I Am Totally Wired!

I am totally wired for the next 30 days and no place to go! LOL

With my heart issues and finally going to the doctor on Monday...I am now on a "event" heart monitor for the next 30 days, it arrived on Wednesday.

It is a very small and the wires are easily hidden under my clothes. I am to wear it while I am awake and record any and all episodes when they occur.

Now, the small problem with this is that I am not supposed to be close to a computer, TV, running car, lawnmower or refrigerator because they might cause interference...gee, sounds like where I am during every waking moment of my day.

It will hold two recordings which is 2-3 minutes each, then you call them, they ask you what you were feeling at the time of the recordings and what I was doing when it occurred, then you have to put the phone receiver on top of the monitor and hit the send button. It sounds like a fax machine tones but you can hear the heartbeat in the tones. When it skips a beat, it makes a high pitch squeal and then you go back to hearing the heartbeats. It takes about 5-7 minutes to transmit the data and then you have to wait for them to come back to the phone to tell you that they got the report. They in turn send these reports to Dr. Porterfield for him to review on a daily basis...Monday through Friday.

Yesterday, my heart was acting up so bad that I wasn't getting anything done because I had to stop, record, stop, call and transmit data. Then, it would start all over again. I finally told the monitoring company that it wasn't going to stop acting up anytime soon but I had to stop recording so I could get my work done.

I was up until 3 AM this morning because I was feeling a "weird" feeling in my chest...not really a chest pain but a heaviness. I could also feel my heartbeat one strong beat and between that strong beat and the next strong beat...I would feel two faint beats. I assume that was the two lower chambers of my heart beating individually instead of together. It is all out of sync.

I recorded and transmitted a report at 2:30 AM and went back to bed after 3 AM. It never got back in sync before I fell asleep.

I am desperately wanting answers to what is going on with my heart. I want them to tell me that (1) there is nothing to worry about and it is something that I will have to learn to live with, (2) it is treatable with medication or (3) I need to make some lifestyle changes if this is brought on by stress.

These episodes have made me so aware of my heart rate that it is hard to ignore it right now. If they tell me that it is not doing any damage to my heart and it is not a threat to my life...then I will jump for joy and go on with life.

Last night and Tuesday afternoon have been the only two times that it has scared me. I need peace of mind if nothing else right now.

Thank you so much for your prayers, love and concern.

Have a wonderfully blessed day!

She Has A Heart Even If It's Not Working Right!

Luke 73:26

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

I have heard it said many times about someone..."she/he is heartless, she/he doesn't have a heart or she/he is just cold hearted". There have been times in my life that I have had to make decisions that seemed and even felt heartless but I found out yesterday that I have a heart, even if it isn't working right.

I have been having some problems with my heart for several months...I say it is "skipping" a beat. Technically, it is not actually skipping but doing things that I don't completely understand right now. I have found some great website that is helping me to understand., though.

Proverbs 3:5
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

It would "skip" a beat when I was stressed, on certain cold medicines or sick but then it would go away...until the next time. However, over the past 4-5 months...it has started doing it more days that it didn't. I attributed it to be stressed at my job and all that goes along with it. But, lately, I've noticed that it does it even when I'm not working. I have reduced my hours from 40 hours a week to 20 hours a week for other reasons than my heart. Even though, I thought this would also benefit my heart as well, but it hasn't.

The past 2-3 weeks, it has been beating 2 beats and then "skipping" 1 beat...so every 3rd beat...it was messing up. There would be periods of time that it would beat regular for long stretch of time and then go back to beating irregularly.

We have a huge deductible on our insurance and being that I haven't meet any of it this year and it is the end of 2009...I didn't want to "burn" that kind of money. Our deductible starts all over January 1st, 2010...we don't have a 3 month carryover like some old policies used to. It is coming up on the Christmas season, money is already tight, I'm working half the hours that I have been working and I just couldn't afford to be out that kind of money right now. So, I've tried to hold off on going to the doctor until the first of the year.

Well, yesterday it was doing it constantly while I was at my desk working and I couldn't handle it anymore. I stopped what I was doing and went to our local walk-in clinic to see the nurse practitioner, Debbie. We had talked about it before when I was sick but it wouldn't do it while she was listening.

Yesterday, I prayed as I drove to the clinic that it would "act up" for her and she could hear what it was doing. It did it right on cue for her and she immediately ordered an EKG to record it before it stopped, which it never stopped doing it.

She explained it as irregular heartbeat with PVC (premature ventricular contractions) or extra heartbeat in the lower chambers of the heart. She said that when it is in the 2 upper chambers of the heart, it was normally caused by caffeine or nicotine. But, when it is the lower chambers of the heart, then it warranted investigating. I have done a lot of research since yesterday and unless, I have an underlying heart condition that I don't know about...this should be a minor situation but we will not know this for sure until further monitoring and testing.

She referred me to a renowned specialist. Dr. Porterfield, in electrophisiology and cardiology. I had asked her about a certain, highly recommended cardiac group in Memphis but she said that since this was the electrical make-up of the heart that the cardiac group would refer me out to this doctor anyway. She was trying to help avoid extra cost, testing and get an answer faster for my peace of mind.

Dr. Porterfield's office called me yesterday and got all my information from me. The originally had my appointment set for November 18th but after explaining our insurance situation to her. She said that she wanted to put me on hold and see if there was something else she could do for me. When she returned to the phone, she had discussed with Dr. P my history and physical information, symptoms, why I was referred and the EKG strips that I had done that morning, plus, she explained the insurance situation to him. She told him that I wanted to find out what is wrong with my heart but as cheaply as possible.

He ordered a 30 day "Event" monitor for me to wear at home. I will wear it only when I am at home and every time I feel an episode...I push a button and it will record and perform an EKG for 2-3 minutes. Then I have to call the nurse with the monitoring company, answer a few questions, transmit the readings to her. She will then, send the EKG to Dr. P's office for him to review. I have to do this every time it happens.

This is where I am struggling with this solution...it happens all day long and I will spend all day on the phone. Hopefully, after a few repeated episodes, they can change up the way or the number of times that I have to call and transmit.

My new appointment is December 16th. I was so thankful that Dr. P was willing to work with me on this. That said a lot to me about him and his office. If he were a greedy and/or if her were a uncompassionate person...he would have said "no, she needs to come in now and let us run all these test to see what is really going on"...but, he didn't.

I am trusting God with all my heart and my heart is in His hands. If he knows the number of hairs on my head (that keeps Him busy enough...I lose a floor full every morning) then this didn't catch Him off guard or by surprise.

Luke 12:7
And he pays even greater attention to you, down to the last detail--even numbering the hairs on your head! So don't be intimidated by all this bully talk. You're worth more than a million canaries. (Message)

Regardless, of what happens with my heart today, this month, next month or next year...my hope and trust is in the Lord. Whatever comes my way...I will praise Him and thank Him for it. Nothing happens by chance and everything happens for a reason. I want to get all that I can out of this situation for my life. I want to live today like there will be no tomorrow because there might not be for any of us. And when it is my time to depart this earth...I am glory bound!

Psalm 112:7
He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.

Proverbs 4:23
Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

Proverbs 12:25
An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up

Proverbs 15:13
A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit.

Proverbs 17:22
A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

I would never want to leave my family but nothing compares to the glory and splendor of Heaven and being in the very presence of God Himself! I am ready...are you?

Proverbs 16:9
In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.

Have a wonderfully blessed day!