Bad Timing

It's not enough to be getting ready for a road trip. Now what I thought I'd gotten fixed long term is proving how temporary that fix was.

Most of you who know me know I have a history of A-fib. It caused me to retire early, since I'd never pass my next DOT physical to qualify for driving professionally. Luckily it all blew up the exact month I finally qualified for Medicare. Meds worked, until I started reacting badly to them. Then a different med plus blood thinners, followed by cardiac ablation surgery to reset the rhythm properly. It's more complex than that, but it worked. Follow that with a pacemaker and a Watchman to prevent blood clots forming in the heart by sealing off the little chamber where it could pool during bad rhythm episodes, should they recur.

Well, they just did.

I'm one of the people who can feel when the rhythm is disrupted. Beats are skipped and I know when it happens. It's been slowly building up: once, then months later again, another long pause before the next time. At that frequency, I've been ignoring it. Suddenly this last week it's been daily, out of the blue. The first time adrenaline triggered it, while Steve and I were watching a TV movie which did a terrific job of sucking you in for an ongoing dangerous situation. We decided to just turn the movie off and erase it from the DVR. The next times didn't need that trigger. I put in a call to my cardiologist's office, letting them know what was happening, informing them we were on a very short timeline before leaving the state for the summer, and I needed help before we left.

That call was yesterday. This morning I got a call back with an appointment and a preliminary plan. I'll go in for an EKG to start. I reminded them this is (still) intermittent and an EKG might not show anything. They at least need me to do that so the insurance company will recognize there is a valid reason for upcoming expenses. They will also fit me up with a wearable heart monitor which reports to an online recorder so they can tell what's going on and when. I'll get it the day before we leave.

I asked then what? Do I mail it back to the office from Minnesota? I've worn two different kinds of those monitors back before the surgeries, and apparently the technology is still changing. This one comes with a mailing kit when, once finished, goes back to the manufacturer. 

Their final question was did I have a cardiologist in MN? Well, I did, and the clinic is still there, attached to the local hospital. I looked it up. I can call them, let them know I'll be arriving in need of services, and see if they still have my records from 10 years ago and if my doc is still there. I'll have advice from my coardiologist here as to how soon I should try to make an appointment for there before I leave their office. I hope to also have a prescription for one of the meds that works for what's going on that I haven't taken since the Watchman went in. We'll also discuss whether I might have to go back on blood thinners, considering the Watchman stopped my need for them. Any prescription would have to be filled that same day, or be on paper and dropped at the northern pharmacy where I get my summer refills each year.

Good thing much is already packed for the trip!