[Paddlewise] Me-Doug Lloyd

I'm on the Digest version of Paddlewise, but had a heads-up about a post vis
a vis my health. I'd been trying to keep personal health comments to a
minimum (end-of-post comments in brackets) as this is a paddling forum. The
exception would be for my log book entries that are forwarded to the list,
which are always reflective of what's occurring at the time of said paddle
trip, et, though friends have freedom to post as I'm not one of those
privacy freaks (were all in this thing called life, together).

But I did want to convey to the list the interior humour I experienced today
at the cardiologist's/electrophysiologist's office. He had a very nice
classic picture of Cannon Beach in the surf, outlined in purple haze from a
seaward perspective, on his wall. As he came through the door, I immediately
spoke first, "Nice picture; been there in my sea kayak, a little to the
north of that shot, boxed in by breakers and boulders between sea stacks,
racing shoreward upside down, broached by a larger rogue breaker unable to
surface for air." (I'd practiced saying this while awaiting his entrance,
being the ham, I am).

"Uh huh, yeah, the waves are nice there," was his approximate reply. Then he
proceeded with a bunch of technical jargon and further treatment options if
I wanted to decline definitive treatment, which I corrected him on a few
points. And like no, "learning to live" with Atrial Fibrillation and
arrhythmia's _wasn't_ an option for me as this allows deleterious heart
remodelling, cardiomyopathy -- and besides, how's an active paddler/cyclists
supposed to live with increasing exercise intolerance, 6 expensive heart
prescriptions with side effects, trips to the ER late at night, and high
probability for stroke (I won't go into the other heart problems on my
horizon). With 16 years of training, he was remarkably restrained.

Okay, I digress, sorry. So anyway, he goes on to explain the basics of
Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation with evident ectopic focus and adrenergic
stimulation. I knew all this, of course. But I loved the explanation:You
see, A-fib can be idiopathic, but can also be initially brought about during
an extreme infection. A-fib is a storm of electrical energy that spins
wavelets across the atria, causing one's upper heart chambers to fibrillate
(quiver with excitations). In my case, the trigger mechanism includes
premature atrial contractions (PAC's) which get very nasty at times. PVC's
are usually benign and easier to live with, though mine get too closely
spaced at times. But where and why these reentrant wavelet circuits come
from isn't well understood. It is thought that rogue cells within primarily
the pulmonary veins are responsible (normally only one's SA node produces
electrical activity).

Folks may not see the humour in all this, but those who know me (like Jolie,
et al) will recognise the fact that storm cells, rogue waves and spinning
wavelets are just simply (but hopefully not forever in one sense), in my
heart. I was smirking anyway, and will be heading to the cardio-lab on the
13th of May in fine form.

With respect and assumed off-topic liberties for a moment,

Doug Lloyd (Happiness is normal sinus rhythm)
Victoria BC

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~
"Whatever can be said at all can be said clearly and whatever cannot be said
clearly should not be said at all."
Ludwig Wittgenstein
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~
***************************************************************************
PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed
here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire
responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author.
Submissions:     PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net
Subscriptions:   PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net
Website:         http://www.paddlewise.net/
***************************************************************************