Post-Surgery Update

By now, you've read about the events in Cleveland. The elusive final post of the trip home really is coming soon. I thought I owed a post describing my renewed life.

I decided that from Friday through to Sunday, any assessment of how I felt was more surgery-related than underlying disease-related. Since Monday, June 11, I've been diligent to monitor and note nausea, episodes of throwing up, oral intake, etc.

Monday to Wednesday, I had reduced symptoms. Translation: nausea present, but less severe, fewer episodes. On Wednesday, I had become fond of saying, "I feel well enough to do something today." Don't worry I didn't. In the evening, I took the laptop outside and surfed the 'net as the sun went down. Aaaaah.

Then came Thursday. Thursday I had very severe nausea and experienced numerous episodes. I was too weak to go upstairs. Sitting up was an exhausting chore. Standing was almost unachievable. I felt ROTTEN. Nobody had to worry about escorting me on a walk...I wasn't going anywhere.

Friday I had a follow-up appointment to have the pacer interrogated and adjusted. I felt just OK. My first comment at the clinic was, "I was really unwell yesterday. I feel better today, but not nearly as well as the beginning of the week."

10:00 a.m. - Usha, the Clinical Nurse, explained that she was experiencing some problems with the interrogator. A Medtronic rep. was unable to attend this appointment, so Usha had been instructed to interrogate the device, but not adjust the program at all. Of course John and I were disappointed.

Usha had two readers. The one that was giving her a problem and a new one sent by Medtronic specifically for her to test today.

Old reader -	First reading -	Device off
	Second reading -	Device off.

So the pacer was off? What?

New reader -	First reading -	Device off
	Second reading -	Device off

It was definitely off! No wonder I felt so crummy!

How did this happen?
The device was turned on and all the programming checked. The impedance was lower than I expected, and well within range (lower impedance is better). The volts were on target. The amplitude was within range, based on the parameters, but at the low end. I pleaded to have the amplitude increased. Usha was sympathetic, but her hands were tied.

We agreed to follow up on Monday, June 18. That will give them time to discuss with the manufacturer if there is an issue with the reader. (Interrogations on each reader were similar, so I don't think there's a problem there.)

12:37 p.m. - On the way home, I said to John, "There it is." He looked at me, puzzled. "I'm starting to feel better now." Two hours later, it feels like Wednesday all over again.

And I think I've figured out how it was turned off. The laptop. Any computer emits a magnetic field. The strength of the field is increased with battery use. The pacer and the computer were not separated by any distance...and since it was on my lap, I had become part of the magnetic field.(Grade 7 Science,

Mr. K. Baker)

When is a laptop not a good idea?
When it shuts off your gastric pacer!

It's OK if I use a computer, as long as I don't become part of the magnetic field.

We'll see how the weekend goes.