My Trip To The ER

I think I jinxed myself! Is it possible? Oh, yes it is! Saturday evening my niece called to say that she needed me to take her to the ER for abdominal pain so I drove 15 minutes to pick her up and brought her back to the ER. While waiting for her diagnosis, we were chatting with a nurse about how many times we are in the ER. My niece has two boys so she had been in quite a few times in the last year and I blurted out that I had not been in since September of 2009! As soon as the words tumbled off my lips, I knew I was in trouble!

After her diagnosis of gall stones, we left the ER to head to our friendly 24 hour Walgreens to fill her pain meds (the good stuff) and then I took her home. I fell into my bed at 4:00 AM. I was never so happy to see my bed!

At 6:00 AM my heart decided that it was going to run a marathon and SVT (SupraVentricular Tachycardia) kicked in. Now, normally when this happens it lasts about 30 minutes (maximum) and then I am back to my normal happy self but this was not the case this time! 4 hours later, I decided it was my turn to head to the ER because my heart was still acting like a machine gun gone wild.

I have to say that when you go into the ER with a heart issue, they jump and you are on your way to getting help quicker than quick! They did an EKG and my p wave was missing (not good), my ticker was beating at 198 beats per minute and I was resting! My heart was so out of control that they could not get an accurate blood pressure even manually. Yup, I was a hot mess.

The doctor started an IV and placed my feet above my head to try to coax my heart back to sinus rhythm but that didn't work. Neither did coughing or blowing into a straw with the end pinched off! Time to bring out the big gun: Adenocard 6 mg. This drug has a half life of two seconds so they had to raise my arm up, push the drug and then massage my arm to get the drug to my heart before my body rendered it useless. The doctor tried to prepare me for the feeling that I was about to experience but NO words prepared me. Even when he told me my heart would stop and then hopefully convert to sinus rhythm.

So we were ready to go with the Adenocard and I have to admit that I was nervous as all get out! They raised my arm, pushed the drug and massaged and then I felt my heart stop and restart! I felt like I had been kicked in the chest by a mule! It took me a few minutes to catch my breath as my heart rate went from 198 to 88 in 2 seconds flat! Wow, what a wild ride that was!!

So what does this mean for my future? Well, I just need to pay attention to any SVT episodes I might have and be seen if it lasts for more than an hour. If it keeps happening, I may need to see a Cardiologist to have the electrical system in my heart checked out to see if an ablation of that pathway is needed. For now it is business as usual. I am eating good, de stressing my life and working out more!