Cardioversion!

Today Was The Day!

Cardioversion - done
A Fib - gone
Heartbeat - normal

The process started at 7:30 AM and took only a few minutes. I am home and feeling great. I can't drive for 24 hours as I am legally impaired but other than that, I am done! 

I had a really good nurse who stayed with me right through the procedure. He answered all my questions. Does this always work? He said stats say no but he personally has never been involved in one that failed. He said Doctor Dhansay is very good. The nurse stuck the electrodes on early as perfect contact is important. He wrote himself a reminder to remove them while I was still "out" as it hurts to remove them. He said I might have two burns (front and back) from the electrodes but there were none so the contact must have been good.

He told me if the first shock does not work they will probably give me one more at a higher voltage. Some doctors will keep going for several shocks but my doctor normally stops after two. They only had to give me one before my heart fell into "normal" rhythm. That was it. The nurse told me that when they shocked me I bounced on the bed and my heart fell into normal rhythm but I was not breathing which is not optimal. The anesthesiologist tipped my head back to open my airway and I quickly started breathing on my own. Everyone except me knew what they were doing! Thankfully!

 I had to lay there with the monitors attached for one hour and then for one more hour under observation. Another cardio technician gave me an ECG and then they let me go. The specialist wants to see me in about two weeks.

He gave me a coffee soon after I woke up and refilled it when I asked. In hindsight I thought that a little strange but maybe they wanted the stimulation.

Anyway, I feel great!