Heart procedure turned vacation

That was a whirlwind.  A perfect and needed one.  One littered with perfect timing and more blessings than I thought possible.  Everything was lined up perfectly.  From the time of the stress test to the time I got home.  It all flowed smoothly and was such a huge huge blessing!

It was just under 4 weeks ago that I was diagnosed with a heart condition and now I have a heart that is ticking away, almost completely free of arrhythmia.

The stress test confirmed what I'd been feeling and I was grateful to know I wasn't crazy in the head, but also a little bummed I hadn't just been crazy in the head.  No one, after all, wants a heart condition.  I had a sinking feeling that I had one and that's why I asked for a referral, but I suppose I'd hoped that maybe it was just all in my head.  That I was being too sensitive about a few off beats that were normal and harmless.  

I had PVC's.  According to me EP doc at Walter Reed, "everyone has PVCs", but not the kind I was having.  I was having PVCs that triggered SVT's.  PVC is where a cell or cluster of cells in the muscle wall of the heart changes in property and begins firing electrical signals that cause the heart to contract.  They aren't meant to do that, so it throws off the normal rhythm of the heart.  They interrupt the usual signal that comes from the  and fire their own.  It FEELS like a missed beat that causes the heart to pound to make up for.  That isn't at all what is happening, but regardless of what it felt like and what it was actually doing, it was very unsettling.  I had them here and there for years and then recently they started clustering together (that's when one starts paying attention!) and when I would exercise or exert sometimes even in the most unexpected ways (like trying on a pair of too tight pants....haha!) they would trigger what's called at SVT.  My SVTs lasted between 3 and 4 minutes and would pound my heart at an astonishing and totally ineffective 250-260 beats per minute.  NOT a state one wants to live in, for really any amount of time.  It quite literally felt like my heart would pound straight through my chest.  During the episode I had just prior to the stress test (the one that actually kept me from cancelling the stress test) I was certain, as I was crouched down holding onto a store shelf, that everyone that might look on would be able to see a lump pounding under my breast bone.  It was frighteningly intense!  I couldn't see straight when it happened and would become very light headed, for obvious reasons.  No amount of deep breathing helped, and since I had no idea what was going on (in the 4 times it happened) I wasn't sure how to deal with it other than to ride the storm and hope that if I lost consciousness I would wake up to someone who spoke English that I could explain things to.  

I did the stress test 3 days after having the SVT episode in the store and EVERYTHING showed up just as I had been experiencing it.  This was very unusual, as was emphasized by every doctor I came in contact with that saw the EKG from the test.  Not only were the results "beautiful" and perfect, in their words, the conditions I had were VERY unusual for someone of my age and health status.  And it was even stranger that I had both.  And that one was triggering the other.  Within 48 hours of the stress test the EP doc at Walter Reed had been talked to and the procedure was scheduled.  We talked at length through every scenerio we could think of for travel and care for the boys here on the island and who would accompany me.  I really wanted for Josh to come, but we couldn't seem to figure out how to manage the boys on this end for that week he'd be gone.  Our sweet Manuela was so gracious and eager to help in any way possible and offered to stay here during the entire week, over night and everything.  The beautiful part of it was that she offered with no request for extra pay.  She wanted to help, in her words, because she loves us and we were hurting and needed help - and she would have done an incredible job at it.  The boys adore her and she is so trustworthy and capable.  But both of us knowing how difficult it is to single parent 4 boys for even just a short amount of time, we decided we wouldn't take her up on her offer.  I held me idea for a moment and then asked, "would it be crazy to just all load up and go?"  Josh jumped on the idea much quicker than I anticipated and we proceeded with that plan, full throttle.  He took EML to ensure they'd get on the plane with me, my dad scheduled to fly out to be with us and help from Monday to Friday of that week and my sister would fly out on Friday to be with me over the 4 days I was there after Josh and the boys left.  It all fell together more perfectly than we would have ever been able to plan ourselves.  It was all so beautifully mapped out.  

  We flew to Baltimore on January 25th

and stayed in a hotel that was just under a mile away from mine and Josh's apartment we'd had when we lived there 9 years ago.  It was surreal to stay in the area.  The hotel was perfect.  Two big bedrooms, each with big closets and bathrooms and then a main living area with full kitchen including a dishwasher and food disposal in the sink!  This hotel kitchen, people, was far more up to date than our kitchen here in our house.  And the counters were a normal height!  :)

We felt like pros after our trip to D.C. last October.  We knew just what to pack to keep the boys busy from 3:30am local time until the hotel breakfast opened. We'd eat right away at 3:30 (7:30am for us) and then go eat downstairs at 7:00 EST which made an early lunch for us.

My first appointment with my EP was early Monday morning.  With no other option than to take the boys, we all piled into the van and went.  He confirmed everything the Cardiologist here on the island had said.  He gave me the option of drugs, but I'd tried one already and they all only carried a 20% chance or so of helping.  Ablation has much better numbers.  He said the SVT was the one that NEEDED to be gotten rid of, and the PVCs should probably go, too.  He's look for the SVT first.  He looked at the EKG from my stress test and marveled that it hadn't come from a text book.  He said EKGs never show that much activity.  Catching all that on one stress test was perfect, and weird and surprising.  A confirmation that the timing of the stress test was absolutely perfect - He made it that way.

We forfeited the boys naps on Monday and headed down to D.C. to ogle the massive hanging flying machines in the Air and Space Museum.

Peering thoughtfully into space

When we were gearing up to head out we had looked at one last exhibit and turned to leave.  I saw a girl.  I looked at her good and hard.  Turned away for a second and then looked back and elbowed Josh, "tell me I know her!  I KNOW I know her".  He vaguely recognized her but neither of us could place from where.  We risked seeming like spooks and walked up to her.  "I'm 90% I know you", I said.  She looked at me reservedly for a second and then looked at Josh.  Who knows what she was thinking.  I asked her where she'd lived and immediately felt like a total creep.  She said Casper and it all clicked!  We knew her from CMA youth group get togethers!  We'd known eachother in highschool and had attended youth group events together and hung out with the same friends.  I didn't know her well, but I knew her.

We stood and talked for 30 minutes or so while Josh wrangled our boys and her in-laws played with her kiddos.  We went from remember this and remember that talk for a few minutes right straight into deep, meaningful talk about our fear as mother's and how we struggle daily, even moment by moment with giving our children into their Creator's hands for his ultimate protection.  I NEEDED that talk in that moment, as I'd been fighting anxiety all morning over the inherent dangers of having 4 crazy little boys running around in the big city and big, full of people buildings.  Once again, His timing was perfect.  It was a sweet sweet talk with her!

We got home late and put the boys to bed - my Dad flew in on Monday to help for the week but his flight has been delayed and I couldn't keep my eyes open long enough to wait his arrival.

Tuesday morning we killed time in our suite until the breakfast opened.  We'd meet up with "Papa" down there and I paid close attention to anyone that was coming through that breakfast room door.

And then there he was!  I hustled over and wrapped my arms around him.  We hadn't seen him since Luke had been born, and even then it had only been for a short day and a half, in the midst of all the other hustle and bustle surrounding a newborn and holidays.  I was so excited to have him to ourselves for a week.  We left around 9 Tuesday morning for the Baltimore aquarium.  Our rental van had a dvd player, so we were able to keep the boys from going hog wild in the back seat - the three olders were crammed in like sardines back there, as my Dad rode in the middle seat.  Between all our traveling together and time in the hotel, I haven't had that much conversation time with my dad in YEARS.  It was a beautiful time!  It was so clear to us that that week was perfectly timed and provided for us for him to come out.  He'd been scheduled for a back surgery that just days before my stress test had been postponed to next fall due to an injection that did a surprisingly more amount of good than anyone thought possible.  He'd not yet scheduled back in his week of leave, so he was able to drop all and come take care of us for the week.

  We stopped in a Panera bread until the aquarium opening.  Hot chocolates, bagels, mochas and delicious coffee were enjoyed in that wonderfully cozy American coffee shop atmosphere Josh and I haven't experienced in quite some time.  The aquarium was SO neat.  The coral reef looks real, the animals are healthy and the exhibits are beautifully constructed with so many little details taken into account.

occupied goons in the back seat

It was SO cold!

designed after an Australian river bed

SUPER creepy picture of my dad!  haha!

sweet bubble pillars

We were able to walk through the majority of it before it was time to head back to the hotel to get the boys down for their island bedtime. It was so good to see my dad have time with his grandsons.

  We've lived far away from grandparents for so many years now, our boys know their grandparents mostly just from facetime and skype.  Seeing face to face interaction was very sweet, indeed.  We got the boys down and Dad and I both needed a few things so we ran to Target.  We chatted and laughed our way through our shopping lists and then returned to the hotel to get some much needed sleep before the procedure day.  We talked him through the boy's schedule for the next day.  He soloed it with them.  What a brave, gracious and needed thing for him to do!  We're not sure how we would have done that day without him.  Josh spent the day at the hospital while I was having the procedure and Dad plugged away at the hotel with all four boys.

Procedure: next post