[Rhodes22-list] I'm back from the hospital

[Jesse Shumaker]

Roger, thanks for the update and we'll still be keeping you in our thoughts
as you work through this.  I get the impression that your pace is only
temporarily now dipping to that of a typical person until you rebound back
into adventure mode.

Graham, glad to hear that you have found some good solutions to help with
your health issues.

Quick adventure update from San Francisco:  Today we went out the bay,
under the Golden Gate Bridge and into the ocean for the first time.  As we
came back, we were passed by a bunch of racers coming back with their
spinnakers up.  We were first on scene at overturned trimaran with 3 crew
that we saw climb on top of their upside down boat.  We dropped sails and
turned in the motor.  There were gusts up to 40 knots true wind as it
funneled through the entrance to the bay.  The coast guard showed up a
minute later and threw a line to get them over to the coast guard boat one
at a time.  Then the overturned trimaran was towed.  Just glad that it
appeared that  everyone was OK.

Jesse Shumaker
S/V Zephyr

On Sat, Jun 5, 2021, 5:52 PM Graham Stewart <gstewart8 at cogeco.ca> wrote:

> Roger:
>
> This isn't related to the Rhodes topic but I hope readers will indulge me.
>
> I was put on Xeralto back in 2013 after my extensive bypass operation. I
> developed fairly extreme A-fib at the time. The cardiologist told me that I
> might not need to continue after a few months. Apparently a-fib  that
> occurs after heart surgery can be temporary. I asked my family doctor about
> it in the following months but he told me that the only way to know whether
> I needed this and other heart medication was to stop using them and see
> what happens. After such surgery I was not inclined to experiment.
>
> However, I am also diabetic (type II) and have been for 50 years. One of
> the side effects of diabetes can be bleeding in the eye which can lead to
> blindness. In recent years I began to experience these problems and about
> 18 months ago I had a serious bleed in my right eye that resulted in total
> blindness in that eye - until after 6 months I had eye surgery that drained
> the eye of the blood, lasered all the bits together,  and after about a
> month my sight was restored almost to the point before the event. Truly an
> amazing experience.
>
> I was taking the anticoagulants to address the risk of stroke brought on
> by  A-fib but I couldn't ignore the fact the bleeding was also a risk for
> my eyesight so I asked for a re-evaluation of my A-fib given that I had not
> been aware of any problems over the years since my initial diagnoses. They
> put me on a monitor for two weeks and also did an array of tests and found
> no indication of A-fib. In spite of this finding the cardiologist strongly
> suggested that I stay on the anticoagulants. I resisted so he agreed to
> reduce the dose to a fairly low level.
>
> I have found that it is much easier to get put on medications than to be
> taken off. I went on a strict ketogenic diet 2 1/2 years ago and since then
> I have been able to stop all of my medications for diabetes, hypertension
> and cholesterol while maintaining normal levels of the related markers -
> except for LDL but that is another story.
>
> All this to stay I hope that the use of Tikosyn might reduce your need for
> Xeralto.
>
> These issues become complicated to say the least and I wish you the best
> as you sort all this out.
>
> All the best,
>
> 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 10:31 AM
> To: The Rhodes 22 Email List
> Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] I'm back from the hospital
>
> Graham,
>
> Yes, I have been on Xarelto blood thinner since 2018.  While I understand
> why I need to take an anticoagulant, the downside is that you bruise easily
> and bleed like a hemophiliac from every minor cut.
>
> I expect to on Tikosyn for the foreseeable future.
>
> I am cautiously optimistic today.  Life is good!
>
> Roger Pihlaja
> S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
>
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> > On Jun 5, 2021, at 9:39 AM, Graham Stewart <gstewart8 at cogeco.ca> wrote:
> >
> > 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
> >
> > Sent from Mail<https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for
> Windows
> > 10
> >
>
>