It's All I Can Do......

I want to run

I want to hide

I want to tear down the walls
That hold me inside

I want to reach out

And touch the flame

Where the streets have no name



 So I saw the EP today to check on the implant and ask a boatload of questions about what my body is doing......mostly good news, with one BIG IF.....
My afib is now down to 4 tenths of one percent of my day. My longest single bout since the implant has been 16 minutes total, with the majority lasting a minute or less. The majority of my afib is also happening during exercise. I am at ten weeks post ablation on monday, so my official blanking period ends in two weeks from then. Improvements or regression can occur for another three months after the blanking period. Everyone, as old George Sheehan once said, is an experiment of one. I explained what I am attempting to do with the jog walks, and he said to start to push on it a bit in small increments, not to be too scared. He also told me to get back to the gym, so I will go on monday and go very easy. High reps with low weights. My echo is scheduled for May tenth, and he told me he would call when he got it,  to save me a four hour round trip. He is expecting it to go up from 38%, but told me not to get too hopeful that it would get into the normal range above 50% just yet. He reminded me again that I am still a cardiac rehab patient.  So that leaves us with the BIG IF....my previous echo noted that my left atrial wall was not moving properly, and that is where the other cardiologist noted that I have some cardiomyopathy, a thickening of that wall. The question is, with the arterial flutter gone and the afib managed to a very low level, will that wall begin to operate more normally again, or are the changes more permanent. I will get a hint at the next echo, but will really only know if my heart allows me to get past the walk jogs and start to increase the jogging segments. He reminded me that this, even if it works, is going to be a long recovery process. My patience has been good so far, and I am resigned to just try and do what I can do....as Bono says, "it's all I can do"....