So the past few weeks I've been feeling really 'off', and week before last I was really dragging. That Thursday I felt like I was moving through a swimming pool- my limbs felt really heavy and it required a serious effort to do anything. I spent several days in bed, figuring that if I was that tired, I must need the rest, right? Over that weekend I felt worse, and was having some of what felt like atrial fibrillation episodes. Sunday at brunch after church, one of the ladies leaned over the table and said "You look like you don't feel well." I admitted that I didn't. She looked at me a bit sternly and said "I think you should go to the doctor tomorrow." Well, I'd been thinking about calling the doctor, and maybe depending on how I feel tomorrow... "No, you go to the doctor tomorrow. Promise me you'll go."So Monday I called to make an appointment. The woman at the appointment desk said "You know, I don't feel good about this. I think I want you to talk to the triage nurse." Ok, so I talked to the triage nurse. And she said "You know, I don't feel good about this. I want you to go to ER." I was hesitant- was she sure? I would feel really stupid if it turned out to be nothing. "Better to feel stupid that to not go if there's a real problem" Ok. So I went.
And being as how I was not thinking so straight, I drove myself to the ER.
They were packed, as usual. I sat in the waiting room and dozed. I really wanted to lie down, but they didn't have benches, just chairs. And I waited. I don't know how long it took to get me in to see the triage nurse, because there was no clock in the waiting room and I don't wear a watch, but it was a long time. I felt really crummy and _really_ wanted to lie down and was a little nauseated when they finally called me in. I had to recite the whole thing to the nurse, and she pulled up my history and took my vitals, and then instead to sending me back out to the waiting room, she walked me back to a room. Ah, finally a table- I could lie down! I had to put on a gown, but then she gave me a blanket and I curled up and dozed off.
I wasn't comfy for very long though. Someone came in with a cart, glued a bunch of wires to me and ran an EKG, and took my vitals again, and left.
Finally a doctor came in with a chart, and said, "Well, you've had an MI." All I could say was "Shit."
He said that it didn't seem to be a big one and I wasn't really in a whole lot of pain (though I had to qualify that, since the fibro has really messed put my pain perception), but when he asked if I was feeling any pressure I had to admit that I felt like I had a large cat sitting on my chest. He decided to admit me for observation.
So they wheeled me into the cardiac unit, which appeared to be pretty full, and into a room. I had to drag my sandbagged limbs off of the gurney and onto the bed. They took another EKG and brought me a snack, as it was now 8pm (there was a clock in my room) and I hadn't eaten since breakfast. And then they glued more leads to me, plugged me in so they could watch me on the machines all night.
You know, a hospital is not a place to get any rest. It's noisy (especially the guy down the hall who was pissed off that he'd had a heart attack and wanted everyone to know it), they kept coming in to take my vitals (and at one point I had just dozed off when a nurse came in- to offer me a sleeping pill), and I couldn't figure out how to turn all of the lights off. I watch tv for awhile (gave that up as a losing proposition- nothing worth watching) then tried to get some sleep.
They did an echocardiogram in the morning (while Marla was visiting me), and a doctor (not the same one) came in and told told me that the bloodwork had come back and my potassium levels had cratered. Hmm. That may have triggered whatever happened, but as my heart had behaved itself all night, they were going to let me go. So I took the script for some potassium and went home.
And went back to bed. I went to my doctor the next day, and to church, but other than that I pretty much stayed in bed for a week. Was sooo tired. Still tired. Sleeping 11, 12 hours, and still sleepy. And stupid- I'm finding huge blanks in my memory. It's coming back, but there for a few days I was having a really hard time remembering anything, which is very annoying.
I'm already pretty careful with my diet, but my doctor said that given the stress I've been under, none of this surprised her. I've got to mellow out a bit. How, I don't yet know...
So that was the end of March. So much for going out like a lamb! But April is beginning to look up. And James will be here tomorrow. And- the big news is- the parenting trainer who is working with Lydia and David let Lydia spend Tuesday in her own home, with the babies. By herself. And today David has the day off, and they're bringing the babies home for the day again. They want to see how they do at home, without Cindi. Lydia is beyond happy about this. Things are beginning to look up there too. :-)
Now if only those goons in DC would pass a budget...
