I’m not sure we’re talking about the same thing. My experience is that they put me under, zapped me to get my heart back in sinus rhythm and then woke me up. Took all of 5 minutes (not counting getting me prepped). I’ve also had 2 ablutions......but that’s a whole ‘nother story. I’ve also had a stent done and was more or less awake (light sedation) through that and it was quite fascinating. The best part of that was “sobering up” to find a very attractive nurse clutching my groin securely for an hour (to apply direct pressure, as they went in through my femoral artery). Closest I’ve come to illicit sex and I couldn’t even enjoy it.........
yeah, they must have seen me coming because over my entire hospital stay I had ex marine medics as nurses...nice guys..lots of war stories..no hot women...even my ekg and electrocardiac specialists were older and grayer than I am...
the interesting thing is, the hospital I was rushed to last Sunday is called River Bend Hospital...fitting
After all these months of Marzy telling you to get bent, I didn't think you'd actually take his advice. barfo
I'm glad you are still with us @riverman. your one of my favorite posters. I have always appreciated your knowledge, wisdom, and sense of humor. Sorry, you had to go through that. Sounds like hell. Too bad you are disabled. Keep recovering, read some good books, hang in there. Maybe one day I will still get to buy you that beer. At least you'll have plenty of hours to be on here and harass marzy fulltime now!
I always felt like when the grim reaper comes for me there's gonna be scratch marks down the side of the walls where I hung on to life with everything I had. And when it's all done and over, if that's even possible, he's gonna say "That's the toughest son of a bitch I ever had to take to the great beyond."
Oops. I know what you're talking about because I also had that done. I now recall that the other procedure is known as ablation.
I got my life monitor vest and training today and the transmitter and computer that check my heart 24 hours a day....it's got sensors and a built in defibrillator that will kick in if I'm in danger...the vest is like what I'd imagine wearing a bra that's too tight would be only backwards...these items have to be on my body for probably up to 4-6 months...will get my alternate in two days....it's official...I'm turning into R2D2 from Starwars now.
Hey River, what kind of books do you like to read? Maybe we can suggest some authors for you to consider.
I've had monitors with a recording device. I was instructed to phone in whenever I felt anything out of the ordinary. I think I wore each of these monitors for one month. Neither machine had a defibrillator in it although my heart beat would go beyond 160 bpm at least once a day. That was a resting rate. I thought the heart beat monitor built into the treadmill I was using was registering a double beat. Not so. During my failed quest for a transplant my heart was checked out every which way and at least twice each way. One way represented a radioactive tracer monitored for an hour by a device that looked similar to an MRI. This was done eight times. Also had a tiny tube inserted into my heart to check the pressure of that chamber. By the way, according to the VA cardiologists, the Portland VA has the best cardiologists in the Pacific North West. I'm going to presume this includes North Western Canada. Sadly, our best one left the Portland Hospital to do heart transplants in Denver, which I'm going to assume is outside the North West.
I like historical epics...autobiographies...science fiction..humor…. short story collections and novellas....I have a large library at home and a larger one just down the road...I like the spy stuff like Robert Ludlum as well ...really enjoy books that take me somewhere and paint a great landscape...traveling through literature...or going back or forward in time....good westerns like Cormack McCarthy are getting harder to find these days. I also like the poets...Bukowski...Snyder..etc..recently I've started reading Hemingway's short stories again and just read a few Jack London classics
@riverman I liked this post because you obviously pulled through and thankfully you are still with us. Good luck with the changes, buddy!
