Lee continues to have atrial fibrillation. Today was another one of those days when he began the day @ 1:00 a.m. with atrial fib. When I arrived @ 9:00 a.m. he was exhausted from having been awake most of the night. I helped him with his morning bath, etc. and fed him his breakfast. He is so weak and tired that he cannot even feed himself. As you can imagine, this is not the Lee Kanipe that we know, and one that I am beginning to become very concerned about. I asked the nurse to page the doctors and let them know that I really needed to talk to them.
Son, Todd arrived around 10:30 or 11:00 and shortly after, the pulmonary team of doctors came in. They, too had many concerns regarding the duration of the atrial fibrillation and felt that it was time to have the cardiac team talk to us. The cardiac team arrived after lunch and explained that they had decided it was in Lee's best interest to have the Atrial Ablation procedure. Later this evening, one of the doctors came to talk to us and explain all the risks, etc....
It was decided that Lee would have the procedure Friday morning. He will be the 2nd case and will probably be done around 11:00 a.m. or shortly therafter (depending on how long the first case takes). This is not a short procedure. It will take from four to six hours to accomplish the ablation. First they have to "map the heart". This is when they purposely induce flutter and when they identify the bad circuit then they use a special cautery to obliterate the circuit. Mapping takes a long time because they must be sure they have identified the correct circuit.
Anyway, Lee is ready to have this procedure done. This will be a long day for him and he will have to have a general anesthetic. I, of course, am very concerned that this is being done so soon after his having a lung transplant. The doctors have said that he does carry a greater risk than one who has not had the transplant. He is so very tired from the fibrillation that he wants it to be corrected. Please keep him in your prayers as I know you will.
Dennis and Betsy will be with me tomorrow. I thank God everyday for the closeness of family and friends.
More Later..............................Brenda \
We will continue praying for Lee's recovery and for your strength to care for him. I think about the two of you every day and I am thankful for the blog. May God bless you and keep your spirits lifted.
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