Thursday, August 26, 2010

Unusual Viewpoint

West Haven, Connecticut

There's been a little interruption in the blog posts. I hadn't been feeling well for a little while, and on Tuesday I went to our family practice physician feeling really terrible. From there I was sent by ambulance to the nearest emergency room. Arrhythmia, atrial flutter.  My heartbeat returned to normal, in part from treatment and in part spontaneously, in the ER. I was moved up to a telemetry section for observation and electronic monitoring of heart function. Along with lots of blood draws for chemical monitoring.

I was released around noon today and was lucky to get an appointment later in the afternoon with a highly regarded arrhythmia specialist.  The unusual viewpoint of the post title refers to me being in the passenger seat of a car, on my way to see the doctor. With the crisis over, my heart function is perfectly normal. Except that the arrhythmia could (probably will) return since this is the second incident (see this post from three years ago). So in about a month I will have a procedure that stands a very good chance of permanently eliminating the susceptibility to this problem.

9 comments:

Edd Fuller said...

Carl, sorry to hear that you have been unwell and glad that you are doing better. I have had my own problems along those lines and am grateful for the excellent treatment options available for heart problems these days. Best wishes.

Steve C. said...

Carl, glad to read you're feeling better.

Scott Kirkpatrick said...

I hope your procedure gives you some lasting protection. Your two near death experiences (both due to the deer tick infection?) have sounded pretty scary. Best wishes for a fast recovery from this one.

scott

Tony McLean said...

Hope your feeling better soon and the specialist sorts your problem. Great to see that you even had the courage to take photographs even though you were ill. Now that's commitment!

Carl Weese said...

Thanks, all.

Scott, in fact it appears to have been a mistake for the cardiologists last time to blame the problem entirely on the systemic bacterial infection. It looks as though I've had slowly increasing arrhythmia for maybe the past six months, but had not been advised to be on the lookout for specific symptoms. Then it crossed over into crisis in the past week. Right now I'm just fine, like throwing a switch (it is in fact a problem with the electrical circuitry in the heart) and the procedure next month is to repair the circuits.

Tony, more like the most familiar activity possible, to distract me...

Dennis Allshouse said...

Mark Hobson, http://landscapist.squarespace.com/,
is in a very similar boat a little while ago. I hope you feel better and best wishes on your future treatment.

BTW what a goofy test word! Maybe you don't see it? If not never mind.

Take care.

David said...

Actually I was a little worried about your missing several days of posts. I'm sorry to hear about your health problems, and I'm glad that you are feeling better now.

BTW, I gotta admire your continuing to take pictures as you are being driven to the doctor with heart problems. You go some spunk, old man.

Don and Sher said...

Glad to see you back and hear you are OK, like another blogger said, Mark Hobson has been going through the same thing.

I had my yearly heart exam last month it has been 11 years since I had my heart attack.

I also love the commitment to take one last photo from the paasenger seat.

TJP said...

Wishing the best outcome for you, Mr. Weese. Take care!