So, it's a week and a half after surgery and I'm starting to feel a little more than merely acceptable.  This kind of thing naturally always sets off lots of little arhythmias in the heart, as it doesn't like being poked around much.  For the last week, and for the first time since my pacemaker has been fitted, I have been made aware of it actually ( Read more... )

Worlds will collide. 

I'm going to have a lot of time on my hands for an unforseeable period.  There are things I need to do to keep busy.  Here are some thoughts:

• Actually get my Diplomacy game running.  
• Write a short Dark Heresy adventure, as my previous, somewhat labyrinthine ideas have never come to fruition - I think an all-guns-blaziing oneshot may be the best ( Read more... )

I just got out of hospital today.  I had my operation and until an hour before I was discharged everything looked quite good.  My final echo scan, however, gave them their first proper look inside my heart since they opened it on Wednesday, and they discovered that my lower pacemaker lead, which had to be fed through the tricuspid valve, had ( Read more... )

So.  I'm going to be in hospital in about an hour.  I'll be out of contact from tomorrow morning until... I don't know.  At least the weekend, I think.  The surgery starts at either 08:00 or 11:00 and will take about eight hours.  I'll be sure to LJ it in excruciating detail afterwards.

I've spent some of the weekend trying to get my room in York ( Read more... )

"Avoid contact with brain, meninges, eyes and middle ear."

This is from a bottle of clorhexidine, an antimicrobial skin cleanser I'm to use in the days leading up to my operation to prevent me bringing nasties like MRSA into hospital with me.  The last two, fair enough, but brain and meninges?  If you're in danger of getting skin lotion in your ( Read more... )

Just back (briefly) in Halifax having had a busy weekend in York.  I'm feeling fine for the most part but I'm still a long way from my usual fitness and stamina, which are not too impressive at the best of times ( Read more... )

So, Eastertide is nearly gone, and it hardly seems like eight weeks.  I'd rather hoped to have had my surgery by now.  So what have I been doing ( Read more... )

"Avoid consumption of grapefruit." 

Or, more accurately, an inhibition to the beta-1 adrenergic receptors.

Further to a previous post on the subject of feeling noticably more relaxed, socially and otherwise:  Well, I didn't know then that beta blockers are also used to treat anxiety, which is probably why I'm feeling so damn chilled all of a sudden.  I'm not really bothered why, but ( Read more... )