Asystole
In a cold, uninviting
brightly lit arena
there gathered
the white shoed
nurses
the white smocked
doctors
and the white knuckled
computer geeks
all priests
in this, the sanctified
Electro Physiological test lab
"We usually work on dogs!"
"Hawwwwwww".
strapped down
pierced femoral artery
catheter snaking up into the heart
with its electric fangs in perfect place
watching the progress on a TV monitor
then dancing
electrical dancing
when the geeks
spin electric webs
agitating the heart
with black, twirling dials
and busy clacking keyboards
the heart
begins to twitter
'PVCs'
doubles
'vtach' runs
double doubles
music plays
thankfully cool
on a beat up transistor
almost distracting enough
then
what 'seldom ever happens'
happens!
'vfib' then welcome the asystole!
on again
gone again
dead again!
Waking later
minutes later
wondering at faces
peering down from above?
Irritated
at the interruption
of who knows what
who knows where and when?
But now, thankfully, alive.
Was this trip necessary???
....... Background
ye Paleshyone, in response to a challenge I gave her to write a poem with
the word 'asymptote' in it... gave me a challenge to do one using
'asystole'... termination of heart function via Ventricular Fibrillation...
the heart fibrillates/vibrates/beats so fast that it does not pump blood and
the brain is starved and 'quits'.
She could not have known ??? that i'd been there and done that... but as you
may surmise, correctly, from this poem, i have been there and done that...
for information
PVC = Premature Ventricular Contraction... [like a skipped beat] sometimes
in rythyms like Bigemony [every other one] quadragemony [ebvery fourth one]
etc.
Vtach = Ventricular Tachycardia... a number of PVC's in a run.
Vfib = ventricular fibrillation... the kind of thing you see them use
'defib' paddles for on ER...
anyway
so much for such technically correct but boring poetry...
[give me another chance, pale faced one!!]
Brule' Billy
Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2001 11:15:41 -0700
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