Sunday, March 1, 2009

"It feels like my heart skips a beat."

Last night was one that me and Kim will not soon forget. It isn't that it was action packed with drama as much as it was a waiting game and realizing how long the medical process is. It all started a few weeks back when Kim would randomly have the feeling that her heart was skipping a beat. It didn't happen often, so we didn't think much of it and I wasn't too concerned with it. Fast forward to Friday night. I had the privilege of being in Jeremy and Cherie Wagner’s wedding. It was a great ceremony and a fun reception. About half way through the reception, me and Kim had to go run out and get some stuff to decorate the Jeep. While we were on the drive she was telling me that her heart was skipping a beat more often. Then we are heading home and it starts acting up again. Now I'm getting a little concerned, but not to the extent that we needed to go to the ER or anything.
Saturday morning came and everything was fine. We went to breakfast and had a great morning together. Once she got to church for rehearsals and service, she told me that her heart has done the skipping thing probably between 10 - 15 times.....in a 5 hour period. She's not concerned, but now I’m thinking "this isn't normal." She decided to talk to some of the vocalists that are on this weekend and they said the they experienced the same thing, or that their wives had experienced the same thing when they were pregnant and that it isn't anything to worry about.....10 - 15 times in 5 hours isn't something to worry about??? I'll admit that I was concerned and with the help of our friends Papia and Sheri, I thought that we should at least call our obgyn to see what their recommendation was. We spoke to the nurse practitioner and she said that one or two here and there isn't anything to be concerned about, but since it is happening so often, that we should go to the Labor and Delivery at the hospital to have it checked out. Kim kept adamantly telling me that she is fine and that it is normal, but I finally got her to agree that she would go.
Our obgyn had hopes that they would be able to do any testing that they needed to from Labor and Delivery. As our nurse walked in she began to let her know that she feels fine and doesn't need to be in the hospital. The nurse told her that it is always good to get it checked out. The hooked her up to check her vitals and make sure that little Maisey is doing well. We were probably in the Labor and Delivery for about an hour and a half before we were told that since the heart is a mother’s health and not a baby’s health issue, we would have to go down to the E.R. This made Kim even more anxious because of all the sickness in the E.R. and her frustration of being there in the first place began to fester because as she told the Nurse in the Labor and Delivery and now the lady checking us into the E.R., she really is fine and doesn't have to be there. They were quick at getting us checked in and into a room. On a side note, if you need to go to the E.R., I strongly recommend the Banner Gateway E.R. Each stall is an individual room with sliding glass doors so that you don't have to listen to the person next to you hack up a lung and each stall has a flat screen TV, which is even better, because our night would soon become very long. We waited in our initial room until the doctor told us that we were going to be there a while and wanted to transfer us into Paul’s section.
Kim wanted to make sure that our doctor knew that she really felt fine and didn't need to be there and she was sure to tell Paul the same thing. Paul told her that this is where she needed to be and that it was good that she came in. Paul brought a smile to my face, he had a personality that reminded me of a friend of mine named J.J. Peterson. If you know him, you'll understand. This guy had a great sense of humor which definitely helped through the night. Our doctor finally came in and told us what test he wanted to do. He wanted to do and EKG as well as a blood work up and monitor the heart. They came in at about 10:30 for the bloods, that should only take about an hour to get the results back we were told. In the mean time they did the EKG and gave it to the Doc to look at while he was monitoring her heart. Finally at about 12:30 Paul came back in and told us that the EKG came back normal, the blood test for the heart enzymes came back normal and her heart hadn't acted up while we were in there, so he was going to get the doc and see if we could be released. At about 12:45, the doc came in and told us the same thing; he also wants Kim to wear a hip pack (or something like that) so that they could try to catch the heart acting up. We finally got released and started the car at the stroke of 1:00 a.m. Exhausting to say the least.
So today we are tired and hungry and looking forward to the afternoon nap. It's a great thing that we didn't have to be in Gilbert this morning, call time is 6:00 a.m. Good news is that everything has come back fine and I am thankful that Kim appeased me by going in and getting it checked out. Oh yeah, Kim's last words to me before we went to bed...."I told you that nothing was wrong!" That's why I love that girl :)

5 comments:

  1. Well, now I know why we aren't having rehearsals this week. :-) Take care of yourself, Kim. I'm glad everything is ok. :-)

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  2. It's better to be on the safe side! My best friend had heart palpatations during her pregnancy that put her on bed rest and they had to have a cardiologist at the ready while she delivered her son.

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  3. My goodness. Sounds like a lot of fun! Glad to hear that things are fine!

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  4. I'm glad it all worked out as well. But, I was there when you called and it made me feel better that you guys were going to the hospital. Next time I will bring food and keep everyone company. :)

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  5. Wow! What a story. But I have to say that I am on Brian's side over this one. Anything with the heart is no good. Haven't you learned anything from ER, Grey's Anatomy or Private Practice? Hello!

    I am glad you, your heart and Maisley are fine. Good job B! Take care girly and no car decorating for you the next couple of months!!

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