I feel I must begin with an apology for the sudden hiatus (albeit enforced) in my embryonic blog. I was just getting ready to post on May 3rd when Brian rang from work (! so busy on company business that he can't make it home before 7 pm) to inform me that I had been temporarily closed down by Blogspot while they checked out me out for "spam" and other undesirable activity. It was obviously the week for it because while "off air" I popped into hospital to have a long standing but non-lifethreatening heart condition sorted out. The condition is called periodic SVT (paroxysmal Super Ventricular Tachycardia) or palpitations to you and me and I can tell you exactly how long I've had it - 23 years - as it started about 6 months into the pregnancy with Daughter Number 3. As she was a big girl (9lbs 2 oz at term) carried high, she was determined to be the cause of the problem which should have disappeared post-partum or such was the wisdom of my then GP and midwife - it also gave them the perfect excuse to refuse me a home birth but that's another story.
Well, it didn't go away and over the years the episodes of double speed but fortunately regular heart rate had become more prolonged (23 hours at worst) and debilitating to the point where even the day after an "attack" I was unable to climb the stairs without collapsing breathless and light-headed on the landing, to William's alarm and Brian's scorn. I could have signed up for this procedure (Percutaneous Translum Ablation of access pathway/modification of AV node ie. "zapping" of the additional troublesome electrical circuit in the heart) but was put off by Brian who, around that time, underwent an almost certainly unnecessary angiogram, a not dissimilar procedure involving a catheter introduced into the heart via the femoral artery. When I went to collect him, I vividly recollect that he could barely walk to the car, let alone hop into the passenger seat on account of the tourniquet-type bandage on the wound in his groin, nor was I thrilled to hear him boast of having been able to watch the progress of said catheter into his Old Ticker on a conveniently placed monitor. An experience I could definitely do without but times and needs change and after assurances that I could elect to be totally oblivious throughout and suffer no after affects such as arterial weakness, I finally capitulated and so far (early days, I know) am very glad I did. I am also very grateful that, thanks to Brian's employers, I was able to go into hospital as a private patient and enjoy all the attendant benefits - own room, TV, phone, palatable food and, hopefully, a better standard of cleanliness but, best of all, I was not obliged to use a bedpan on a mixed ward with only an ill-fitting curtain to preserve my dignity and (Gordon please note, if there is any room left on your "To Do" list) I don't think anyone else should have to either.
Well, it didn't go away and over the years the episodes of double speed but fortunately regular heart rate had become more prolonged (23 hours at worst) and debilitating to the point where even the day after an "attack" I was unable to climb the stairs without collapsing breathless and light-headed on the landing, to William's alarm and Brian's scorn. I could have signed up for this procedure (Percutaneous Translum Ablation of access pathway/modification of AV node ie. "zapping" of the additional troublesome electrical circuit in the heart) but was put off by Brian who, around that time, underwent an almost certainly unnecessary angiogram, a not dissimilar procedure involving a catheter introduced into the heart via the femoral artery. When I went to collect him, I vividly recollect that he could barely walk to the car, let alone hop into the passenger seat on account of the tourniquet-type bandage on the wound in his groin, nor was I thrilled to hear him boast of having been able to watch the progress of said catheter into his Old Ticker on a conveniently placed monitor. An experience I could definitely do without but times and needs change and after assurances that I could elect to be totally oblivious throughout and suffer no after affects such as arterial weakness, I finally capitulated and so far (early days, I know) am very glad I did. I am also very grateful that, thanks to Brian's employers, I was able to go into hospital as a private patient and enjoy all the attendant benefits - own room, TV, phone, palatable food and, hopefully, a better standard of cleanliness but, best of all, I was not obliged to use a bedpan on a mixed ward with only an ill-fitting curtain to preserve my dignity and (Gordon please note, if there is any room left on your "To Do" list) I don't think anyone else should have to either.
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