Well. Three guesses who isn’t getting a shiny new pacemaker next
week ? If you guessed it’s me, then you deserve the huge cookie I wish I could
send you. It’d make me feel better if I could. I spent all week scared to death
that my cold would make them cancel the surgery, so I’ve been resting and crap
instead of busting butt like I should have, sick or not – and as I’m walkin’
out of the VA from all three of today’s appointments, I get a call. They forgot
to schedule me for a very important test, and it has to happen before the
surgery. So Doc put in a request for the test, and if I haven’t heard from them
about it by next Friday, I have to call them, remind them again to schedule it.
They’ve already cancelled the surgery. No telling when 1) the test will be or
2) when the pacemaker implant will be rescheduled. Hoping for March or earlier.
I was actually getting
rather excited about it, I’m sure you can’t tell. (deep breath) It’s probably
for the best, and I did get some good news. One, the cold isn’t an issue, they
can barely hear it in me. So, it hasn’t settled in my lungs or anything dangerous.
I was feeling better for a reason ! (grin) Two, my heart is quite stable in its
current state. There’s even been some very minor improvement, surprising since
it’s only been two months since the last EKG. Three, I don’t need the second
lead. Some pacemakers have one lead, there to establish the rhythm in the right
atrium, usually. That’s often plenty. Others have two, one for the atrium, one
for the ventricle. I was right on the line for getting a two-lead, but recent
other tests have revealed my ventricle spacing has visibly improved, so I don’t
need it. There’s even a three-lead pacemaker, but I was never in the running
for it, so we’re not gonna discuss that one. Even on the tail end of a vicious
cold, I’m actually a bit healthier now than I was a couple months back ! Gee,
what else has changed for the better in the past couple months… hmm…
For the truly curious, I’ll
leave this
right here. It’s a video showing what a pacemaker does, how it’s implanted,
and how it helps. It’s computer animated, reminiscent of color science films
from high school, so it shouldn’t squick any but the most squeamish of us.
Dearest Son actually wanted to see it – he went with me today – and was
impressed at his momma’s future Borg status. (sigh) Whenever it happens. BTW,
he was awesome. It was almost as fun as shopping, but the fifth waiting room we
got stuffed in, it was starting to get a bit old. In the end, we saw seven
waiting rooms for three appointments. Why ? Haven’t a clue. Just went where
they told us. And also on the plus side, we were off the highway and local
thoroughfares before Rush Hour. Best part of the whole day, excepting the free
roast beef sandwich from Arby’s. Joined their FB group, got a coupon, enjoyed a
late lunch there. Yum.
Anyway, I also got a test to
run tonight that was ordered when my oxygen subscription was about to run out…
back in mid-November. Oxygen’s been gone since early December. (sigh) But we’ll
run it and mail it back tomorrow. Don’t get me wrong, the VA is taking excellent
care of me. But some of this ‘oh. we forgot about you. again. ’ (expletive
deleted) gets to me after a while. And I made someone’s day when I told them Finding Dory is, in fact, an actual
Pixar movie due for release this year. And Ellen is still Dory. Hm. I need to
see if that release date’s changed at all…
Learned a couple other
things. One, Emmy-car will do 80mph if I ask her to. Darn trucker. ‘Nuff said. Two,
asking the security officer in the booth where parking may be found is a good
idea. He told me where he saw people leaving from, and bingo ! Two spots fairly
close that I didn’t even have to circle for. A trick worth keeping. And I lost
a pound and a half over the last two days. Not sure how, but if it weren’t for
the coughing and phlegm, I’d wish this cold – or at least it’s appetite
suppressant power these past couple of days – would stick around. Maybe corn
flakes for supper is a secret fat burner or somesuch ?
