Be still, my heart

Many of you have asked how I am feeling emotionally, here it is- by Monday night I had calmed down and accepted this bump in the road. I feel peace of mind. I am comfortable with my situation. I feel confidant that everything will work out. Eventually.

Monday I called my insurance and had a huge list of cardiologists I could see. I wanted to go to the same heart clinic I had been receiving my previous echocardiograms and was able to. I picked the soonest appointment they had, which was yesterday (Tuesday) at 2:30. I had taken with me a copy of the EKG from the surgical center but they still did one of their own. And wouldn't you know it! My heart beat just as it should. It performed perfectly. The heart condition I was experiencing Monday is called PVC (Premature Ventricular Contractions). It's not uncommon for your heart to throw off a random beat out of rhythm every once in while, but my heart was doing it in between every regular beat, that is NOT normal. But again, it only did that Monday, they couldn't recreate the problem Tuesday. It was decided that I would go home with a heart monitor to record my heart rhythm for the following 24 hours. Following the 24 hours I would return the monitor and they'd download my data.

I was also scheduled an echocardiogram for Wednesday at 3pm, which is when I was to return the heart monitor. The electrode tabs for the heart monitor were itchy and uncomfortable. Chemo has changed my skin and I am now allergic to adhesive from band-aids and the like. I was told that if the discomfort was too great to just take the tabs off and abort the recording.  It was really hard, but I made it the full 24 hours! But it came with a cost, I now have itchy welt marks where the tabs were on my skin. Hopefully with a little hydro-cortisone cream I can have this cleared up by tomorrow.
When I showed up for my echo today I was told I was 30 minutes late. I guess they told me the wrong time yesterday. I was their last appointment of the day today and the lady checking me in wasn't very happy that I had delayed her going home. Today's echo was different than the ones I had during chemo, it was more intense. They mostly focused on certain parts of the heart and the muscle lining. My appointment consisted of 45 minutes of baseline imaging and 15 minutes doing an infinity echo (an echo using contrast). I had 3 different people take turns doing the testing. The first guy did the 15 minute infinity test and then decided he needed to use the contrast. The contrast allows for all the area of the heart they are looking at to be lighted up. To read more about this type of echo click on this link. An IV was started. I've already had 2 needle, IV pokes this week so now I have 3 holes in my arm. I still have a huge fear of needles! Today's experience getting poked was unpleasant. I bled a lot and they had to work to control my bleeding. Before doing the echo with contrast another technician did my baseline test. IT. TOOK. FOREVER! My expanders made for a really uncomfortable time too! Can I tell you how much I won't miss them?! Finally they did the contrast, Difinity echo. This part was the most

fascinating to me! Watching the muscle lining contract and blood swooshing in and out of my heart was cool! Someone will read my tests and then I'll get the results, but the technicians all said they thought things looked normal.

Before leaving St. Marks I dropped off my heart monitor. They will read the data tomorrow morning and I'll know my results from that, and hopefully my echo as well, tomorrow afternoon.

This week has had its ups and downs, but I am so grateful to know that my needs are being met and that I am being well taken care of. Everyone has been so compassionate and kind, from the doctors and nurses to my friends and family!

I'm thankful for a friend who brought us a picnic dinner Monday night! A friend for dropping by a bag full of things to make me smile (and laugh), a brother who came by to hug me tight! Another amazing neighbor for dinner Tuesday! Grateful for a sweaty hug from a friend who was out running and stopped by just to hug me! Grateful for text messages, phone calls and beautiful flowers! I know that my Heavenly Father is watching over me. How can he not be with so many people praying for me?! Please be still me heart, so I can move on and schedule my 

reconstruction!