Heartbeats Rhymes & Life

Photo from my friend Colin Rex It's Tuesday morning, April 20th and it's been 4 weeks since I was discharged from the hospital. 4 weeks already?! Crazy. Everyday I wake up wondering what I'm going to fill my day with and then before you know it, it's noon, then 4pm, then dinner time. Time flies and I've been able to get some things done around the house, like selling old bike parts, spending time with family and napping. The first couple of weeks saw some good napping as my energy would be sapped from the slightest effort, but these days I see less and less napping. Atrial Fibrillation or Captain AFib has been haunting me ever since Monday March 5th. I woke up around 3am that morning to take some medications and then it started to happen... Extra high heart rate, irregular beats, shortness of breath and an overwhelming fear came over me. I thought I could 'calm' it down myself (not knowing it was AFib) so I spent the next 45 minutes lying to myself that it w...

  Thursday March 25th, 5:30 am - Surgery day The day started just like any other day... HaHa! No way, it was surgery day! The day that I have been planning, prepping, and coordinating for the past 2.5 months was finally here!!! I was able to get some good sleep the night before and I had a relaxing day on Wednesday with Kristen and my mom. A good homemade breakfast, coffee, long chats. It was all about relaxing before the big day. It was actually a relief to have done everything possible that I could and now it was in the hands of the doctors. Open heart surgery meant no food or water after 11:30 the night before and NOTHING the morning of. Ooof an empty stomach and anxiety, that's what's for breakfast... Ooh free grippy socks at check-in! First things first, I had to have one of many IV's placed in my arm. I told the nurse about my Vagel response to IV needles and how there's a good chance I may pass out. I asked for a cold, wet towel for my head before the needle went...