Well, it is snowy and blowy. Tonight we expect all-time record lows. Think variability owing to climate change! And the last I looked, it was still October. Seems as though we should have headed south already. But that is still a little more than a month away.
I successfully finished my first year as an octogenerian in Sept of 2019.
Prior to that, I had a second ablation in Oct of 2018. That solved most of my heart rhythm problems, until it didn't. In July of 2019 I needed a cardioversion because my heart rate was hovering around 120 for days on end. The docs figured that was a fluttery rhythm, a 2 for 1 atrial to ventricular. That was successful, too. Now I am on a minimum dose of amiodarone which is a heart rhythm drug that would be better if I were not on it. It is toxic to some people.
But I write now because my several readers complain that I only post when my condition is dire, T'ain't necessarily so (courtesy the Gershwins). It is actually possible that I am a new man. I hesitate to embrace this condition too hastily, since pride goeth before a fall and all of that. Permit me to wax:
1. I take a 30-sec ECG daily upon awakening because that shows me my heart function. The docs think that the Apple technology on this is pretty good. Insofar as I know the watch draws 3 inferences: a. sinus rhythm; b. inconclusive c. atrial fibrilation. (A fourth signals that a rhythm cannot be characterized because the HR is over 120 bpm.) I have recorded many Inconclusives and worried about them until the docs explained to me that the watch is counting the extra beats I have (PVCs) and is considering them variabliity. So, one searches for the sinus rhythm outcome. And one is getting it! The last Inconclusve I had was 10 days ago. Since then it has been all sinus rhythm. I haven't had an Atrial Fibrillation outcome since Sept.
2. I have shed some more weight, perhaps 6-7 lbs and am now in the 215 lb area as opposed to 223 or so. I have slightly more stamina.
3. My workout schedule is not leading to high HRs or AFib. I feel stronger.
4. My bp is nicely normal circa 120/80 and usually below.
5. My average HR is 62 bpm. My workouts do not produce HRs above 80 bpm.
6. Food tastes better.
7. Sleeping through the night even with a regular 60-min afternoon kip
7. My piano playing is improving. (Okay, so that is an exaggeration.)
These comprise a picture of a guy in (boring) good health! They have been accompanied by a general sense of well-being that I haven't felt for ages. Perhaps my heart is finally healed. Or maybe I am in the manic phase of bipolar disorder?
This all makes me suspicious as though I am being set up for the big fall......
