Hi, Because of everything that’s been happening to us medically the past few years, both Minay and I set aside our vision checkups (maybe for the last two years for her, and the last three for me), but Minay has been struggling to see clearly for over a year. Her cataracts have worsened over time, …
Hi, Side Story: I found out I had AFib in April 2021. Following the pandemic, I wanted to get back into the gym, so I asked my doctor if she thought I was healthy enough to keep up that level of activity. I had been working out three days a week before that. She recommended …
Hi, Literary Update: I’ve written very little during this recovery period. I’m off my game, what else can I say? Medical Update: The surgery was about five weeks ago (9-22-2025), so I’ve had plenty of time to recover. Before the surgery I was out of breath after I climbed our stairs (usually with a mug …
Hi, The Ablation Procedure:Here’s what happened during the ablation surgery. They knocked me out like they did for the TEE test, then they inserted an electrode catheter (thin flexible tubing that has electrodes in it) into my femoral vein (near my groin), and pushed the catheter up into the upper right atrium chamber of my …
Hi, The TEE (TransEsophageal Echocardiogram): Friday, 9-10-2025. Essentially, they stuck a tube down my throat, slid some specialized equipment through the tube down into my esophagus in order to get an accurate picture of my heart. The esophagus runs directly behind the heart, and passes within a few millimeters of the left atrial chamber …
Hi, About two weeks ago (9-12-2025), I had a TEE (TransEsophageal Echocardiogram) performed, which was the first step toward getting approval for the implant of a Watchman device in my left atrial appendage. Try saying “TransEsophogeal Electrocardiogram” 10 times really fast!!! The Watchman was approved and, on September 22nd, I underwent a minimally invasive heart …
Hi, Literary Update: I may be slowing down my writing (again) for a while. The has been an interestingly interruptive year for me, and I’m not sure how much writing I’ll be doing for the foreseeable (near) future. The medical stuff below will help explain why. The Medical Stuff: As you should know by now, …
Hi, [Medical and Literary Updates: I’m still finding it difficult to focus for long periods of time, which makes the writing more difficult, of course. Some of it’s mental fuzziness, although most of that disappeared after I stopped taking pain medication, The rest of it is because of my daily routine now. One of the …
Hi, Health Update: As usual, I’m writing this in bits and pieces. Wednesday, 11-13-2024. was the last day I was required to wear my splint 24 hours a day (except for showering). I took it off before I showered that morning, and will leave it off from now on, except for a while when I …
Hi, Surgery Update: I started writing this on Friday, 10-4-2024, but didn’t finish it for almost a week (Thursday 10-10-2024). I’m posting it today (Friday, 10-11-2024). My hand surgery, after a couple of last-minute incidents, went as well as I could have hoped, but… Six days before the scheduled surgery date, I got a text message …