Usually we arrive back in RI in early May and immediately jump into boating mode, but this year was different because of my diagnosis of Atrial Fibrillation (A-Fib) back in February. We arrived at our site in RI on April 2nd, just in time for my cardiologist appointment at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston on the 4th.

Without going into the gory details, the outcome of that appointment was that I was scheduled for two heart procedures, an electrical cardioversion on April 12th, which my doctor hoped would alleviate some of my symptoms temporarily (it did but only for two weeks), and a more permanent procedure, a cardiac ablation which would be performed on May 23rd.

To say I wasn’t thrilled about either of these procedures was an understatement! Nobody wants anyone messing around with their heart! The cardioversion was outpatient, during which they literally try and shock the heart to behave normally. Except for some burn marks, the procedure was not painful. The cardiac ablation is much more involved and required an overnight stay, so rather than drive back and forth to RI, Rob booked a room at The Inn At Longwood Medical. Convenient and very nice!

Since each procedure involved other tests, the first month of our arrival back in RI was spent running from one medical appointment to another. But the good news is that I obviously survived both procedures! My life mostly returned to normal and I was once again feeling like myself.

However, it took until September to fully heal from the ablation, and at that time the cardiologist required me to wear a heart monitor for two weeks to make sure my heart was behaving normally. Thankfully, it was, with just a few minor glitches!