Hard to believe that I spent so many years documenting every little thing that I haven't touched this blog in years. I have SO much to say! LOL - probably more than people want to hear but I decided that I wanted to start a place where I could leave messages and thoughts for my family to read after I'm gone from this earth.
You see, I had a health scare in June and it really got me to thinking. Lots of stuff has happened in the past few years and I've struggled. One of my grandkids, who is now 27, has cut me out of his family. His wife has blocked me from seeing anything she posts on FB except for her profile photo and her cover photo. (She probably thinks I haven't figured that out, but I'm not stupid... What I can't figure out is why she just hasn't unfriended me if she doesn't want me to see anything... No clue.) But, that's a subject for another post.
I've been having a few problems with random irregular heartbeats and the feeling of "fluttering" in my chest. Nothing that would stick around very long and when I'd do an ECG with my watch - or tell my doctor, who would do an EKG in the office - nothing would be there. (My mom had A-fib so I always had that in the back of my mind.) I even wore a heart monitor for a week and had an echo stress test. Both were great - nothing different from previous exams (I have mild mitro valve prolapse and tricuspid valve regurgitation). The doctor would tell me to cut back on caffeine and I'd do that. The symptoms would go away.
It had gotten to the point in the prior 6-7 months that I wasn't really functioning very well. I just didn't feel good. I didn't sleep well at night and I'd stumble downstairs in the morning to just lie down on my sofa. After work, I'd frequently take a nap on my sofa. I couldn't put my finger on any one thing, but just that I was off and couldn't find the answer.
On the morning of June 20, I woke up not feeling good at all. My pulse was a little irregular but I didn't feel like it was the problem but more of a reaction to something. I didn't drink any coffee (fixed some and took it to work but didn't drink it). I got to work at 9:00 and another individual was there to work on the sound system. He left at 9:30 and I still felt fine. By 9:45, my pulse really started acting up so I took a walk around the hallways. It seemed to regulate so I went back to my office. (I should say that I was alone in the building so that was a bit of a concern for me.) About 10:30, I got an Alexa notification from my daughter to her kids, so I texted her back to ask if she was home. She said no, and asked what was wrong. I said my watch had been sending me notifications that my heart rate was over 130 while I was seated and doing nothing. During these back and forth text messages, I called my doctor's office and said I thought I needed to be seen. We discussed me driving there (about 2 miles) and I said I thought I'd be fine.
Amy told me (via text) that I should call the doctor and I confirmed that I was on my way there. By the time I shut down my computer and walked from my office to the front of the lobby (not far at all), my heart rate had shot up and I texted her back and said, "Something is really wrong. I'm calling myself an ambulance."
They were there within 4 minutes of me connecting with 911 operator. They had me loaded up into the ambulance and on the road to the hospital by 11:15. My heart rate was 230 and they couldn't get it down. They gave me 6m of adenosine, which did nothing. So, then they gave me 12 mg of adenosine. It only dropped my heart rate for a couple of seconds and then it shot back up again. I had three people working on me in the ambulance and ended up with an IV in each arm. My heart rate was so fast and irregular, they had trouble getting an accurate pulse. The monitor kept reading 228-227-229-228, etc. Adenosine makes you feel like you've been kicked in the chest by a large animal and I don't recommend it. It was truly awful.
Once I got to the hospital, a whole crew of folks were waiting for me (which kind of concerned me). Usually, they have people transfer on their own from a cart to the other cart, but they took the stuff and moved me over. OK... not sure why but I didn't ask either. I had doctors and nurses in and out of that room trying to get me stabilized and nothing was working. Got another 12mg of adenosine and still nothing. They decided to start an IV of amiodarone and after a while, my heart rate started to come down. Once it was around 130-150, I felt normal because it was so much better than it had been. It was still scary high, so they packed me off to CICU. After my heart rate came down, my blood pressure shot up to 204/187, which is not good. They started plying me with all kinds of blood pressure meds to try and get it down to normal.
I ended up staying there two days before they sent me home. I still felt awful and had to have medications adjusted more than once. I am happy to say that I think I'm back to normal (lol - "normal" is relative) and my blood pressure and heart rhythm have both stabilized. I did find out that I was at stroke level or heart attack level and if I had tried to drive myself to the doctor, it could have had serious consequences. I was diagnosed with "A-fib with rapid ventricular response" and started on 3 new medications and increased the dosage of one I was already on. I'm grateful to be alive and in pretty good health (overall and all things considered).
So, here I am... one week away from turning 67 and really contemplating life, kids, grandkids, etc. I'm content with my life, and I enjoy sewing and embroidery (if you haven't guessed, Uncommon Willow is a business name). You can find my business pages on Facebook as The Uncommon Willow and Sew In Pieces. I make some pretty cool stuff, if I do say so myself!
Stay tuned... I have a lot to say.
