. . . . . have been all about my heart.
So, as I said, I started having problems with my heart rate again. In January and February I ended up in the ER at least five times. I was having things like chest pain, shortness of breath, palpitations, dizziness, etc. Needless to say, it wasn't very fun.
Also, I didn't have a very good primary care doctor. Sadly, when I turned 22 last summer, I had to move on from my pediatric nurse practitioner. She was amazing and had gotten me through some very tough times over the years. I had been seeing her for about 10 years at that point. I thought I had found my new doctor last fall... then I came to her with these heart problems and she says to me "Do you think this is just your depression?"
My (internal) response: "SCREW YOU!" I know my body. I am telling you something is seriously wrong. And you ask me if I think it is just depression. NO!!!!!
Anyways, that was the end of that doctor. But unfortunately I needed to find myself a new doctor that would actually be my advocate and listen to what I was saying.
Unfortunately more pressing matters meant that I had to be pushy and get in to a cardiologist as soon as possible. After lots of ER visits and a few holter monitors, I ended up at Abbott Northwestern Hospital at the Minneapolis Heart Institute. I met the doc and they scheduled me for a cardiac ablation a couple weeks later, on March 17th.
I had another SVT (supraventricular tachycardia). As well as a probable inappropriate sinus tachycardia.
In case you are curious:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supraventricular_tachycardia and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inappropriate_sinus_tachycardia
Now, time for the surgery/procedure. I had an electrophysiology study and cardiac ablation. Basically, they looked at the electrical impulses my was producing, found the extra pulses that were making my heart race, and burned that part of my heart so that the impulse could not get through to increase my heart rate.
They inserted catheters into my femoral arteries on both legs and one in my neck and snaked them up to my heart. The surgery took about 3 hours total and I had a pretty good recovery. It wasn't fun, but it did go as expected.
No more SVT!
Unfortunately, my heart rate didn't stay down as we had hoped. I also needed that new doctor...
In to my life comes Dr. Viera!!
She is my aunt and cousin's doctor and she is absolutely wonderful!
She listens to me and isn't afraid to treat me!
So, all of this is why I have been feeling so down lately. I feel horrible. I can barely do anything around the apartment let alone anything else. My heart rate is all over the place. I'm dizzy, nauseous, etc. None of which is a good time. Or makes me want to go out and do anything. I want to, but I physically can't. It sucks. But that seems to be enough rambling for one post...
Luckily I have amazing family and friends who are supportive, especially my mom and Ryan. They have helped me through so much and I am so grateful to have them in my life!
Thank you, everyone, for your continued love and support! It means the world to me and it is the only thing that has gotten me through the last year.
And just because we can all always use a smile...
Tea Cup Pig :-)
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