THE BEST CHRISTMAS GIFT

Dear Family,

I just received the best Christmas Gift... a normal heart rhythm!

Ever since my open heart surgery almost eight years ago, I have been plagued by an abnormal heart rhythm, Atrial Fibrillation. This is where the heart beats irregularly, the effect of which interferes with normal heart chamber filling. The symptoms include a total sense of weakness and being washed out. It is like having one giant case of the flu with little strength, energy, or ambition.

Cardioversion is one treatment. That is where they put on the conductive pads on your chest, knock you out, connect you to an electrical voltage supply and turn on the juice and most of the time you can convert to a normal sinus rhythm which is a regular steady heart beat.

At first this did not work at all for me. Finally after a while it did work but did not last very long. It was the reason I was released from my first mission call. Finally I had a stable year and was sent to Germany for three years. The longest period or regular rhythm I experienced was while we were serving in Germany.

What I found sets it off was great joy or mild aggravation and after returning home, there was a bit of both and I would go in for electroshock cardioversion and it would last a few months and have to be repeated. Oral antirhythmatics did not work.

I was ok going to China in October but on the way home, I could feel it kick back to Atrial Fibrillation. I tried to live with this as many do but was totally drained and finally after being unable to bowl in Jon and Karen H. new bowling facility decided to go in for another cardioversion.

This was going on during the deaths in our family and extended family. I was successfully cardioverted but the rhythm was not entirely normal with many premature atrial beats. You feel much better but not entirely normal. They wanted to keep me and try a new medication but with two funerals and a wedding in the single's ward, I waited two weeks.

I did not know that Cardiologist were so specialized. Now there is a specialty of Cardiac Electrophysiology. The only cardiologists allowed to prescribe this new medication, TIKOSYN, had to be certified and licensed cardiac electrophysiologists. It has to be given in a hospital, in a monitored cardiac step down unit where your EKG is continuosly monitored for three days and renal function is closely watched as well. One has to do this for three entire days so the dose can be determined by changes on the EKG.

So last week I went in and they hooked me up to the cardiac telemetry and I received the first dose. After 20 minutes, I stood up and feeling quite good wondered what I was doing there. I went over to the EKG monitor and to my amazement, I had a normal sinus rhythm without any premature atrial beats for the first time in eight years and I felt great!

They did 12 lead electrocardiograms two hours after each dose twice a day. The medication prolongs the QT interval on the EKG and if allowed to get too long, you can get a ventricular arrhythmia and of course die so the level is important. They got the dose right and I was rock stable and could not believe I could walk around the step down unit without problems. I pushed it and there were no changes!

I have been home for a few days and have been able to do our work in the missionary department and in the Temple without dragging myself around. It is such great blessing and I am so thankful for such an advance.

I am now prepared for the gathering of families on Christmas Eve night. Bring on the Nativity Players, I am prepared and ready and can handle all chaos!

Alles Gute, Dad

P.S. I am grateful for this great Christmas Gift