CONSOLIDATION

February 15th, 2004

You were warned. We told you that we were going to do this. We told you we were going to prepare an online (news) letter to keep you all posted of the comings and goings of this madcap, whirlwind life we have etched out for ourselves. Yessiree Bob, this life has more ups and downs than a pogo stick, and it is just about as fun.
Most everyone has been called this week, and we saw most everyone a couple weeks back, so there is not a great deal to write about. But those of you that know me are already aware of how verbose I can be. That is why I never actually sit down and write letters anymore. Can you say "writer's cramp?" I knew you could.
You will notice that I have posted a picture page on this website, and providing I can keep this thing under the 20 MB size constraints, I will try to post more pictures soon. Especially since Darren and Becky need pictures from Bob's wedding, and ours too, for the projects they are working on. No doubt they will have fun rummaging through all the photos I plan to put up. Come to think of it, I may need to build additional websites to accommodate all the pictures. Don't worry guys, I will be sure to put up links for you. I just hope I can make the directory more cohesive than the mess of files I have on my back three hard drives. Just be patient, please, as putting up pages and sorting through thousands of photos will take a bit of time.

A SHOCKING EXPERIENCE

On a more serious note, some of you are aware that Friday the 13th was a busy day for us. I have never put much credo in the day being unlucky, but this was one Friday the 13th I will never forget.
Several times during the past several months I have been having periods where I would wake up feeling ill, thinking I was having a heart attack, but have dismissed it as panic attacks. A few weeks ago I found Terri's stethoscope during one of these attacks, and listened to my own heartbeat, and heard it beating irregularly. Terri was at work at the time, so from 10am to 1pm I rested, and waited for her to get off work so we could go to the doctor. By the time we got to the doctor, the problem seemed to have resolved itself, but an appointment was set for me to see the cardiologist, and a plan was made for me to call 911 the next time it happened.
SO Friday morning I woke up at 6:50am, and got out of bed, and felt my heart pounding erratically in my chest. I got dressed and found Terri's stethoscope again, and listened to my heart doing the Macarena. I woke my wife and handed her the stethoscope and the phone, and told her, "I need you to listen, and if you hear what I did, we have a couple calls to make... 911, and upstairs to Berta, so as not to panic the clients.
Minutes later, I had crawled back into bed, and the EMTs began to arrive. Funny, the Bellingham Paramedics arrived slightly ahead of Lynden's EMTs even though they came from further away. Though slightly crass, I tend to deal with stress by cracking jokes. First I teased Terri about having seven men in her bedroom, then decided that wasn't too weird, considering I was the one in bed with four of them. Well, that got a laugh all around, except from Terri who was not laughing. Minutes later I was escorted to the ambulance, and took the 20 minute ride to the ER where I was rushed right to a bed and was hooked up to myriad monitors and IVs.
I was seen by the Doctor almost immediately, and several tests were run. I was having atrial fibrillation, and not a heart attack. A cardiologist and respiratory technician were consulted, and it was decided that the best thing to do would be to perform cardioversion . Cardioversion is a procedure that uses an electrical charge applied over the heart to momentarily discharge all the cardiac cells, allowing the primary pacemaker of the SA node to take control of the rhythm. (Don't blame me! I took the definition from a webpage! I have no idea what I am talking about!) Well, I can tell you that I was terrified. I made the doctor, then the cardiologist explain it to me until I felt I understood what was going to happen. (Terri still wasn't laughing.) Finally at noon, we were ready. I was hooked up to the machine, and was anesthetized.... I do not remember anything after that. But it obviously worked. I woke up 15 minutes later feeling much better, my heart beating normally, and surprisingly refreshed . Kinda gives a whole new meaning to the term "power nap".
So now this coming Thursday the 19th I go in for an echocardiogram, and the following Thursday I have a stress test done. I will Update this page when I have something more to tell you following the results.

For now, Terri and I appreciate your continued support and prayers.