Two weeks post ICD implant

Geez...they really beat Wayne up on the table putting in his AICD (automated internal cardiac defibrillator).  Plus, the Doc isn't very particular about straight lines with his super glue. :0)  Wayne was awake for the procedure.  They didn't want to put him under, so they just twilighted him.  Wayne is a "talker."  My guess is they had to give him a bit extra to get him to stop talking. 
They put the ICD in because of the idiopathic heart failure.  His ejection fraction was 20%.  Normal is 55-60%.  Basically, this means his heart was NOT pumping well.  Fluid was backing up into his lungs and extremities. He was having small runs of V-tach (fast heart beat).

Wayne has been doing well since out of the hospital.  He has lost almost 30 pounds since being hospitalized.  Don't worry, a good amount of that was water weight he has been carrying around for some time.  He has no shortness of breath now.   His blood pressure is good.  He is dialing in his blood sugar shooting for a reading of 100.  This will take some experimenting with knowing how much insulin to give himself according to how  much food and how much exercise he gets. 

The hardest thing is being on a 1500 mg sodium diet.  Thankfully, Wayne doesn't have my sweet tooth and he never puts salt on his food (like I do).  Even so, when you start reading labels, it is really HARD to limit yourself to a 1 1/2 gram sodium diet.  Even celery has salt in it.  Our food bill is going to be a whopper, because now we are doing most of our shopping at Whole Foods.  Almost everything has to be fresh for Wayne.  No canned, and few boxed goods.  They seem to contain lots of sodium.

Wayne hasn't lost his sense of humor through all of this.  He kids me that now he couldn't DIE even if he wanted to die.  His ICD will shock him back to life.  I tell him not to piss me off or I will put a magnet to it in the middle of the night to turn it off.   Just our sense of humor.  Getting older isn't for sissies, that's for sure.  If you can't keep a sense of humor about it, life would get depressing rather quickly. :0)

P.S.  I'm really proud of Wayne who went to town today to buy on sale a blood pressure cuff (for WORK) and a watch that reads his heart rate.  He doesn't want to take a chance in being shocked while exercising....LOL  I can laugh.  I'm a nurse.  I have had my hand on someone's arm when their defibrillator went off.  Rather shocking.  hahahaha