Emergency!

It was a dark and stormy night .... ok, it was dark but not stormy... we're in the middle of a drought.  After several days of having to think to breathe, I finally convinced myself it was not the ozone layer making me feel that way.  I finally spoke up and told my mom about it as well as my friend B who is a nurse.  Both of them agreed that it was most likely anxiety and Mom mentioned I should probably get my blood pressure checked.  I had plans to see B that night and she promised to bring her medical gear.  Meanwhile, I had to make a quick trip to Target where I happened by one of those do it yourself blood pressure machines.   I sat down and put my arm in the cuff and pressed the button.    My blood pressure was fine and I made a mental note of my heart rate - 139.    I called Mom and spouted the numbers off and she didn't flinch so I thought I was probably ok.   I headed off to my friend J's house for the jewelry party and as promised B had her gear with her.  Immediately after the party she listened to my heart and I told her about my results from Target.  Her eyes got big when I said 139 and she said "well that's why you're having trouble breathing!  Your heart rate is too high!"   It was 120 when she took it which is still high.   She said I needed to keep an eye on it over the weekend and call the doc on Monday or else go to the ER if it bothered me too much.  The more I sat there and thought about it the more my mind race which I'm certain did not help my heart rate.   After a while I was doing the ugly cry and knew that I had to go to the ER or I'd be in a straightjacket by Monday.

I called Don and let him know that B was driving me home and would sit with the girls until J could come and relieve her.  We knew it might be a long wait at the ER, especially on a Friday night so I gathered up some reading material, took out my contacts, and Don and I headed on our not so merry way to Methodist North.   I signed in and told the front desk person what the trouble was and then sat to wait.   Not five minutes later my name was called.  I told Don to stay put since I'm sure they were just going to take my vitals and then send me back out to sit.   My blood pressure was a bit higher than when B took it but not anything dangerous.   My heart rate was still high though and next thing I knew I was getting set up for an EKG.   They put stickers all over my arms, legs, and chest and hooked up wires for literally 30 seconds.  At the push of a button the computer spit out the report and all the wires came off.   I had no idea an EKG was that quick.   The next step was to take blood.  The nurse tried my right arm but didn't have much luck so a guy named Tommy took over for her.  He's a firefighter that only works at the hospital 24 hours a month and let me tell you, he turned out to be my angel in disguise.   He explained everything he was doing while making small talk along the way.  His smile was so comforting and his bedside manner exceptional.  He took the blood and then loaded me into a wheelchair for a quick ride to the xray department for a chest xray.   After that we rolled back through the waiting room to pick up Don and as we were headed to a room, a guy fell out in the parking lot and there was lots of screaming and running and Tommy parked me in a corner and told me to wait there.  It was sort of a scary moment and I kept expecting to see blood and gore but all I ended up seeing was a guy being carried by several men through the doors.  It turned out to be a guy Don had just been talking to whose wife was sick.  We thought for sure he had just received bad news about his wife.  

Tommy was back in a matter of minutes and rolled me back to the "Chest Pain Center".   He gave me a lovely gown to put on "backwards" and told me to crawl into bed.   Then a guy named Barrett came in to hook me up to a heart monitor.  More stickers, more wires.   He told me Ed would be my nurse (what is it with all the guys that night?) and would be in to check on me soon.   When Ed swung through the door, Don says he was like a soap opera doctor.   He did have good hair but I don't think he was all that cute.  Tommy was cuter.  And had a better personality.   Anyway, Ed swung the door open, smiled, and said, "Hi, I'm Ed.  Haven't I treated you before?  You sure do look familiar".   Don is convinced he was hitting on me.  I beg to differ.   That gown didn't do a whole lot for me.   Ed said my gown was on backwards, I told him I was instructed to wear it that way, he laughed an arrogant laugh (I could tell he was thinking "stupid fireman") and said "well, you can put it on the other way... I'll close the door and let you do that"   That was the most adventurous part of the night.  We had to figure out how to get the wires through the sleeve of the gown and found it impossible without disconnecting something.   Don held his breath as he unplugged the monitor fully expecting bells and whistles to go off but nothing happened.  We got the gown switched, plugged in the monitor and settled in for a really long night of bad tv.    We made a game of trying to get my heart rate down and then I'd look up to see what the number was and watch it jump.   Somewhere in the middle of all of this, we heard the guy next door screaming in agony and once again we thought for sure he got bad news. 

Ed came in and took more blood and Barrett came in to take my blood pressure but I was missing Tommy.   I was trying to rest and relax and so was Don but he was stuck in an awful wooden chair and I was stuck in an awful hospital bed with a bar pressing on my rear end.  Everytime I sat up to readjust myself my heart rate jumped so I was trying to stay as still as possible.   After a while, the doctor finally came by to check on me.  He asked how I was feeling and told me so far everything looked good.  EKG and chest x ray were fine.  He just had to figure out why my heart was racing.  He said he was waiting on one more test and hoped to have answers soon.   Tommy came by to check on me in the meantime and said if they thought something was serious they would have called a cardiologist and I'd have all sorts of activity in my room.  He said "just remember, no news is good news".   Meanwhile, Barrett came in to take yet more blood as I thought "how can I have any left to give??"   We watched the time tick away .... 1am, 1:30am, 2:45am.  Finally at 3, Dr. Burch reappeared and said he was glad we waited for that last test.  Drumroll please.... I have hyperthyroidism.    He told me it was a good thing I came in because the racing heart could have turned into something called Thyroid Storm which is an emergency.  He said the good news is I'd probably lose a "bunch of weight".    He wrote me two prescriptions for a beta blocker and thyroid medicine and told me I could get dressed and go home.  I don't think Don has ever heard sweeter words.   He had yet to have dinner and when Don doesn't eat, its not pretty.  Of course we were both relieved it was as simple a diagnosis as that. 

So, I got dressed and we paid our deductable and zipped off to Walgreens at 3:15am.  It was a long night but it turned out ok and I have to say I've learned two lessons from all of this.  Ok, three.    The first is to always listen to your instincts.    My friends didn't think I needed to make an ER run but I just knew better.   The second, listen to your doctor.   I was told by my OB last year that I needed to come back in three months for blood work due to a low thyroid.   I never went back and now my thyroid is in overdrive.   If I'd just listened to her this whole event could have been avoided and I would have been monitored for the last 9 months and probably would have felt a whole lot better in general.  The third is you never know when you may come across one of God's angels.  Tommy didn't have wings and he didn't have a glow surrounding his head but I know my ER experience might have gone differently without him there.  He's only there three nights a month, if that.  When I think about that I'm overwhelmed.   I was lucky to have him take care of me and calm my nerves.   He may not have wings, but he's getting cookies.

Moral of the story:  Being hooked up to a heart monitor puts life into perspective pretty fast.  Make the most of every day.  Live life to the fullest and don't ever be afraid to say "I love you".    I love you.