Just a few words to let you know what will be happening next week. I have evidently inherited some things from my mother and father. That is heart problems. My heart for a long time has been beating faster than normal, over 100 beats per minute at rest. I also have atrial fibrillation (caused by errant electrical signals to the heart). I have been taking lanoxin to control the atrial fib (it works somewhat). For the last 1 1/2 years I have been taking toprol to control the fast beats. They work somewhat, but they create a problem. To keep my heart beat down it drops sometimes at night and at rest to the lower 30's (normal is about 60), with just a little exercise it jumps up to 130. The doctors don't like the low dips.

So, Wednesday, June 16, 2004, I report in at Providence Hospital in Waco to have a pacemaker implanted and then on Thursday they will remove the errant signal from the heart by performing an ablation of the AV node. The hospital is in the top 100 heart hospitals in the nation. The doctor doing the surgery has performed many pacemaker implants. He is part of the Shultz Heart Group and he specializes in pacemakers. The ablation will be performed by Dr. Javier Sanchez out of Austin who is a specialist in this type of procedure. I should be out of the hospital on Friday. I will be limited on the things I can do with my left arm for the next 6 weeks to 3 months. Then I can do anything anyone else can do except weld and have a MRI. I will let you know how things come out when it is over. Richard

Dick and Jean (not Dick and Jane)