The procedure

 I hate hospitals and all things medical. But I guess if you live long enough you have to learn to put up with a few.

 Old age sucks😡.)

Having developed a few Arrhythmias, (https://joan-myviews.blogspot.com/2026/01/reflections-on-biology.html?m=1) including AFib and SVT, the cardiologist thought it more prudent that I  have an ablation rather than add more  drugs to my growing list. 

When I heard the procedure was no worse that filling teeth, I said run with it, despite the $134, 000 price tag. (Thanks President Obama, for without Obamacare, people like me would just have to watch the heart deteriorating as the drugs became ineffective. In Canada a similar procedure is around $21,000  and maximum $15, 000 in Mexico I hear!)

So here am I doing a report on the procedure while waiting on my daughter in law to pick me up.

 She had to drive down from West Palm as my grandson was at work, so I took an Uber to Cleveland Clinic. For its their policy that while you can take Uber or whatever to get there, you must be picked up by a known and trusted person as you remain groggy afterwards.

When they prepped me at the hospital, I had an all Caribbean nursing team, one Jamaican, one Trini and one Haitian, all caring and pleasant professionals.

Another nurse who took me to the operation theatre was also Jamaican.

So I felt at home until I got into the theater (it was extra cold😶‍🌫️) where four or five nurses were inside waiting. But I never got the opportunity to delve into their ancestries as they immediately got to work strapping me down to the bed, even tying arms and legs and I was almost immediately out of it!

 My cardiologist Dr. Parishit Sharma, is a specialist Electrophysiology from India. He is reputed to be one of the best in the fields of  Atrial Fibrillation, PSVT, Arrhythmia and pacemaker implantation.

The fact that it all went smoothly and I feel on top of the world a few hours later, proves it.

In fact,  my only discomfort was having to lay totally still on my back for 3 hours in recovery.

My biggest problem will be staying reasonably inactive for around 10  days while the holes in my groin heals.

All's well that ends well🙏.

Link: https://joan-myviews.blogspot.com/2026/01/reflections-on-biology.html?m=1.

Note

Heart ablation (catheter ablation) is a generally safe, minimally invasive procedure to fix heart rhythm disorders, considered effective but carries low risks of complications like bleeding, infection, blood clots, or minor heart/vessel damage, with severe issues  experienced electrophysiology team significantly lowers these risks. 

In Summary: It's a serious procedure with potential risks, but often a very effective treatment with a favorable safety profile compared to the risks of living with afib.

Reflections on biology!

 I have often opined that if you dont learn something new each day, you are dead.

Guess I will live forever then, for am I sure learning a whole lot of  biology as I age.

That was a subject I hated at school and even now, I can still remember the image of that poor little frog in the lab with his heart pulsating, as he suffered from the long slit down the entire front of his little body.

 He had been dissected while still being alive.😭

I don't recall how old I was when I saw that, but remember clearly  vowing that I would never pursue that subject.

 No sah. Not me.

 As you age and different organs start deteriorating however, you have no choice but to learn as much as you can about how the body operates.

I had first heard the word arrhythmia about 40 years ago, when my doctor mentioned that I signs of it. After asking my educated brother (a doctor) about it, he mentioned that I would probably have to get a pacemaker when I got older.

From that day though, my heart never bothered me and I never thought about it until April 2025 when I blacked out and was rushed to an ER by four young, handsome  men from the fire department.  

The diagnosis was then Afib and SVT, all heart rhythm related problems. 

Now, before that, I thought your heart only raced when you saw a sexy man and had dreams of a wonderful liaison, but thats not how it works with old people.

Since asking questions of the cardiologist, his nurse and google, I  have learned everything there is to know about the heart, its chambers and how they all interact in that crowded space.

And no, thankfully I don't need a pacemaker as science has progressed wonderfully. Instead they will be doing a minor procedure called an ablation to get my rhythms back in sync.

The good news though is that despite hating biology and a skipping every class when I was young, I am now an expert in how the darn heart works.👍

Wonder which internal organ I will be studying next?

These lessons come naturally with old age, so there is no need to crowd your brain when u are young by studying them and experimenting on poor, harmless, little creatures 😊.

It happened again. Part 11

 The good news is that my condition is not life-threatening. If it persists, they will use electric shocks to correct the abnormal heart rhythm

The bad news is old age sucks.😡

I spent more than four hours dying of hunger in the emergency room while they stuck all sorts of things in me.

Then the doctor came to tell me the results.

I have a heart condition called SVT . Below is the overview from Mayo Clinic.

(Overview

Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) is a type of irregular heartbeat, also called an arrhythmia. It's a very fast or erratic heartbeat that affects the heart's upper chambers.) 

Read the rest of the Mayo explanation at: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/supraventricular-tachycardia/symptoms-causes/syc-20355243.

Now I am also hearing that two close relatives are having similar experiences.

 A case of bad genes, I guess. Sigh.

 In my case, it's really just an escalation of something I was diagnosed with about 30 years ago.

Then, it was a slow heart rate.

I took nothing for it but exercised more. And for years it never bothered me so I never bothered it.

Now, as I get older, my heart apparently speeds up every couple of weeks causing this dizziness and shortness of breath.

It's a great relief to know what has been causing my episodes.

 I am told to follow up with a cardiologist, wear a heart monitor and take magnesium.

 Happy too it was not my theory of dehydration.

What bugs me is the number of so-called specialists and tests I took over the last two years and no one could find out what was causing the various episodes.

Big up Cleveland Clinic.👍

The prize for this day of starvation was jerk pork with rice and peas and oxtail gravy, which my one and only ever loving grandson had waiting for me at home.

Behind every dark cloud ..........😊.

Link::

Https://joan-myviews.blogspot.com/2025/03/its-happened-again.html?m=1