It was an interesting past week to say the least. As I already talked about in my previous post, my appointment with my cardiologist went great on Monday. However, on Thursday night, I had an unexpected trip to the Methodist ER. Was this one step forward and two steps back?
I was working Thursday night and was dealing with some dull chest pains, they were pretty constant and it was the point where it was annoying me. I’ve had chest pains in the past; it’s just a typical thing to have. As usual, nitro would most likely solve the problem. That is where problem #1 came into play, I had switched purses that day, and I had accidentally left my nitro in my other purse. I instantly regretted not double checking to make sure I had it; lesson learned! I had a little over an hour to go in my shift, so I told myself I would get through my shift and see how I felt. I really wasn’t too concerned because I didn’t have any other symptoms.
It was finally 11:00pm and it was time to go. As I was walking out to the parking garage, I starting to feel extremely nauseated and the next thing I knew, I was getting sick. Luckily, I had some Gatorade in my car, so I drank some of that and started to drive home. When I was driving home, I started to have some intense pain in the middle of my back and going up into my neck. At this moment, I started to freak out. All the memories of the heart attack came rushing back. I had to calm myself down and put a plan into action. I’m not going to lie, I drove past the hospital and kept telling myself that these symptoms would go away soon. However, I thought to myself how I’m such an advocate of not ignoring the warning signs and to get checked out, so why was I not listening to my own advice? I turned my car around and headed back to the hospital. I called my parents to let them know what was going on. Hearing my dad on the phone really helped calm me down.
I got to the ER and as soon as I told them my symptoms and my past history, I was rushed back into the room. Prior on getting back into the room, a male nurse brought me a wheelchair, I told him that I could walk, but he insisted that I sit. My stubbornness was kicking in. When I got back to the room, it was filled with 4 nurses and two doctors. Before I knew it, I was hooked up to an EKG and had an IV. I swear it was within just seconds of getting into the room, and my nurse was an all-star for getting the IV in so quick, it normally takes tries after tries! As they were doing my vitals and EKG, one of the nurses had commented that I was sweating pretty badly and my blood pressure and heart rate were elevated. This freaked me out even more. Was I really having another heart attack? I had instant tears. Luckily, the EKG showed that everything was fine. This was a huge relief and I was able to calm down. The nurses were extremely comforting and that helped the anxiety levels decrease. They thought that my levels were just elevated because I was nervous and had some anxiety.
The doctor ordered a chest x-ray and some blood work. While I was waiting for the x-ray, another doctor came in and talked to me. She had said she just went over my records and felt that it wasn’t heart related. This was the best news I’d heard all night. However, she wanted to wait for the blood results to come back and talk with my cardiologist. The chest x-ray and blood work were completed, it was just time to wait for the results. After about 20 minutes after my x-ray, the doctor came back in and said everything came back good, she could completely rule out another heart attack! I was so relieved.
The diagnosis was that I had some inflammation in my chest wall. Back in March, I was diagnosed with acid reflex and the coronary heart disease (CHD). The combination of that and the inflammation was causing the discomfort. The doctor prescribed me some medication and sent me home. I finally got back to my apartment around 3:00 am and took the medicine and went to bed. I was exhausted, both physically and mentally.
I received a call from my cardiologist’s head nurse the next morning. She was just calling to check up on me and to discuss what had happened. Since I do have CHD, it’s typical that I could have episodes of severe angina (chest pains). I didn’t really realize that I could have episodes, so it was certainly news to me. She told me that the nitro should take care of it. Again, that’s why it’s important to always carry the nitro! It’s a whole new learning experience of how to deal living with CHD. I’m sure it’s going to take some time to learn more information but I’m ready. Hell, if I can fight through a heart attack, I can certainly get through this.
After some sleep and medicine, I felt completely fine. I had to fight the urge of going to the YCMA to work out. I really wanted to do Zumba Friday morning; however, I didn’t think my body would appreciate it. I didn’t need another trip to the ER.
I’d like to give a shout out to the wonderful staff at Methodist, they were awesome. Not only did they help me relax, but they also dismissed one of my biggest fears that I have. I struggled with being the patient who would “cry wolf” every time that I had chest pains. Again, it’s the battle of when to seek help or waiting for it to pass. The nurses and doctors at Methodist praised me for going in and getting checked out. They said that with my previous history, it’s nothing to mess around with. I knew that, but it was refreshing to hear from the medical staff. They had mentioned that they have seen people come in when it’s too late, when the heart is damaged, and it could have simply been avoided if they came in.
It was a pretty stressful and scary time going through that on Thursday. I’m grateful that I did get it checked out and even more grateful that nothing was wrong. I cannot say enough how important it is to not ignore the signs, even if nothing is wrong in the end, it truthfully could be the difference between life and death. If I can put my stubbornness aside and get checked out, everyone else can as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment