Interrupted Fern

Neighbor Anita and I drove over to the hospital for my 2 p.m. check in.  I was picked up by a nurse almost immediately and went in to the room where they would do the  cardioversion procedure.  I was to be the last patient of the day - the last of the week.   The nurse asked the usual type questions, attached a lot of electrodes and I could hear my heart beat.  If my heart had converted back on it's own to a normal rhythm, no need for this procedure.  Nope - not a steady rhythm.  The nurse went off to let the doc and anesthesiologist  know.  Since I couldn't go too far w/ all of the wires hanging off me I amused myself w/ trying to make the heart beats either speed up or slow.  Thought of riding in the Preakness.  Nope.  Pretended I was on death row and just waiting for a lethal injection.  Nope.  Thought of sitting in the grass (after tick season of course) w/ the dog watching clouds go by.  Nope.  Tried making each part of my body relax.  Nope.  Thought about our president - maybe raised my heart rate a bit.  The anesthesiologist came in and told me what to expect.  He asked if I had any questions.  I asked how to make your heart rate change and he told me to tense up and the rate would go down.  He left to get something and I tried it.  Nope.  My arms were put atop pillows since they didn't want them to smash into the guard rails when I got zapped.  The anesthesiologist put a roll of gauze between my teeth so I wouldn't bite anything.  The doc came in. put a pad on my chest and another on my back.  Suddenly he was taking off his gloves and the anesthesiologist  was removing the oxygen tube from my nose.  Somewhere in there they had zapped me once and my heart had gone back into a regular rhythm.  All I have as proof that it happened is a slightly sore spot on my chest where the patch had been placed.  (Wonder when they removed it?)  I checked my brain function by going through some of my fav lists - star names by alphabet (you know ... Aldebaran, Betelgeuse, Castor, Denebola ...), Chinese Zodiac, South American countries and their capitals.  I didn't seem to have any difficulty recalling so  the anesthetic had worn off pretty quick.   Anita drove me home.  I checked my pulse rate later - still in regular rhythm.  Hope it stays that way.