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Sure -- I've got plenty of time. Thanks!

I've also heard that the brain (specifically, the prefrontal cortex) is still developing until age 25, perhaps later. If you really want to maintain full cognitive function throughout your life, it's probably a good idea to avoid mind-altering drugs until at least 25. That said, I know lots of...

Unfortunately, my last INR test showed only 1.7, despite my increased Warfarin dosage. I haven't been eating ridiculous amounts of kale or anything! Now I'm going to cut out the iceberg lettuce salads I've been eating, too. I haven't really been vegan, either, since surgery -- more like...

I like those odds. I mentioned ablation to my cardiologist, and he'd like to try cardioversion first. He thinks it will work -- I hope he's right!

As far as I know, I'm still experiencing AFlutter, and probably will continue to do so until at least the cardioversion -- let's hope it succeeds! Nevertheless, I'm doing OK. My energy level isn't bad, and I'm doing all the usual surgery recovery activities: going for walks, using my spirometer...

I had only one chest tube, but the removal was not a big deal, and it was a huge relief to be able to walk around without a box of blood following me everywhere.

I had my appointment with my cardiologist. He says the arrhythmia is "small potatoes" compared to what I've already been through. I'm scheduled for cardioversion on Thursday, January 30th, and he believes it should do the trick, although catheter ablation is a possibility if it doesn't work...

From what I've read, AFlutter is more regular than AFib, which is chaotic. My understanding is that the atria are contracting very fast, like 300 times a minute, and the ventricles are contracting at some ratio to that. When I went to the ER, my pulse was 150 or higher, so I guess my ventricles...

Thanks, @Freebird. My wife says she thinks I seem better, subjectively: that I move more easily than I did immediately post-surgery, and that I'm more active than I was. So maybe I'm just impatient.

I'm feeling bummed about this whole AFlutter thing. I had surgery to fix a problem, even though I felt fine, and now I have another problem. What's the success rate of cardioversion? From what I've read, it doesn't always work. Then what? More cardioversions? Catheter ablation? What if that...

This evening, I spoke to another cardiologist from my cardiologist's practice: apparently my ER discharge instructions didn't exactly match what he had instructed last night. I'm supposed to start taking 0.25 mg Digoxin every night, and I'll take 7.5 mg (as opposed to 5 mg) Warfarin every other...

Back from the ER, doing OK, with another medicine to take. Still in AFlutter, but my heart rate has come down, due to the medications they gave me at the ER. I'll follow up with my surgeon and cardiologist as soon as I can.

Ended up at the ER after all, for AFlutter and tachycardia.

I'm starting to lean into my "Battle Royale" hypothesis: currently, I have a fast, post-op RHR and a slower, natural RHR, which is close to what mine was before surgery. If I so much as move a little bit, it goes into fast mode, but if I sit still for 15-30 seconds, it goes into slow mode. I'll...

We have a BP cuff, a really nice one, and I just used it -- BP 128/73, pulse 70. I'm still noticing some irregular beats, especially when I'm not at rest, but it seems less irregular than yesterday or early this morning.

I posted on https://heart-valve-surgery.com about my AFib as well, and in response, Adam Pick posted this video about how common AFib is after heart surgery. I found it reassuring.

I don't know how it is where you live, but in San Francisco, California, where I have lived most of my adult life, going to the ER means hours of waiting, and it'll ruin your whole day. This experience is a powerful incentive to avoid the ER, unless it's absolutely necessary. Presumably, if...

I'm taking my pulse manually, using a watch, and counting as well as I can.

Not quite yet, unfortunately. The PA at my surgeon's office said if my heart rate was between 60 and 110, I shouldn't go to the ER -- I'd just spend the day/night there waiting, and in the end, they wouldn't do anything about it. If my heart was racing, i.e. 120 even after 15 minutes of rest, I...

My heart rate got down to 82 while I was sleeping tonight, but it's still irregular. I'll call the surgeon's office, and my cardiologist's office, on Tuesday. Monday is a holiday in the USA, the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. I'm not sure it's technically AFib -- my heart rate isn't...