Friday, April 24- Sunday, April 26
Feeling pretty bummed out at failing a second time to complete the Coast2Coast tour, now with only three riding days left to St Augustine, and not having had a chance to say, "Good-bye," to any of this year's Coasters I found myself in another hospital ER. I was finally admitted and taken to a non-emergency room at 2 am and slept, as might be expected, fitfully.
Friday was full of visits from doctors and nurses drawing blood and recording vital statistics. My heart rate remained normal but I learned that I was being treated as if I had a heart attack. In the afternoon I had a consultation with a cardiologist. He explained the what, when and where but admitted there was no clear why the heart has an arrhythmia. He recommended that I have a surgical procedure, called an ablation, to restore an electrical circuit that was most likely damaged. The alternative was to begin a life long dosage of a blood thinner. The risk was that a blood clot might form since the heart was not efficiently clearing blood and the clot might migrate into the brain causing a stroke. That caught my attention! We discussed the alternative of returning to Atlanta for the procedure upon which was agreed.
Saturday I was discharged but delays in filing paperwork resulted in my actual departure from the hospital not happening until 1 pm. Bad storms between Tallahassee and Atlanta suggested that we were better off staying another night in a motel. The extra time allowed us to enjoy a nice lunch at Food Glorious Food. I enjoyed some fantastic mac and cheese with bacon. Clearly all the medical issues were not interfering with my appetite.
Sunday we departed for Atlanta following a route directly north using US 41 between I-85 and I-75. Not the most scenic drive ever but a traffic and stress free alternative through Middle Georgia.
Friday was full of visits from doctors and nurses drawing blood and recording vital statistics. My heart rate remained normal but I learned that I was being treated as if I had a heart attack. In the afternoon I had a consultation with a cardiologist. He explained the what, when and where but admitted there was no clear why the heart has an arrhythmia. He recommended that I have a surgical procedure, called an ablation, to restore an electrical circuit that was most likely damaged. The alternative was to begin a life long dosage of a blood thinner. The risk was that a blood clot might form since the heart was not efficiently clearing blood and the clot might migrate into the brain causing a stroke. That caught my attention! We discussed the alternative of returning to Atlanta for the procedure upon which was agreed.
Saturday I was discharged but delays in filing paperwork resulted in my actual departure from the hospital not happening until 1 pm. Bad storms between Tallahassee and Atlanta suggested that we were better off staying another night in a motel. The extra time allowed us to enjoy a nice lunch at Food Glorious Food. I enjoyed some fantastic mac and cheese with bacon. Clearly all the medical issues were not interfering with my appetite.
Sunday we departed for Atlanta following a route directly north using US 41 between I-85 and I-75. Not the most scenic drive ever but a traffic and stress free alternative through Middle Georgia.
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