March 28. 2025 - "The best laid plans of mice and men…"
sigh
I need to backpedal for a moment and tell you something from a few years ago. In the first half of 2013 I was lying in bed one evening when for some reason I decided to check my heartbeat. I got quite concerned when I realized I was skipping beats: I'd get two beats, then a pause, three beats, another pause, two beats and a pause, maybe four beats and… you get the idea. I looked it up online and got the news that the occasional skipped heartbeat is not cause for alarm; I checked at my next doctor's visit and my doctor confirmed it. Just the same, that was at least one reason I got a bicycle that July and started on an exercise and diet program.
Okay, on to 2025. In recent years my weight had gone back up, and even though in the past two or three years I'd gotten it a little under control I still weigh a lot more than I should. This Winter I have been blowing off the bike rides, jogging and trips to the gym because it was just so darn cold out there. (The fact that I got lazy might have had a little something to do with it, too.) This past Tuesday, March 25, I went to the Wesley Pre-op center for (of course) my pre-op for the surgery this Monday. They did all the expected things: temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, etc. They drew some blood, and they also did an EKG.
I thought it was all more or less a formality, but then the nurse gave me the news that the EKG was a little concerning. If I understand correctly, it showed I was having a little TOO much heartbeat skipping. They later informed me that they would have to get clearance from my cardiologist before they could proceed with the surgery on the 31st.
I have been calling my cardiologist's office and the surgeon's office for the past two days, but have gotten no definite word from them. With the weekend coming up and my operation being early Monday morning, I am really wondering if everything is going to fall into place in time and we're gonna get this done. I don't think what's going on in my cecum is going to progress to Stage 4 or anything if they have to postpone the operation for two weeks. And in the past couple of days I have gotten the bike out of storage and gotten some exercise. But this possible (probable?) delay is not doing wonders for my stress level, which I think might already be pretty high.
I will post any updates as I get them.