The phone rang on Tuesday. “Mr Boal, have you been using your CPAP machine ok?”
Yes, I had. To my astonishment, as I mentioned in my last article, CPAP has been grand, because I do have sensitivity issues.
However, my sinus pauses hadn’t stopped. I definitely had sleep apnoea, but it wasn’t the only thing happening. The pacemaker was back on the agenda again, and this is where it gets good. Really good.
Friday I got a letter in MyChart saying I was on the urgent waiting list. Tuesday they rang me. Yesterday I got my pacemaker as a day patient in the Cath Lab in Belfast City Hospital.
It’s not the first time I’ve had a very quick turnaround in the last twelve months, but as I learned on Friday, P wave asystole is not a good thing. I know that if my life had been in serious danger, I would have been an in-patient where they could keep an eye on me overnight, instead of working as normal, but the P wave comes right before your heart beats – the little bump in the cover image for this article.
It’s also why I was only lightly sedated yesterday morning, but even so it beat being at the dentist. I’m sore, I’m a bit tender, but I’m home, relaxing, and glad to be alive.
A few thanks are due. First and foremost, to the Belfast Trust Cardiology team, doctors, nursing staff and others who have looked after me, particularly yesterday. Top class care, and intervention when I needed it.
And thank you so much to everyone who has been praying for me and sending good wishes.
Andy has a very wide range of interests including Christianity, Lego, transport, music, the Alliance Party, chess and computers. Anything can appear in a post.
Andy has abandoned Twitter, needs to update his website, and has a BlueSky account.
Discover more from Slugger O'Toole
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
