Dave's Cardiology appointment

Hi all! Hope this finds you all well. Dave and I went to the VA in WLA on Monday (thanks again, Dory, for meeting us there....much appreciated!) for his cardiology appointment. I KNEW there was something going on with him, what with the shortness of breath and all. Well, the one thing they told us 6 months ago is that they needed him to stay in regular sinus rythm. When we got there, they took his blood pressure and for the first time ever, it was really low (86/36). That was unusual. We went out and had a seat, and the nurse came out almost immediately and took him in for an EKG. When we finally met with the cardiologist (a very cute italian, by the way), he told us that Dave has converted to Atrial Fibrillation, which is what they didn't want. That's a fast, irregular heartbeat. Now the good new is, this can sometimes be treated with medication. The bad news is, in Dave's case it can't. Remember that "insignificant" brain tumor Dave has? You remember, the one that will NEVER cause him any trouble? Well, because of that, he can't take the medication (blood thinner) that they usually give, because it could cause a brain bleed. Oh great! Suddenly this stupid "insignificant" brain tumor is really quite significant. The other test that they would normally do is an angio gram to assess further damage. Well, because Dave only has 1 kidney (I'm not sure if any of you knew this), the contrast dye that they use in the angio gram could cause kidney failure, and he could end up on dialysis. Holy shit! What's going on here? Anyway, the bottom line is this....Dr. Cangolosi is working at warp speed to co-ordinate several things, such as a neuro consult, etc. We are going back down to the VA on June 27th and having a battery of tests (echo-cardiagram, cardiac utlra sound, lung function test, etc) and then back to Dr. Cangolosi on August 3rd for the results. Hopefully, I'll have more news then. The bottom line for Dave is this....he really needs you all to keep him in your prayers. The Atrial Fib can cause a massive stroke, and since we aren't able to do anything about it right now, he's walking a very slippery slope.
Sorry this blog has been full of not good news, but it is what it is. There's no way to sugar coat it, sorry.
Anyway, thanks for reading, post a comment if you want, but most important, keep Dave in your prayers. See ya next time in the blogosphere! Love you all!
Di