Well, it happened. I had to make a trip to the ER and be admitted to the hospital. It's the longest I've ever been in (the only other time was when I had my gallbladder removed 25 years ago and had to stay overnight only because the surgery was so late in the day).
Tuesday evening, 11/14, we went for a 3-mile run after Jane got home from work. I'd already walked 5 miles and worked out with weights for 45 minutes in the morning. After eating supper we were just sitting watching something on GRIT TV and I was kind of feeling a little odd. My chest felt "fluttery" or something, and I checked my pulse and it didn't seem like a steady rhythm. I thought maybe I was having a panic attack.
Jane must have sensed something because she asked how my blood pressure had been lately. So I decided to check it. I can't even remember what it was, but what I do recall is my heart rate was 120 (it's usually around 50)! I checked it several more times and it was over 100 every time. Google said I needed to call my doctor. Jane was texting her nephew (the doctor) and he said the same.
Since it was like 9:30pm we headed for the Lutheran emergency room. The triage nurse checked my bp/pulse, jumped up and said, "Follow me. You're getting a room." They did an EKG and some other stuff, and the doctor said I was in AFib (atrial fibrillation) - which means I had a fast and irregular heartbeat that could lead to blood clotting and stroke. Great. This is what my mom just had earlier this year.
I was hooked up two IVs - one was Heparin (blood thinner), and the other was something to try to slow my heart down (or something like that). I was also given a shot of one or the other as sort of a quick fix. It did bring my heart rate down to 78 right away, but it eventually went back up. Finally they said they were going to admit me to the hospital "at least for overnight."
It was around 2:30am when the ER nurse wheeled me to my room herself (so I didn't have to wait any longer for the one person in the entire hospital whose job that was). It was a nice room and the staff were all really nice. Nothing much happened that first night (other than drawing blood and checking vitals every few hours). No one said anything that Jane just slept in the recliner in my room.
Wednesday morning was kind of a blur. I'm not sure how much sleep either of us got or what time they woke me up. Eventually someone informed me (maybe a cardiologist) that their attempts to control my heart with medicine weren't working so they were going to do a TEE w/cardioversion (basically put a scope down my throat to make sure there were no blood clots on my heart and then shock my heart back into rhythm). First they did an echocardiogram, another EKG, took a bunch more blood, and maybe some other things. All I know is I couldn't eat or drink anything until they did the shock procedure.
We kind of thought it would be in the morning, but the clock kept ticking. Around 3pm an electrophysiologist (specializes on the electrical system of the heart) came in and said he just needed to put a pacemaker in someone and I was next on the list. I think it was almost 5pm when they finally came and took me down to the procedure room.
There were a bunch of people in this room. It was cold and they shaved my chest, attached a bunch of pads with wires all over my front, back and neck, then wrapped me in blankets. People were talking to me but I wasn't really listening. I was ready for them to give me the "good drugs." They finally had me turn on my side and stuck a plastic thing in my mouth, then the doctor said to give me 350cc of something. That's the last thing I remember until I woke up and there were just two nurses and me and I was telling them how much I loved them!! :)
Apparently it only took about 30 minutes from start to finish... AND IT WORKED! They said I wasn't totally unconscious, but I don't remember a thing. They wheeled me to my room and I felt really good.
The nurse had some snacks waiting for me, and soon my supper arrived around 7pm or so. I chowed down. They also unhooked me from the IVs and started me on pills instead.
At some point the electrical doctor said everything went great and as far as he was concerned I could go home in an hour, but since it was late they wanted to keep me overnight. He said this may last 5 years, 5 months, 5 days, or 5 minutes, but all was good for now. Chances are it may happen again, and eventually they may have to do an ablation, but that would be an outpatient procedure. This is the definition:
Ablation is a procedure to treat atrial fibrillation. It uses small burns or freezes to cause some scarring on the inside of the heart to help break up the electrical signals that cause irregular heartbeats. This can help the heart maintain a normal heart rhythm.
Jane spent the night in the recliner in my room again and no one really bothered us much. I slept fairly well. Thursday morning they said I could go home as soon as the doctor(s) saw me. They may have also done another EKG and took some more blood.
There was a slight hangup when they called in my prescriptions for Dilt-XR ER (120mg) and Eliquis (5mg). I get texts from the pharmacy and it said the Eliquis was going to be $523 for a 30-day supply. I asked one of the doctors about that and they said they would see what they could do. That $523 was WITH our insurance! Without insurance it would be $709 for 30 days! A nurse eventually came in with two coupons. One was for a free 30-day supply, and the other was for a $10 co-pay if I needed more. I mean... that's nice and all... but that seems like some kind of racket to me. If I hadn't said something it would have cost us over five hundred dollars!!!
Anyway, the nurse finally walked us to the elevator and we were on our way. So almost 40 hours in the hospital (9:30pm Tuesday to 1pm Thursday). I do have to say all of the doctors, nurses, and other staff were very nice and I have absolutely no complaints about my stay there. It was also nice having Jane there almost the entire time, and Carrie came up Wednesday afternoon.
My current meds are now: Eliquis 5mg, Dilt-XR ER 120mg, Lisinopril 40mg, and Sertraline 25mg. I am to discontinue the amlodipine and my allergy meds. They scheduled me a follow-up visit with the electrical doctor in early January and he said he didn't think I would need to stay on the Eliquis after that. I am to schedule a visit with my primary doctor within the week.
So, there ya go. The worst part of the ordeal for me was getting my chest shaved (she was not gentle), and when they pulled off all sticky things on my chest, back, arms and legs. Otherwise I never was in any pain. I'm supposed to take it easy for a week, and I do have to say I was much more worn out today than I anticipated. I guess it literally was a shock to my system, so it's probably understandable.
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