Weekly Snaps (and inconsequential chatter)

1. Birthday dinner
2. Shame face
3. Probably one of my favorite candies
4. Downtown Denver

This week I had a mini health scare. I'm fine now though.

I was at work on Wednesday working alone because my coworker's husband had a heart attack the day before (he's fine now) and she was home caring for him. And to top it off, it was one of the busiest days I've ever seen. 3 of the docs that used to work there quit because...well personalities clash a lot there...so all of those 3 doc's patient's are now being seen by the owner who was the only one there that day. Anyway....

I did 4 xray exams back-to-back and my heart started skipping and just would not stop. It was fluttering, skipping, and kicking in my chest for over well over 30 minutes. It seemed to stop skipping when I sat down to rest but I had to work and do xrays and it would start back up as soon as I started walking down the hall to get a patient. It was like it couldn't find its rhythm. It made me feel lightheaded and I started to panic. I only did 4 xrays how the hell was I gonna get through the rest of the busy day? And I am NOT one to draw attention to myself so I sucked it up the best I could.

I asked one of the medical assistants to listen to my heart but they didn't have a stethoscope (it's not that kind of doctor's office, it's more for back surgeries), but she took my blood pressure and it was SKY HIGH like 195 over 90 or something insane. She called the doc who she worked for before he quit working there and he said, and I quote, "Do not fuck with this. Get to the ER."

So as soon as she told me this, I panicked even more. But thankfully, there was another girl who works downstairs in the surgery room who is certified to take xrays so she covered for me while I left for the ER. I was originally going to go to the hospital near my home an hour and 20 minutes south so Brian could meet me there, but as I was sitting in the car driving, I knew there was no way I'd be able to make it home without something horrible happening. So I went to the ER just down the road from my work.

I checked myself in, and was the only one in the waiting room since it was 11am on a Wednesday, so I got in right away. They started an IV, which was more like a bloody hack job (Wanna see? Only click if you aren't queasy with blood!) and they did an EKG and of course my heart was acting fine because I was lying down so they said it was fine. My blood work also came back fine.

After an hour or 2 of sitting there being monitored, the doc finally had me walk around with the leads attached to my chest in hopes of catching my heart in the act. And sure enough, my heart started skipping within 3 minutes and he saw it on the monitor.

It turns out, I have PVC, or premature ventricular contractions. The doctor said they are benign and won't hurt me, that lots of people have these and never feel them. Well, shit I feel them! But he said it's really nothing to worry about. I'm hoping it's only episodic.

After 3 hours I was discharged and drove myself home, my heart skipping every time I got nervous changing lanes or being cut off/tailgated. And once I got home I laid on the couch and didn't have any more skips for the rest of the night! What the hell?



The following day, Thursday, I tested out my heart by walking around my neighborhood and up some small hills. Not one skip. The day after that, Friday, I get to work. My heart skips. What the fuck? My body hates that commute. The skips were there throughout the day but not as scary. Saturday, we went to Denver to walk around. Not one skip. Go figure.