Pre-operative assessment / cardiology nurse office visit

I am at KU for my hour and a half pre-anesthesia appointment for my upcoming procedure on Friday. This is to be followed by a half hour visit with the cardiology nurse.

The phrase "I’m going to have a defibrillator implanted" now glibly [is that the correct adverbial form of that word?] rolls off my tongue. Then I realize that before a year ago, I didn’t really know what that meant. I then further realize that it may sound more intimidating than it really hopefully will be. It is not open-heart surgery. It is however, implanted in one’s chest, so it definitely is surgery.

My friend, Mark McDonough, described it this way:

As I recall from EMT training, an internal defibrillator, like the the portable ones placed in many public buildings and some churches, provides an electric shock to the heart if heart goes into Afib (atrial fibrillation) or other arrhythmia). From what I’ve heard, it’s not terrible but you will know if it goes off.

This, no doubt, is why I’ve heard it called a zapper. Another friend, Katy Nolen O'Dowd, said that her husband has one and that it has been a life saver on more than one occasion. I was first diagnosed with heart failure about eight years ago, but so far, I’ve not had a serious heart incident, so this is a very proactive move and I will have to break myself of the habit of popping my cellphone into my shirt pocket.
. . .

Now that the pre-operative assessment appointment is over, I understand why the appointment was for an hour and a half. It wasn’t just an appointment with the anesthesiologist’s PA.

• First I met with a pharmacist to establish what meds I am taking and which ones I should stop until Friday and which ones I should not take on the day of the procedure.
• This was followed by an appointment with a visit with a surgery nurse to collect an exhaustive medical history, followed by the collection of vials of my blood, just in case I need a transfusion and to test the blood for any bad juju that might be there.
• And then finally, I did meet with the anesthesiologist’s PA to let me know what I should do Friday morning, what would be happening to me so I don’t feel the incisions being made, etc. etc.

So . . . I spent about half an hour with each of these professionals.

Then I crossed the hall to cardiology. They took my vitals again. Went over my meds list again. Asked me my full name and birthdate again. And again, it wasn’t just the cardiology nurse.

• After vitals were taken, I met with very nice gentleman who administered a vector test with Boston Sllcientific. This will help the surgeon know where to put the wires in the right place once the incisions are made.
• Then the cardiology nurse took over and let me ask questions and also gave answers about things I didn’t know I should question.

So now, I wait the two days until the procedure which will take place on Friday at 1:00 PM. I am supposed to report to the hospital at 10:30 AM.