Cardiac kid

I have been feeling a bit out of sorts the last couple days. I felt my heart rhythm do some strange things early one morning on the boat and have felt not only a general lack of energy but a  bit of discomfort in my chest. Since I have already had the experience of not only a heart attack but a murmur and a bad mitral valve requiring open heart surgery, I thought that the prudent thing to do would be to check with my cardiologist.  I'm not a hypochondriac but it had been a while since I have had things checked out so I went in yesterday.

Got some strange results back on my EKG. It is titled abnormal. While I have always fought atrial fibrillation and take a medicine to control it, I am now in a very odd but apparently harmless rhythm pattern called ectopic atrial rhythm with an unusual P axis. In layman's terms, where my baseline parabolas normally head south, now they are tending north or something like that. We compared this EKG with past graphs and I have never been in this rhythm before. Hopefully with more exercise in the coming months, sinus rhythm will take over again and I will feel better and have more energy.

My cardiologist, Neil, was frankly amazed that I could feel the subtle difference but I definitely could, sensitive sort that I am. Now I am scheduled for a bunch of blood work and baseline testing but it is nothing significant I can assure you. As you know I keep an immaculate regimen and am at the peak of physical condition. Might have to add more fat and heavy whipping cream to my diet.

This might be a good time for those of you who do not believe me to pony up for a little life insurance policy on me, just in case. But if it pays off, you owe me big time next incarnation, capiche?

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The picture you see is a picture of my nurse's unusual piercing. Being the nosy sort, I espied something odd when she was hooking the leads for the EKG and asked her about it. It is called a madison and she had it done when she was 24. Now it is healed over and can't be removed without serious lancing. I asked her what her mother thought about it and it was about what you would expect. I surmised that it must really help her get better reception and she laughed.

I have one of those horrible cultural taboos about piercing and tattoos but realize that it is my trip, the rest of the world awash in ink and self expression. Vive la differénce.