Roger:

Good to hear that the procedure went well. It is amazing what they are able to do on an apparently routine, for them, basis. You must be relieved and it sounds like you are getting back to normal very quickly.

I am going to look up Tikosyn as it sounds like an amazing drug. I assume that you will be taking it on an ongoing basis. Are you also on anticoagulants?

Graham Stewart
Agile, Rodes 22, 1976
Kingston Ontario

-----Original Message-----
From: Rhodes22-list [mailto:rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org] On Behalf Of
ROGER PIHLAJA
Sent: Saturday, June 5, 2021 6:45 AM
To: The Rhodes 22 Email List
Subject: [Rhodes22-list] I'm back from the hospital

Hi All,

The 3 day Tikosyn loading procedure went pretty well.  They took their best
guess as to an appropriate dose and I responded well.  When I checked in on
Tuesday morning, the initial EKG showed me going in and out of A-Fib.  The
data logs from my implanted pacemaker showed I was in A-Fib ~50% of the
time!  When they started dosing me with Tikosyn, I reverted back to normal
sinus rhythm almost immediately.  They didn't have to do an electrical
cardiac inversion (i.e. shock treatment!) to get my heart back into normal
sinus rhythm.  They were also prepared to do another cardiac ablation and
upgrade my implanted pacemaker from a 2 lead to a 3 lead unit.  If they had
to do that, the cardiac ablation would have been used to kill off all the
remaining biological pacemaker cells and completely rely on the upgraded
pacemaker.  It may come to that in the future.  But, for the moment we're
going to stick with the 2 lead pacemaker and Tikosyn.  They also did an
ultrasonic echo cardiogram to determine how enlarged my heart has gotten
after all this A-Fibbing and measure the volume % ejected.  These
measurements will be needed for the procedure next week.  I was hooked up to
a wireless cardiac monitor for the entire 3 days I was in the hospital.  So,
they were monitoring my heart function constantly while I was getting loaded
up on Tikosyn.  By the morning of the 2nd day of Tikosyn loading, my
wireless cardiac monitor showed I was in normal sinus rhythm and didn't
glitch once from then on!

I actually feel much better.  But, lying about in a hospital is one thing
and actually living a normal life is another.  So, for an initial cardiac
insult test,  I mowed my front lawn yesterday.  I felt OK afterwards.  I was
also climbing up on a ladder measuring the length of my mast for Allyn,
again with no apparent ill effects.

I'm scheduled for another COVID-19 test this Sunday.  Then, I have to
quarantine until I go into the hospital on June 10th for a cardiac
catheterization procedure.  If nothing goes crooked, this will be a 1 day
out patient procedure.   But, this is exploratory laparoscopic surgery. They
might have to keep me longer depending on what they find &/or if something
goes crooked with the procedure itself.  Thanks for all the kind wishes and
please keep me in your prayers.

Roger Pihlaja
S/V Dynamic Equilibrium

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