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Doug was seriously ill. After battling a terrible flu virus that took almost a month to get over, he then came down with pneumonia. With a course of antibiotics, he thought that he was recovered. But he just didn’t feel 100%. He was tired all the time, and going to work was almost impossible. He noticed that he was still short of breath and thought that it was due to the pneumonia. But after 4 weeks it wasn’t getting better. Finally, on a Sunday morning, he couldn’t breathe and felt like he was going to pass out.At the hospital they gave him the news. His heart was enlarged and in failure. This was a devastating diagnosis, but there was some hope. The hope was that the flu virus or arrhythmias were what caused the damage to his heart. The arrhythmias that he had been experiencing were likely preventing the heart from recovering from the damage. The cardiologist told him that if the damage was caused by the virus or arrhythmias, the heart could repair itself. But only if they could get it back to a normal rhythm. After two shock treatments, the heart would stay in rhythm for a few days, and then returned to Atrial fibrillation (A-Fib).
So he was referred to Dr. Wu, an Electro Physiologist or EP. Normally, Dr. Wu would not have attempted an ablation on a patient in heart failure. But fortunately, Dr. Wu saw that Doug was a good candidate for ablation. After some small problems, Doug was ablated and on the road to recovery.
While on some very strong and toxic anti-arrhythmic medications, one small ‘benefit’ seemed to be that suddenly, Doug began to see faces staring at him in his shower.
He thought; “Am I going crazy? Am I Mad? Is this dementia or was I hallucinating? Is this some kind of flashback to the 60’s?”
After a while, he started looking forward to the hot, soothing showers and the opportunity to search for the faces, with a chance to relax and escape. Finally, he decided to attempt to write a book that appealed to the reader's imagination and possibly offered a time to forget all your troubles while enjoying using your mind in a different way.
Working on this book became Doug’s therapy for relaxing, and keeping his mind active. After all, you can only watch so many “Perry Masons” in a day. He would mark the faces on the tiles when he took his showers then after about 40-50 tiles were marked, he would take his camera into the shower and take photos. These were then downloaded onto his computer and he would highlight the lines that make up the faces.
Five months after his ablation, the doctor informed him that the heart had recovered, no longer being enlarged or in failure. Doug was much relieved as well as excited. Through this entire health crisis, he had produced an interesting book that appeals to the reader’s imagination. The relaxation that it brings may help others through similar times of crisis.
"Faces In My Shower - Vol. I" is the result of his effort, and will be available in e-book or soft-cover beginning August 15, 2017 on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, as well as other book stores.
Douglas Peterson is available for interviews and may be contacted at peterpub@aracnet.com or by phone: 503-644-3660
“Faces In My Shower – Vol. 1” by Douglas Peterson is published by BookBaby and is available in Softbound or e-book form on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and many other fine book stores and websites.
https://store.bookbaby.com/book/Faces-in-My-Shower
https://www.amazon.com/Faces-My-Shower-Vol-I/dp/1543902626/
Contact Info:
Name: Douglas Peterson
Email: Send Email
Organization: Peterson
Phone: 503-644-3660
Website: https://store.bookbaby.com/book/Faces-in-My-Shower
Release ID: 225774