So this week's New may come as a bit of a surprise to you since it is not in the range of the typical 'New' stuff that I do. I also can't exactly say that this was something I 'chose' to do. However, it is a first for me and so I thought I would blog about it nonetheless.
About a month ago I started having heart palpitations. Not the racing heart kind but ones where it felt like my heart was pounding way to hard. At first it just happened sporadically some nights when I lay down to sleep. Then it started to occur more frequently and during the early evenings. Sometimes it would even last for a few hours. Imagine having your heart pounding loudly and feeling it in your chest, your neck and having it occur when you aren't doing anything except relaxing on the couch...it is very strange. It is also a little disconcerting, being that it is a favourite organ of mine and all.
So I went to the doctor and she asked me a bunch of questions and listened to my heart. She said she heard a couple of dropped beats. I have since learnt (thank you google) that it is not entirely uncommon for a person's heart to skip a few beats now and then (and not just when you are in love either). What I don't know is how many skipped beats is too many. The doctor did what all doctors seem to do when they don't have a quick and easy answer - she ordered a bunch of tests.
Now at this point I should also mention that I have hypothyroidism and I'm currently taking medication for it, though we are still trying to figure out the right dose. When I started having the heart palpitations I thought it might be related to my hypothyroidism or maybe my medication was too high. All the tests that came back seemed to suggest that the latter at least is not the case.
So in the quest to find out what is going on with my little ticker - the doctor also ordered a holter monitor for me. A holter monitor is a mini ECG machine that you wear and it measures your heart rhythms over a 48 hour period. 3 weeks after seeing the doctor and today I finally had my appointment to get mine...hence the something New I was talking about.
So I go to the cardiologist's office today and they hook me up with a holter monitor. Basically they put 3 electrodes on my chest and one to the right of my belly. These electrodes are hooked up to a bunch of wires that lead to a little ECG machine that I have to wear around my waist. It is somewhat bulky and admittedly the surgical tape holding the wires and electrodes on me is somewhat itchy, but otherwise I don't feel a thing. I was also given a paper on which to keep a diary of my activities for the next 48 hours, along with any symptoms I'm feeling.
One of the biggest nuisances about wearing this thing is that I can't get it wet, which means no showering for the next 48 hours. I'm also hoping that it is not too uncomfortable to sleep with. I have to wear it until Saturday morning at 10:30. Then I remove the electrodes myself and throw out the sticky tape. The ECG machine has to be returned to the cardiologist's office by 9:30 Monday morning or be charged a $100 late fee! Crazy!
Then the waiting begins again, because obviously I will have to wait to get my results back.
I wonder what they will discover about this little heart of mine?
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