No, she didn't save my life again, but she DID make it better. She contacted the doctor's office and was able to get my follow-up appointment moved up. I no longer have to wait for January 13th. I will see my cardiologist on Wednesday; yes, THIS Wednesday. YES!!!!!
Now, I do not know what this follow-up will entail, but I am hoping it will involve at least some MINOR testing, and will include some clearances for me. I am hoping to be cleared to drive (yes, almost 6 weeks of being a passenger), and to go back to work on the first of the year.
I can find out if I can lose any of the meds, if I can drink a glass of wine, if I can, when can I have a piece of pizza.
Pray for me on Wednesday & we'll see where I am.
But...I promised to tell you about my 2nd scare since coming out of the hospital. So here we go.
Trip #3 to the ER in 3 Weeks
So, the day started off weird. Not sure why, but my heart was pounding hard. It wasn't racing...much.
It was just POUNDING. You know that hard beat where you can almost see your chest pump with each beat.
I was eating breakfast, something boring I'm sure. I was taking some time to read the book they sent home to teach me how to recuperate for the first few weeks. The book explained things like what to eat (nothing yummy), what to look for at the catheter sites, and why I shouldn't lift any heavy weight. Apparently, this was the wrong thing to be doing because THIS was when I noticed my heart pounding.
So, I figured I needed to think of something else. I had been feeling bad about leaving the project team at work with a hole. I thought that if I made some notes and sent an email, that I'd feel better. Apparently THIS was NOT the thing to do. I felt no better and I noticed that the beating sped up as well. When they tell you no work for at least a month, they mean NO WORK for at least a month.
Before I go further, I need to let you know that this was the first day that Ashley felt confident in leaving me alone for more than 5 minutes. She was taking the kids to school and then going to work for a short time. I am alone and I need to prove to Ashley that I am okay to BE alone.
Reading wasn't good, writing wasn't good, so I just laid down on the couch and started breathing deeply. Maybe a few deep breaths would calm me & ease my pounding heart.
Uhhhhh, NOPE!
Now what do I do? Nothing else TO do. I just stayed there, breathing deeply and resting. Fortunately, I fell asleep. UNFORTUNATELY, just as I was falling asleep, the phone rings, scaring the crap out of me. I was 1/2 awake & when the phone rang I literally jumped off the couch and ran for the phone.
In case you've forgotten, I just had a heart attack and was not to exert myself. Just in case you forgot...
SO, now my heart IS racing and still pounding hard, and I am scared that I may have done something dumb. No chest pain fortunately. Hmmmmm, maybe I am okay. But what if I am not? Where is my nitro? Where is the phone if I need 911? High alert for any symptoms....
2:00 pm...Whew!!! Is that the door opening? Yes, my love is home & I am safe.
I explained what happened to Ashley & she checked me out. My pulse was 90+, my heart was still pounding and my BP was 130 over 90. Time to call the cardiologist.
About 4 hours later, we hear back from the doctor. He is not afraid since there was no chest pain.
This settles me and I feel better. But by this time I am exhausted. I have dinner, rest and get ready for bed. When I get in bed, I am a little nervous. What if this is a warning & what if something happens overnight? Not a good way to fall asleep.
1:00 am...you have already guessed what happens next haven't you?
I wake up with a racing, pounding heart and another high blood pressure reading. This time I can feel a little pain or discomfort under my ribs. It felt like someone was digging their finger under my rib cage.
CRAP!!!
A quick call to the triage telephone line to talk to a nurse. Her response to my symptoms was to get me to the ER...now.
Thank God for our wonderful neighbor who, not only ANSWERED her phone at 1 am, but also came over to be with the kids while we head off to the ER as the telephone triage nurse told us to do.
I am back in the ER, IV needles sticking out of me again, EKG sensors stuck to my chest (by the way, how do the keep finding the only spots LEFT with hair?) and poor Ashley spending the night in a chair.
I get another EKG, I get more blood drawn, and I get another chest x-ray.
No problem with the EKG; good.
No broken ribs; good. No pneumonia; better.
But what about the Troponin levels? Are they back up? Are they down? WAS I having another small heart attack? Remember that Troponin is the enzyme the heart secretes when it is damaged.
After about 4 hours of waiting, we finally get the first blood numbers back...Troponin level is 0.03; well under the 0.09 threshold to cause worry. But...there is always a but...the pain was concerning to the Doctors & I needed to be admitted to the hospital just to be sure.
6:30 am...Poor William now wakes up, comes to mom & dad's room and, TADA, no one is home. Even before he gets downstairs, he calls Ashley in a panic. The poor kid, I can't imagine what he was thinking. He is old enough to understand, but still so young. He should not have to go through this.
I convince Ashley to go home and take care of the kids while I wait for a room.
7:00 am...I finally get into a room and get to rest. Well rest when no one is taking MORE blood, or checking my vitals, or coming in to ask how I am doing. Finally about 8:00 am, I can drift off to sleep.
This is a long post, and since I am writing it, you know I made it through the day, so let's cut to the chase.
Apparently, I was having what we believe was an anxiety attack all day Wednesday. I just let it snowball and by 1:00 am my body was done with me.
The results were:
- I got to go home that same day
- I did not have another attack
- For an abundance of caution, the doctor ordered a monitor for me. For the next 2 weeks, I wore a small heart monitor. It was so small, but still there, one more thing to think about each day.
We are still awaiting the results of the monitor readings, but I will guess that they will not be bad. - The doctors were glad we came in to be sure things were still okay.
Lesson Learned:
This whole long post & the lesson is in the last sentence. Even with all of the results pointing to me giving myself an anxiety attack, the doctors were still glad I came in, STILL supportive and still more worried about my health than about telling me I was being a ninny. So, to reiterate one of my first lessons learned. If you are a concerned for your health, GET IT CHECKED OUT. No professional will laugh at you, no doctor, no nurse, no one. Forget that idea and go get your concern checked out.
Good night & God bless.
I hope you write a book one day! So love your sense of humor! It makes all things better!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Maybe I can find someone to make all of my odd ideas make sense in a book format.
DeleteWow -- these past 6 weeks were enough excitement for a lifetime!! Time for a nice boring life from this point on!!
ReplyDeleteGreat patient you are, and Awesome wife (aka Doc) by your side!! Love you both!!
She HAS been awesome. I am glad that it is showing through in my posts. Although I am sure at that, that I am not doing her justice.
Delete