Like a bowl full of Jello

I wrote on Tuesday how I enjoyed being normal. Then Wednesday happened and I went to the hospital with a fast and irregular heartbeat. When they hooked me up to the monitors, my stupid heart was pounding at 209 beats per minute. I felt faint and clammy and utterly exhausted. My moment of normalcy was short-lived.

I've lived with a weird heart rate since I was a little girl. When I was pregnant with my oldest OS, I had an especially nasty bout of it, quite similar to Wednesday's episode and was hospitalized overnight for that event. Finally they gave my heart problem a name, it's PSVT, paroxysmal supraventrical tachycardia. With little warning, my heart will flutter like a bowl of Jello. If you know me at all, you know that I do not like gelatinous things, in particular when that gelatinous thing happens to reeking havoc in my body.

A friend called and I tried to ignore my crazy heart and speak normally. I'm not sure I succeeded though. Then another friend called and this time, I felt too weak to talk. The Hubs was having lunch with a friend and when he returned, he noticed I wasn't any better. I didn't complain or protest when he announced we were going to the hospital.

If you are ever looking for a quick way to be seen in the Emergency Room, have a heart problem. You will suddenly become a high priority patient. I was quickly ushered into a examining room and before I knew it, an IV was inserted into my arm after two tries. I felt very weak and lifeless and then the doctor told me I was going to have some medicine pumped in my veins.

The nurse grabbed my arm and asked me if I was ready. Say what??? I couldn't understand why they were asking me this, what was going to happen? Was I going to feel something? The nurse emphatically told me yes, I was definitely going to feel something. No sooner had the medicine entered my system, then my heart rate went from about 209 bpm to about 113 in a matter of seconds. It's like you're driving fast on a slippery road and then suddenly you hit the breaks and stop.

I was blessed because the medicine worked on the first try. I learned that this doesn't always happen. I also learned I do not like bedpans...

I saw the cardiologist today and I'm going to try another medication to help keep my heart beating normally. Have you ever thought about how we take for granted things like a strong and steady heart beat but as of Wednesday, I praise the Lord for my husband being home to take me to the hospital and for my beating heart that's behaving.