June 16, 2026

 Tuesday, June 16, 2026

1873 President Ulysses Grant decreed a portion of Wallowa Valley, Oregon for the Native American tribe, the Nez Perce. The order was rescinded two years later, and the tribe was forcibly relocated to Oklahoma.

1904 Bloomsday, the date of the fictional events in James Joyce's novel "Ulysses"

1944 George Stinney, a 14-year-old African-American boy, was wrongfully executed for the murder of two white girls, becoming the youngest person ever executed in 20th-century America

1954 Ngô Đình Diệm was elected Prime Minister of South Vietnam

2015 TV personality and real estate mogul Donald Trump launched his campaign for the Republican nomination for President at Trump Tower

2023 Scientific teams in the UK and Israel claimed to have grown synthetic human embryos equivalent to those of a 14-day-old natural embryo, sparking controversy

2023 Robert Bowers was found guilty of the deadliest attack on Jews in the US, of shooting 11 worshippers at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018

2025  Democratic senator Tim Kaine of Virginia introduced legislation to prevent Donald Trump from using military force against Iran without Congress's authorization.

In bed at 9:30, and up at 5:30; 0545 122/72/54 99 203.2; 59/52/69/57

Morning meds at 8 a.m., morning blood thinner at 7 a.m. and evening one at. p.m. 

Before I happily climbed into my bed last night, I reflected a bit on what an extraordinary, wondrous experience I had undergone during the day.  I was yesterday, and remain this morning, gobsmacked by it.  I copied the photo above from the internet and inserted it because it gives an idea of the number of professionals engaged in the procedure.  In the photo, we see 6, but in my case, there were more than that, since Dr. Singh was assisted by two electrophysiology "Fellows" studying at the VA hospital.  I was truly astounded when I walked into Zablocki's electrophysiology lab: how large the space is, how many people were there for the procedure, and how many pieces of sophisticated electronic equipment were there.  I've been in a few operating rooms in my life (for a hernia repair, a couple of cataract surgeries, and multiple procedures on and in my bladder), but never saw anything to compare with the electrophysiology lab.  

I wrote yesterday of my trepidation about the procedure on the one hand and of my awareness of how blessed I was to have the procedure available to me.  ChatGPT tells me that the average cost of a catheter ablation procedure for PVCs in the US is $21,000 to $30,000, higher in the case of special circumstances.   I'm not surprised and feel doubly blessed in that the procedure cost me nothing, though Medicare and my Medigap supplemental policies will reimburse the VA for a portion of the cost.

I've been writing about my experiences, but I keep thinking of my wonderful wife, partner, helper, supporter, and wing-mate Geri.  They also serve who only stand and wait.  How difficult it is being the person in the waiting room, whether it's young expectant fathers pacing and fretting outside labor and delivery rooms, or elderly wives waiting and wondering outside of ERs, ORs, or electrophysiology labs.  Geri had a bad night's sleep Sunday night/Monday morning before getting up to chauffeur me to the hospital for my 8:30 appointment, and then waiting and waiting and waiting till I was rolled into the second recovery room at 12:30 (?) when she joined me only to watch helplessly as I grimaced, moaned, and groaned with the terrible bladder pain for more than an hour.  If I had been watching her in pain like that, while being unable to help, it would have torn me up, and I don't suspect it had much of a different effect on her.  Watching anyone suffering causes suffering in the watcher, especially if the watcher is emotionally wired to the sufferer.  When that ordeal was over, she helped me get dressed and rolled me in a wheelchair out to the hospital's exit, where I waited while she retrieved her car, picked me up, drove me home, and fixed a wonderful frittata with spinach, tomatoes, and shallots.  I'm reminded that love is much more than an emotion or sentiment; it's an action verb.  She's been acting lovingly towards me for 40 years and more.  A bigger blessing than a catheter ablation of an ailing heart.

From Fiddler on the Roof:

(Tevye) "Golde, I have decided to give Perchik permission to become engaged to our daughter, Hodel."

(Golde). "What??? He's poor! He has nothing, absolutely nothing!"

(Tevye). "He's a good man, Golde.  I like him. And what's more important, Hodel likes him. Hodel loves him.  So what can we do?  It's a new world... A new world. Love. Golde..."

Do you love me?

(Golde). Do I what?

(Tevye). Do you love me?

(Golde). Do I love you?  With our daughters getting married. And this trouble in the town. You're upset, you're worn out. Go inside, go lie down!  Maybe it's indigestion

(Tevye). "Golde I'm asking you a question...  Do you love me?

(Golde). You're a fool

(Tevye). "I know..."  But do you love me?

(Golde). Do I love you?  For twenty-five years I've washed your clothes. Cooked your meals, cleaned your house. Given you children, milked the cow. After twenty-five years, why talk about love right now?

(Tevye). Golde, The first time I met you. Was on our wedding day. I was scared

(Golde). I was shy

(Tevye). I was nervous

(Golde). So was I. 

(Tevye). But my father and my mother. Said we'd learn to love each other. And now I'm asking, Golde. Do you love me?

(Golde). I'm your wife

(Tevye). "I know..."  But do you love me?

(Golde). Do I love him?  For twenty-five years I've lived with him. Fought him, starved with him. Twenty-five years my bed is his. If that's not love, what is?

(Tevye). Then you love me?

(Golde). I suppose I do

(Tevye). And I suppose I love you too

(Both). It doesn't change a thing. But even so. After twenty-five years. It's nice to know