Health Update

As many of you know, I have been diagnosed with Atrial Fibrillation. Not a major heart condition as these things go but a “shot across the bows” as they say. I Tweeted today’s blood test as I went through test after test and had a few @parkylondon and Direct Messages asking what it all meant. So here goes.

I have an appointment later this month for a “cardioversion”. To quote Wikipedia:

“To perform synchronized electrical cardioversion two electrode pads are used, each comprising a metallic plate which is faced with a saline based conductive gel. The pads are placed on the chest of the patient, or one is placed on the chest and one on the back. These are connected by cables to a machine which has the combined functions of an ECG display screen and the electrical function of a defibrillator. A synchronizing function (either manually operated or automatic) allows the cardioverter to deliver a reversion shock, by way of the pads, of a selected amount of electric current over a predefined number of milliseconds at the optimal moment in the cardiac cycle which corresponds to the R wave of the QRS complex on the ECG. Timing the shock to the R wave prevents the delivery of the shock during the vulnerable period (or relative refractory period) of the cardiac cycle, which could induce ventricular fibrillation. If the patient is conscious, various drugs are often used to help sedate the patient and make the procedure more tolerable. However, if the patient is haemodynamically unstable or unconscious, the shock is given immediately upon confirmation of the arrhythmia. When synchronized electrical cardioversion is performed as an elective procedure, the shocks can be performed in conjunction with drug therapy until sinus rhythm is attained. After the procedure, the patient is monitored to ensure stability of the sinus rhythm.”

Huh? Using the KISS principle what this means is that I have to have a procedure, under a general anaesthetic which re-boots my heart.

That’s booked for 24^th July but to get to that procedure I need my INR level to stay between 2.5 and 3.5 for the two weeks before the 24^th July. INR is a measure of the clotting-ness of blood. 1.0 is the average human number. The last few weeks results have been promising. Here are the results so far:

Date	INR
3/6/9	1.0
4/6/9	1.0
5/6/9	1.3
8/6/9	2.8
11/6/9	3.3
15/6/9	3.3
22/6/9	3.7
29/6/9	5.1 / 3.9 / 4.3

So, the target is 2.5 to 3.5. I was a little high (3.7) last week but I seem to have overdone something this past week. Anyway, they’ve adjusted the Warfarin medication dose so it should return to normal by next week. I have a couple more weeks to level off before the deadline.

I’ve had some side effects to the medication (warfarin, digoxin, amiodarone) which have necessitated more medication but that seems to be settling down now. I hope to be back to work this week. Fingers crossed.

Comments

[Simmo]

Hey Parky,

I went through this, or parts of it, whilst at Eagle. Have they identified the cause?

Hope you're ok, obviously, and once you're able to mix alcohol and Parky again let me know!

Speak soon.

Dave.