I just had an Electrical Cardioversion procedure for my Heart Condition
They shocked my heart in the hospital a few hours ago to return my heartbeat to a normal rhythm from Afib.
When I am nervous I tend to use humor to ease the tension. And I was in full patient-clown mode in the outpatient area prior to my procedure. The nurses all had a great sense of humor and they played along.
About a month ago, I was in Washington visiting friends when my heartrate seemed to flutter rapidly and I was getting dizzy often. That’s when I noticed I was having an episode of Afib. I’ve had episodes like this before and they are commonly called, “Lone Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation”. But it usually goes away in 24 hours or so. The symptoms persisted for more than 48 hours; fatigue, rapid heartrate, dizziness, confusion, and basically I felt unmotivated to do anything but sleep.
I decided the best course of action was to go into the ER and see what they say. Apparently they would have preferred that I go in prior to 48 hours so they have more treatment options. But because I waited 48 hour for the Afib to possibly naturally cardiovert, now they were worried that blood clots might be forming in the part of my heart that’s fluttering.
