Heart Trouble
My heart's been bothering me for the past couple of weeks. Normally when I'm talking about my heart it's in non-physical terms but this time I'm talking muscle. Lately it's been doing some very weird acrobatics, lurching and palpitating, so I'm getting it checked out.
Today I'm wearing a Holter monitor, which is an electronic device that you attach via electrodes to your chest and it records your heart activity over a 24-hour period. I think this is really cool and very handy, because you know how it is when you go to the doctor about something like this--the moment you get in there your heart stops doing whatever kind of flip-flops it had been doing and acts completely normal. Kind of like when you take your car in to the shop and the mechanic can't figure out what you're talking about because the car won't make the weird noise you've been hearing, etc.
Anyhoo, it's not uncomfortable, just sort of in the way, but not really all that bad. So far, at least. I've only had it on a couple of hours. But it doesn't hurt.
Tomorrow I go in for some blood work--a fasting blood test, of course--so after 8:00 tonight I can't eat or drink anything until morning. I scheduled my appointment first thing so that I could get my coffee fix immediately afterward and hopefully stave off any kind of caffeine headache. Priorities, people, priorities.
Then on Wednesday I go for an echocardiogram, which is basically an ultrasound of your heart. It's a painless test, too. After it's done I'll get the results and I guess I'll know whether I'm dying of a heart condition or just being a hypochondriac. It's probably the latter but considering both my parents had heart disease of some sort, I figured I'd best be on the safe side.
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists--"Heart Problems" mp3 off Shake the Sheets (buy)
beating heart from here
Oh my! Fingers & toes are duly crossed for you, Dearest Marcy. Let's hope
your physical heart is as strong as your metaphorical one!!
oh no, let's hope it's much stronger, otherwise i'm doomed! but joking
aside, thank you for your kind wishes. i'm 99% certain i'm going to be
found to be ok.
My sister had to do this, too, a few years back. Everything's just fine,
so I'm hoping you have the same result. (She had too much stress...so it
can really put a whammy on your bod!)
thanks, nat. like i mentioned on facebook, i think that it will be
beneficial to have a baseline for the future, regardless. you know what's
funny, though, is that i'm actually probably under less stress these days
than i have been for a couple of years--so who knows! maybe it's one of
those delayed reactions i'm prone to!
Luck, and love, and peace xx
i've been feeling the same too.
it takes odd jumps and sometimes
You'll be fine. The human body is a funny thing. Perhaps it's trying to
tell you to take a nice vacation
adam--thank you most kindly. i'll be sure to let you know what the results
are. : )
All the very best Marcy, I hope everything turns out to be okay!
Thinking of you and wishing you a heart the tin man would be jealous of.
Seriously, hope all turns out to be nothing to worry about.
Sorry to hear about the ol' ticker Marcy! Hoping that everything turns out
ok.
dirk, agnes, andy and tricia--thank you all SO much. i go in today for the
echocardiogram, so hopefully i'll have an answer soon. i really think
they're kind of covering their behinds, if you know what i mean, just being
really thorough to be on the safe side. although i won't be surprised is
they don't tell me to stop drinking coffee! : )
How did it go? I am really conscious of my family history too. Both my
mom and dad are the last survivors of their generation in either of their
families. Both of them have had heart surgery, and my mom has had a stroke
that left her handicapped. You better be sure I take my medicine. I need
to get more exercise, though. So what's the update, Marcy?
thanks, linda, i will be sure to follow doctors' orders--when i get some!
so far i have no news. i'll give it til monday and then if i don't hear
anything i'll call. and thank you for leaving a comment--it was at 13 and i
felt like that was unlucky, not that i'm actually superstitious or
anything, but it makes me feel better just the same! : )
I was hoping to find some news on the results too, but not yet I guess. I'm
hoping everything is okay, and just to mention as a bit of optimism I went
through something very similar several years ago. All the tests, doctor
visits, etc. with pretty much the same symptoms led to a fine heart but
panic attacks. My physician at the time wanted to put me on Xanax, but I
just let postive thinking and staying busy take over and they symptoms went
away in a week or so. One I knew what it was (and wasn't), everything was
fine. Hoping the same for you!
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