Feeling better

So, I have been feeling sort of lousy for awhile. Last week I felt especially so. Really quite poorly. Every time I did anything, however minor, I had to sit down, rest, take deep breathes, bring feeling back to my arms, stop sweating. I wondered if I would feel better if I went shopping for something new.

Friday, I had an interior door in the garage that I had just painted with the finish coat. I carried it in to the house (sat down), hung it, (sat down), put the hardware back on (sat down) and decided I had a problem. And it wasn't just going to go away.

Saturday, my brothers and sister-in-law were visiting. Cal and I moved some furniture around. We carried a piece out of the wine cellar to be cleaned. I went onto the roof of the barn to grease the wind vane which was making a terrible noise as it turned in the wind. I spent a lot of time sitting and resting.

Sunday, I went food shopping because the thought was dawning (over Marblehead) that I might not be able to after I presented myself at the hospital, assuming that was necessary. I cleaned the house. I decided to sleep on it and if I still felt poorly in the morning I would call the doctor. I don't want to present myself with a list of complaints only to find out nothing is wrong!

Monday morning I felt lousy yet again. I called the doctor's office. They said someone would get back to me. About an hour later a lady called and said go to the hospital. I suggested I drive to one in Boston. She suggested I go to the nearest emergency room. I did.

I felt foolish at the reception desk because I wasn't feeling all that lousy at that moment. They took me right in and did an EKG. A nurse came and added large pads to my chest in case they had to paddle me. She said I had a stage three heart block. I was not to move and, no, I could not get up to go to the bathroom. They gave me aspirin and nitro. They fixed up an intravensus thing and called the cardiologist.

She came and told me the same thing. She explained that the electrical signal that goes from the atrium to the ventricle was no longer going to the ventricle. The atrium was beating but the ventricles, not so much.

She said I needed a pacemaker. Ordinarily I do not buy expensive appliances on short notice and without reading up on the various models in Consumer Reports. And I just bought a wide screen TV so my budget was a little overextended. And I rarely buy electrical appliances that require a company representative be present when the appliance is installed!

The cardiologist said tomorrow morning wouldn't be too soon. I felt pressured to buy. I wondered what Martha Ellen would recommend. I called Jessica to run the idea by her.

The next morning (yesterday) I was operated on and had a very nice Medtronic model installed under my left clavicle. I spent another uncomfortable night in cardiac care and came home today. My heart now beats at a steady 60 beats per minute, rather that 34 or 35, and I feel less lousy. I'm told I'll feel much better shortly but now I'm wondering if I did the right thing.

After all, this device is only making my heart beat 90% of the time. I probably could have waited a little while longer and looked for a sale.