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OK, folks, I have a request for myself, and would appreciate any prayers you can send up for me. I've had Atrial Fibrillation off and on for the last 10 years, and since landing in the hospital on Christmas Day last year, with my heart working at about 20% of it's capacity, have been on medication all year. The heart function returned, by April, and the Docs think that it was a virus that attacked my heart. Even with the meds, I've still had 3 or 4 episodes of A-Fib this year, having to go to the emergency room once, and stay overnight for a Cardiac Electro-Conversion the following day.

I'd had a full cardiac workup in 2003, after a couple of bouts with the A-Fib, and didn't have any heart damage, but the Cardiologist told me I had a 'wiring problem', and that it would likely continue. He mentioned that the Electro-Conversion, for zapping the heart back into rhythm, might be necessary, but the thing that would likely get rid of it would be a Catheter Ablation.

So, because these episodes have gotten stronger each time this year, I decided that I'm going to have the Ablation procedure. I'll be going in this Wed. morning, the Ablation starts at 8 and will probably be over by 2-4pm. We met with the nurse-anesthetist last Thurs, and he confirmed that I'll be out the entire time, thank goodness! It involves a Catheterization, and a radio frequency tool to cause lesions on the pulmonary veins, to insulate them, so the electrical signals coming through don't transfer to my heart. It's not a particularly risky procedure, but as in any procedure involving wounds, there's always a risk, and there are others with this particular procedure, but my Doctor has done over 100 of them, with no major complications, so I'm feeling very confident that all will go well.

The Doc was surprised when we decided to do this the day before Thanksvgiving, but our three younger kids are all at college, and since they'll be home in mid-December for a month, they're not coming home for Thanksgiving. This way, I'll be feeling pretty good by the time they arrive! The only real pain in the whole thing is from the incision for the catheter, and when I had a catheterization done in December, it only took me about a week to be able to get around without some discomfort at the site. Our oldest son lives in Somerville, MA, and he offered to come over on Friday to fix our Turkey Day dinner, so he and his girlfriend will bring over the turkey deep-fryer, and all the fixins and I'll get to take it easy!

So, I'd appreciate the prayers, and I'll be home on Thursday night, and will post either then, or the following day to let y'all know how it went! Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!