Went to see my family for a couple days earlier this week. Got my second round of SI steroid injections so I was stiff and sore and ouchy the first night. The second day there was less pressure in my hips so it hurt a bit less, but I still needed some rest time in the afternoon.
I got a phone call while I was resting and was told by the cardiologist's medical assistant that the physician had gone over my EKG strips from the event monitor and wanted to start me on medications and order another test right away.
He wanted me to start on Lopressor and full strength aspirin. And a cardiac MRI, in addition to the tilt table test already ordered. So, needless to say, I was upset. I feel like every time I get ahead of something, something else comes up. And when my heart is involved, it gets scary. So I cried and freaked out.
Then they called back to confirm that my tests would both be on the same day to save me some trouble, which is very nice of them. And I had asked the nurse if she could find out anything more specific about what was going on and why the sudden changes.
She said I have some kind of arrhythmia in addition to the tachycardia. They don't really know what it is yet. It seems that my heart is still pumping just fine, so that's good. But the arrhythmia is currently unknown. The nurse did mention that a-fib was a possibility, which had crossed my mind, and I really didn't want to think about it. But now I'm thinking about it.
Since my first heart surgery was in the atria and because I've had a second surgery on nerves, it's very plausible that I've developed a-fib.
I honestly don't know what I'll do next if that's really the case. I can't have the ablation surgery again....too risky. But I don't think a pacer would be any better.
I'm on the Lopressor to help lower my heart rate in an effort to make me a bit more comfortable. It may help with the arrhythmia some as well. And the aspirin would have to be to prevent clots and minimize inflammation around my heart for the time being in case there's a problem.
The MRI is to look for scar tissue and see what's going on in there that we haven't seen yet. I imagine the focus will be on my previous surgery since that was pretty big.
All in all, I'm stressed, and trying hard not to be, but I'm human and this is scary. But I'm dealing...I'll take the meds. My mom and possibly stepdad are coming to be with me for my tests in a couple weeks. For now, just counting down the days until I know more.
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