level checks weekly, the last 3 weeks were in range so this one should be no different.

The coumadin level was actually the tough part. The drug is given to atrial fibrillation patients to thin their blood so that the irregular heart beats caused by this condition won't create a clot that could potentially be life threatening. But the thinning of the blood has so many complications that I wonder if it would be better to just chance it. I mean, if he were to fall down or bump his head he has to go right to the emergency room. That's some serious side effects.

Even during the two hours of prep for this procedure, it took three different nurses to attempt to find a vein for an IV. The thin blood is making Jeff's veins spasm and blow out the IV lines. Finally when the third nurse succeeded he got some color back in his face. The IV will be necessary because he will need to be anesthetized - or as the doc says - it would hurt. It's very difficult to watch him suffer through this. For the most part he stays pretty quiet and calm, and does not complain or worry - at least not out loud.

The cardiac nurse comes to get Jeff, he gets into the wheelchair and heads out. I wished him the best and waited. I assumed it would be a while before he came back, so I settled in with my laptop. Surprisingly, 25 minutes later, he was back. And he came back in the same wheelchair. I had images of IVs running and a groggy man flat on his back. But apparently anesthesia has come along way-or I just don't know that much about it, he was out only for the 10 minutes during the procedure. I was thrilled to see him sitting up and so alert.

He showed me the mark on his chest, like a sunburn where the paddle was attached. It was a 4-inch by 4-inch square outline. Jeff said it felt like someone had punched him in the chest - he felt a little tender there and that's all. The nurse came in and let him order some food since he hadn't eaten since supper and it was now close to 11 am. The doctor came by to check on him and explained that everything went great and he was back to a normal heart rhythm. His late breakfast came, he ate, then the staff told him he could go home. Just like that. No long post-op after care, no waiting for any other tests. The nurse took out the IV, put on a band-aid, gave us some paperwork with medication changes and he got dressed and we were done.

Jeff was feeling so good, we stopped at National Bakery across the street from the hospital, then we went to Tower Chicken since it was also on our way home. We spent the rest of the afternoon at home relaxing. I can't believe how relatively easy this day turned out. Jen stopped by to see her dad and Bailee left work early. We drove over to Serb Hall and picked up fish frys for dinner and brought them home so Jeff didn't have to go out.

The doctor says this can last up to three years. I was hoping this was a permanent fix but I should just take one day at a time. And this day was a good one.