This isn’t something I have made public but last Easter weekend my wife, kids and I headed to Lake Eufaula to my inlaws lake place. My wife was driving. On the way there, my heart began to race. This wasn’t concerning at first as it has happened before but had only lasted a minute or two. A year prior, we were at the lake riding and it happened for longer than it had ever before. We happened to have a RN with us and she had me sit and bear down which, after several attempts, stopped it. I never gave it another thought. Well, this time I discretely tried and tried that but it wouldn’t work. I attempted to take my pulse but it was too fast. Being a dumb ass, I didn’t say anything to my wife right away as I didn’t want to worry her.
We got to the store where we had to pick up a few groceries. While my wife was inside, I stayed in the car with the kids. I leaned over in my seat and attempted to bear down harder that I ever had before. No luck. I started to get worried. At this point, I had nearly passed out a time or two. When we got to the lake house, I was about 45 minutes into this deal. I was light headed, weak and generally felt like sh!t. I finally told my wife I had a problem.
She got me inside and had me sit down. My heart was beating so hard and fast that while I was sitting, they could see me moving slightly from it. My wife texted my doctor and he said to get my azz to the hospital ASAP! So to the hospital we went. Keep in mind, we were in rural OK. When we got there, we walk in and I was amazed. As it turns out, when you walk into an ER with chest pain, looking like death and about to pass out, you don’t get that, "Have a seat over there and we’ll be with you ‘soon’." treatment. You get a lot of attention really quick! So there I am, 30 seconds after walking through the ER doors and I’m hooked up like a car battery with a doc and 4 nurses hovering over me. I found out pretty quick why I couldn’t take my own pulse earlier. My heart was racing at 235 BPM or almost 4 times a second. At that high of a rate, the heart can’t move much blood as there’s not enough time between beats to draw blood into the heart. So that explained the nearly passing out several times.
They were getting ready to go get and administer some drug which I was warned that would be extremely unpleasant. The doc had me cough really hard a few times. I later learned that this is another trick to sort of shock the body into a (more) normal heart rate. Thankfully, coughing brought my rate down around 150 so the meds weren’t necessary. I started feeling a lot better now that my heart was moving more blood but every time I would sit up or start to stand, my heart rate would start climbing quickly. Remember, this rural OK. This hospital had a whopping two rooms in the ER. If another emergency had come in, somebody was going to be sharing a room! lol. It became clear very quickly that they were not equipped to deal with me. I overheard them trying to make arrangements to transfer me to a higher level of care.
The doc came back in and informed me of what I had heard them discussing. He said that the nearest ground ambulance was 3 1/2 hours away and that wasn’t going to work. He said they were going to transport me by air ambulance back to OKC. A short time later, they were loading me up in a helicopter. It kinda seemed like a lot of fuss as I felt much better but I couldn’t sit up or stand without my heart getting worse so I didn’t argue. The flight was about 50 minutes. It was a neat experience but I’m pretty sure they make that gurney out of plywood and a bed sheet. I’ve never been so uncomfortable in my life! Needless to say, my azz was totally numb by the time we got back to OKC. I couldn’t get off that thing fast enough! Another thing I discovered is that the patient wears that damn helicopter. My feet were resting against the front glass of the aircraft the entire flight! And also, turbulence in a helicopter is a bit more unsettling than in an a 747!! Those things get blown all over the place. The fact that several air ambulance aircraft have crashed here over the last several years didn’t help either. We eventually touched down safely at the Heart Hospital.
Once inside the Oklahoma Heart Hospital, they got me up to my room and they pretty much left me alone and monitored me the rest of the night. The next morning, I had the pleasure of experiencing an angiogram. I don’t recommend it. They tried to go in through my wrist but couldn’t get it to work. They ended up going in through my groin. I really wished the wrist had worked! When they finish in the groin, you really think twice about coughing, sneezing or farting! lol. Pretty much anything that puts pressure on your vascular system feels like you are being stabbed in the groin for several days. The good news was that no damage was done to my heart. I’m as healthy as any other 41 year old guy although my heart is slightly enlarged. The following day, the doc diagnosed me with SVT or supraventricular tachycardia. Basically, there is either a disconnect between my brain and my heart or I have defective or (possibly extra) misfiring electrical nodes in my heart. If the brain doesn’t tell the heart how fast to beat, it will run at around 250 BPM on its own. So, I may have a short, apparently. We got any electrical gurus around here? lol
It was explained to me that there are three levels of medication treatments available for this. In order for them to know what is working or not, they recommended a heart monitor. I was apprehensive but decided to do it (my chest now costs more than my wife’s! lol). This monitor is about the size of a pen cap and implanted under the skin over my heart. It records any events over and under certain heart rates and wirelessly transmits them to a unit on my night stand while I sleep. It is then sent to my doc and he can see if the meds he has me on are effective. The monitor will function for up to three years and they will take it out at that time or before if we get this thing solved before that.
Fast forward to today, none of the three levels of meds have been effective. In fact, while we were in Mena, AR on our last trip in September, I had a heart rate of 215 for about 6 minutes. It was while we were riding and I never knew it happened. My doc referred me to another cardiologist. If my guy is the plumber of the heart, this new doc is the electrician. This doc determined that I am a candidate for ablation. Basically, they go in through both sides of my groin this time (ugh…), try to induce my SVT and find the electrical nodes in my heart that may be the problem areas. They’ll deaden those areas and hopefully that helps fix the problem. There is a 90% chance of success and it can be performed again if it’s not successful for some reason. I hope this is a one time deal! I take more meds than elderly people!!
This procedure is is scheduled for the 20th of this month, so just a few days away. It has been a long stressful road to get to this point. It has been hardest on my son, I think. I have explained it to him as best I can but he’s afraid to lose me. I would appreciate any prayers from the GC family for my family and I. Thank you.
PS- On a lighter note, if I’m not heard from after the 20th, somebody make sure my wife doesn’t sell my Griz for what she may have been led to believe I have in it. Or, one of you can get a smoking deal. Either way is fine. Just treat it right.
Kidding, of course! I’ll still be around after with a good solid week of not much moving around, so there’ll be a lot of time spent on GC. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous but this isn’t a high risk procedure as it was explained to me.
To be continued…
