In brief: the procedure went well and the doctor is confident he got what he needed to.  I have “snake bite” wounds at the top of both thighs that are bandaged and doing fine.  In 3 days I’ll be allowed to do all the normal things.  And I shouldn’t have any more episodes.

I went in at 9.  They asked me medical history questions, took vitals, quick EKG.  They don’t shave you any more – they just trim.  Imagine like any army movie you’ve ever seen – with the addition of a vacuum attachment for the hair.  My back, my chest, my nethers – except for a racing stripe.  It is really weird not having any hair on my chest.

Into the operating room at 11.  There were about five guys in there doing various things.  They kind of bundle you up so that you won’t flail around.  The doctor spent a while fussing with the catheters at the top of both thighs (it turns out that I have “challenging” anatomy in terms of how the veins go – not unusual), then suddenly I felt my heart start to beat fast.  “There it goes.”  “You can feel that?”  “Yup.”  And, of course, I could hear the monitor start to beep faster – just for a few seconds.  And I could continue to feel him do things for a few minutes after that.  It felt kind of like he was poking at the inside of my shoulder; very hard to describe but not at all painful.  After a bit of that he declared that he was about ready to do the ablation.  The anesthesiologist told me that he was going to give me something to make me more relaxed and less concerned about things.  Nothing happened — and then I woke up and it was clear they were wrapping things up.  Done by about 12:30.  I figure I was awake for about half the procedure.

Then about an hour in post-op monitoring.  And another hour or so in ‘day stay’ where I was given instructions for site care and follow up.  My doctor (Dr. Porterfield – who everyone agrees is The Bomb) told us that he was able to trigger the issue, find the site, zap it, then was no longer able to trigger the issue.  He and Ellyn talked over my head a bit; if you want the really good dirt you’ll have to talk to her.

So no more atenolol (which was never a big deal) and hopefully no more episodes!

I have had several more bouts of arrhythmia this past year, each ending with a visit to the ER where they dose me with something that sets things to rights.  This is not painful, frightening, or dangerous, but it is certainly annoying.  And my cardiologist is tired of it, too.

So on Tuesday I will be going in for a cardiac ablation.  It’s hard to believe that any procedure involving the heart could be done on an outpatient basis without even a single night’s stay at the hospital, but that’s how things are done.  You can read the linked article, but in brief and very technically: they’ll run a catheter through a vein/artery “in my groin area” up to my heart where they will zap a bad electrical connection that’s causing the problems.  Then they’ll send me home.

I could probably get “back to work” on Wednesday – since I telecommute – but I’ve decided I’m going to be super slack and call that a sick day, too.  I’m willing to milk “cardiac procedure” for all it’s worth.

I went on a tour of the Diablo Nuclear Power Plant a couple of weeks ago.  I remain a fan of nuclear power.  This is the last active plant in California and is due to be shut down in ’24 or ’25.  I’m OK with that.  By then we absolutely should have enough solar to more than replace the output.  And while I am a fan of nuclear – in areas that can generate enough with solar I figure that makes the most sense.  Particularly if those areas are earthquake-prone.

But I was reminded that we don’t visit the ocean as often as we should, so last weekend Ellyn and I took a little stroll and visited our local sink hole (near Montaña de Oro).

It’s November in California and our veggie bed does not know what to do.  The two big plants in the foreground are zucchini.  They are still trying to produce.  Just behind and between them are a couple of tomato plants that have sprung up in the past 4 weeks and are doomed.  The plant crawling up the stairs is a watermelon vine that could not be happier – thank goodness it’s just flowering and not really trying to produce.  And the one at the far end is our Japanese eggplant that is still producing.