So out of nowhere, no special stressful event, no physical activity, my heart started racing about 10:30 pm Friday night. Racing. 190 beats per minute!. Kind of makes one feel tired real fast. After talking to our neighbor nurse - she suggested if it didn't slow down soon that I should go to the ER. Clyde took me about 11:45 pm. Always go to the Orem Community Hospital if you need ER in Utah County -- they got me right in. Heart was still registering 195 beats per minute -- called superventricular trachycardia. SVT. This is where there is a kind of short circuit in the electrical system and the beats are taken over by the short circuit instead of the longer powerful beat of the ventricle. After an EKG, the Dr. told me he wanted to give me shot that normally works super fast to stop the short circuit and gets the heart beating normally. One warning he had to tell me - I was going to feel like I was dying for about 5 - 10 seconds but it would pass! He hoped it would only take one time! I started watching the clock to feel just how long 5 - 10 seconds was. Pretty long if you feel loss of any control, heartbeat, breath, etc! So he gave me the shot and sure enough I felt this sudden warmth, sinking heart, loss of feeling in my hands and no control. It passed quickly just like he said, although it took a few minutes to metabolize the entire chemical out of my body. The heart rate dropped incredibly quickly and was back to 40 - 90. Still not ideal and a bit too irregular, but so much improved. The second EKG was much better! They wanted to keep track of the rhythm and take some blood work. So even though I was feeling much better I still had to stay unto 2:40 am! I was pretty tired, but glad that most of the labs came back fine. They gave me a beta blocker to try for a while and suggested I see a cardiologist. I had told them this has happened to me before, but never had any treatment for it and usually it takes 2 - 3 hours to go away on it's own. We slept til 9 am and also had some naps on Saturday.
Clyde gave his football ticket to our cousin Chuck and we (I) watched the game on tv. Clyde could not bear to watch it until he heard that BYU won! Clyde bought a new pre lit tree and Nicole, Casey, and Camille helped to decorate. Michelle was helping Cisco finish his paper for school. We had Mimi's Corn Chowder for dinner, and I forgot to turn the oven back on to cook the breadsticks -- so we had them long after the chowder was eaten! I am for sure going to bed early tonight - have to go to 9 am Ward Council for Pattie who is out of town, teach the RS lesson at 11 am, and start my second dose of beta blocker - which will reportedly make me feel tired and lousy for a week! How's that for an exciting start to a new year just after my birthday passed? Will keep you posted on any developments etc.
