because the whole throat thing wasn't enough

So, you might remember when we got back I mentioned an issue I'm dealing with. A week or so before we left, I started having episodes of (a few times pounding) rapid heartbeat that would last for hours. Started out just coming on at night around 10 PM. Two days, then skipped a day, then 3 or 4 days and then the day before we left, one around 6:30 PM. Admittedly I had been pretty stressed out about this trip...the scheduling, the travel, trying to cram in as much as we could and could afford in the time we had, plus getting the house clean and trimming the Little Backyard and packing that last day. I had already researched it on the internet...atrial fibrillation, not lethal or a real problem unless the episodes last more than 7 hours one site said or 24 hours another site said.

I figured, hoped, it would stop once we were there and the day we traveled I was fine until towards the end of dinner when a mild episode started up. And so that became the pattern for the trip. At least once a day, I would have a mild episode, more or less, that if I could go lay down when I felt it starting I could meditate it away in about 30 to 40 minutes and then I would be fine for the rest of the day. There was no pain associated with these episodes, just I could feel it in my throat and could see my shirt moving, which normally, your heart beating does not make your shirt move. Anyway, the day we left, the 13^th, I woke up feeling good, relaxed, like something inside had let go and I haven't had an episode since the one on the 12^th. Well, a little flutter here and there but so brief that if I hadn't just been through some sustained episodes I probably wouldn't have even been aware of it.

The day after we got back I called my primary care doc like a good little girl and she had me come in that day. Her opinion was it was probably just stress since there was no pain or any of the other indicators of heart trouble but she sent me to a cardiologist to get checked out anyway. So, that's what I did last Tuesday, went to the cardiologist. They did the interview and 99% of my answers were 'no', they took my blood pressure in both arms and got two different readings (higher in my right arm), they did an EKG and an echocardiogram and I got to see my heart beating strong and regular and listen to the whoosh whoosh. 

image via: http://www.pacemakerplus.com/ekg-ecg-vs-echocardiogram-what-is-the-difference/

The doctor said I had a good strong healthy heart if a bit leaky. One of my valves doesn't close tight promptly and a little bit of blood leaks back into the previous chamber but gets expelled with the next beat. Nothing to worry about he said, but something to keep an eye on.

So next he wants to put one of those 24 hour heart monitors on me and after that do a stress test, both of which are scheduled for week after next. I'm not in favor of the stress test because they inject a radioactive tracer into your bloodstream and I don't care for invasive procedures like that. I'm kind of a purest where my body is concerned. I have agreed to it because my sister had a heart attack (survived) and my paternal grandfather had one that killed him. I'm not really sure what it will accomplish besides a better picture of how the blood flows through my heart. I've had no other symptoms of heart disease or stroke and I'm pretty sure it was just stress even though I have never reacted to stress in that way before and since he didn't send me off with any cautions about my behavior, I'm going back to all my evil ways.

What with all the doctor visits trying to figure out my throat craziness earlier this year and now this, I've spent far too much time at the hands of the medical community and their tests. I almost liked it better when I didn't have any insurance.

And now I have to make an appointment with the dermatologist because I have a suspicious looking spot on my arm and a couple of actinic keratoses on my face.

Crap! It just never ends. This getting older shit is pissing me off.