The Derek Report

I could have taken pictures of the nurse inserting the IV, or Derek being wheeled out of the procedure room, or my favorite dream shot of me whamming open the cath lab doors and surprising the green garbed ones...."Alright, 200 joules...Clear !"...*sound of doors opening*...*flash of camera*..."HEY!!..."

But I don't wish to embarrass anyone or more importantly, get dragged off by hospital security, so here's a little shot of the blood pressure monitor in post-op, where they took us since it was after 5 and the clinics were closing down for the evening.
Rest assured, if anything serious ever happens to me you will get the entire business: gore, stitches, the whole kit and caboodle. (wthin the bounds of personal modesty)

Here's the deal on Derek:

Doctor L. felt (as did we) that the cardioversion would be a reasonable attempt at this point in time.

He thought it would be successful in pulling Derek out of a-fib (it did) but that it won't last for more than a month, "Though I would loved to be proved wrong," he said.

Since Derek's heart has demonstrated it can go in and out of a-fib while on the Sotalol, the beta-blocker therapy alone is not sufficient to prevent this from happening over and over again.

And contrary to previous reports, the doctor was not willing to cardiovert Derek and increase the Sotalol. There was some mix-up in communications between another doctor and ourselves.

ANYWAY, Doctor L. feels increasing the Sotalol without implanting a pacemaker at this point would invite the risk of ventricular arrhythmias, and we certainly don't want that.

So depending on how long the effects of this cardioversion last, Derek will be getting a pacemaker before the next year is out. My guess would be sometime within the first 4 months of 08.

And while a pacemaker may sound drastic for someone his age, it really isn't. It could be just the ticket to keep him in a stable rhythm long term, and more importantly, prevent the kind of situations that have led to catastrophic events in Loren's life.
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The Vehicle Report: one of our cars has taken up temporary residence in Iowa City, so as soon that's fixed we'll have to make another trip down there to pick it up.

Loren arrived at the parking garage yesterday around 1:30pm with his tool box, the huge Lincoln Manual and several other gadgets/manual type items. He tried any number of tests and whatnot to get it to start, but no go.

Loren did determine that it isn't getting spark OR fuel, and yet it cranks over nicely :-) We took this same vehicle down before and everything worked great and to make a long story short, Loren thinks it's possible the anti-theft mechanism has malfunctioned to the permanently "on" position.

Personally, I'm stickin' with my Space Aliens theory.

We'll know when the shop calls later this morning which will probably be while Loren is out running errands and then it will be poor ignorant Ma on the the phone with her disarmingly witty replies such as,

"Uhhh..." and

"Welllll..."

or the one I resort to in clutch situations,

"I'm on the other line with my broker....can my husband call you back?"
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The Family Report: Happy to say that everyone got along pretty wellish during Ma's unintended night out, which I must hasten to point out to Loren does NOT constitute one of my THREE GET-AWAY DAYS.

However, I'm temporarily putting off that vacation for about ten years (subject to change) because it's just no fun when you think about little kids missing you back home.

It's also no fun if you've haven't got toothpaste or pajamas or...or ANYTHING, though it does cut down substantially on the time needed for getting ready for bed.

In light of this--and because I spent a fair amount of time staring at the ceiling not sleeping since my Benadryl was at home--I've come up with a few emergency substitutions that could do in a pinch, if one is ever stranded in a city two-and-a-half hours away from home at night post cardioversion, like me.

Toothpaste: I did have tic tacs in my purse, and I think it would be a simple matter to rub a tic tac over each tooth, which, while not exactly cleaning in-between the teeth, could well provide that minty-fresh taste we all know and love, and after all isn't that part of the American Dream?

A further enhancement could be utilized if one carried super glue in one's purse. Then, you could actually glue individual tic tacs onto each tooth, giving the illusion to the general public that you not only have minty-fresh breath, but you care enough to have had each tooth shined and polished.

This works best if you use white tic tacs.

Hair Gel: While many motels now provide complimentary shampoo for their guests, I was feeling somewhat at a loss--follically speaking--without my volumnizing hair gel.

Despite having a large purse, I do not regularly carry this last item with me, but one thing I DO have is hand sanitizing gel. (hey...gel is gel, right?)

Now, I haven't tried this personally, but you might want to keep this in mind in case you're ever in a like predicament. My one caution would be to work really fast, since that stuff dries in like...2.3 seconds.

You're gonna want to mentally go over the styling process in your head before you actually do it with hand sanitizing gel.

Visualization is your friend.
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Welp, that's all the handy stuck-in-a-jam travel tips I have today. And I see by the Holiday listings that November 29th is:

Square Dance Day.

So go out and swing yer partner, dosey do and have some fun already.
 

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