Back Home, Cheers for Cardio Normality, Pele Spits Up

[Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland.]

9/21/24

 

Aloha Everyone -- 

We returned from our mainland trip Wednesday evening.  It was short for us -- a bit under two weeks -- but long enough for the weeds and other plants to be noticeably in need of being whacked back.  The trip was very enjoyable even though short.  The first week we spent in Ohio, where we arrived in time for an early fall cool spell -- one night it got down to 43d!  The days were sunny, though, and by the time we left it had warmed back to the 90's.  We had a great time visiting old friends, eating barbecue, and sampling a few of Cincinnati's outstanding micro-brews.  Karen's routine checkup at UC Health Center went well, also.  We then flew to Colorado and stayed two nights with college friends who live in Boulder. They generously hosted a couple of get-togethers with other friends.  The final two days we stayed in Denver, where we got together with my nephew and his wife, and also played tourists in the downtown area, where we had a fabulous upscale Mexican meal at a restaurant namedTomayo in the LODO area.We hadn't been in Denver for seven years, and we were amazed at the positive changes in the downtown area.

The day after we returned hone I finally saw a cardiologist about my persistent Afib problem.  He was personable, competent, and paid close attention to my specific issues, particularly to the possible link

Thumpa-Thumpa

between Afib and my vision problems.  (By the way, my vision has declined to the point that Karen had to take over the driving on our trip,  I can barely read even with very strong reading glasses, and I am able to write this on my computer only by making the print very large,) An office ECG confirmed my Afib and the doctor ordered a bunch of additional tests, He also recommended trying to get my heart to revert to a normal rhythm using a drug that blocks the unwanted electrical signals in the atrium.  I got the drug that same day and started taking it immediately.  Yesterday morning I tested my rhythm with my portable device and for the first time since July it assessed the pattern as normal!!!!  This was much appreciated progress, to say the least.  I haven't noticed much improvement yet in my vision, but I'm still hopeful.  If this doesn't hold there are other techniques that can be used, including the good old paddles that deliver a nice electrical dope-slap to the heart telling it to straighten out.....

 

In other geezer news, Karen's cataract surgery didn't correct her vision as much as it should have,  She still has to use glasses for distance vision and for close up.  The new fancy lenses were supposed to eliminate the need for correction altogether, The surgeon is puzzled and wants to wait about three months for Karen's eyes to heal completely before trying to correct the problem.  The correction will undoubtedly require one or more trips to Oahu for either laser tweaks or to completely redo the surgery. Karen is understandably not happy with this situation.  I'll keep you posted on what happens.

I've been mentioning that Kilauea has been recharging its supply of magma and that the volcanologists have said it wasn't a matter of "if" but "when" the next eruption would occur.  Well, a couple of days before we returned Pele squirted out some lava in an area called the middle east rift zone, a few miles from the main caldera. The eruption was brief and has petered out at the moment. It may stall entirely soon.  The main  consequence so far has been a slight increase in vog that makes the air kind of hazy,

Ok enough for now.  You can now return to your onslaught of political ads and trying to figure out how to live in a  "post-factual," "post-civil" world......  Take care, carpe vita.