Trip to the ER

Sorry no pictures on this one. I didn't think to take my camera and have my picture taken in the hospital. So here we go. On Thursday morning I had Frank take me to Mountain View Hospital in Las Vegas as the pressure and pain in my chest wasn't going away. I think the bad EKG was on my mind and was causing a great deal of anxiety. I had gone to Bret for a chiropractic treatment and told him my symptoms. He told me "Mom you should go to the ER and get checked out. If you are having heart problems it will just get worse and do damage." So I took that advice in and decided it it wasn't better by the next morning, I would go to the ER.

Luckily for me, Frank was feeling better so on Thursday morning, I told Frank we had better go to the ER and get me checked out as I was still having the symptoms, of chest pressure, pain, shortness of breath and a numbness running up into my left jaw. We got into the car to head into Vegas and Frank said a little prayer for us and especially for me. He got emotional and I knew he was worried as much as I was.

When we arrived at the ER my BP was very high and they of course took me right back for an EKG which at that point showed I wasn't having a heart attack, but it was decided with my symptoms I would be admitted to the hospital for a 24 hour observation, and a bunch of heart tests were to be scheduled. By the time they got me back in the treatment room, my BP was out of sight. It was 204 over 190 something. When you see concern in the nurses taking care of you, then you know it isn't good. I am one of those white coat syndrome people who freak out at the thought of a hospital, doctor, and a BP Cuff as I have had high BP to often with these people, and a BP cuff coming any where close to me. So when I see them worried about it, the ole BP just gets higher and higher.

They gave me meds to take it down, and something that numbed my esophagus as I had told them I have GERD (Acid Reflux) and that was why I hadn't come in sooner because I thought it may be that. The bad EKG was what really made my mind up and what Bret had told me. They also put a Nitro patch on me. Finally, my BP started to come down and I felt light headed and like I was in outer space floating around. I had to stay in the ER until a room opened. We had arrived at the hospital around 11:00 AM that morning and it was 5:30 that evening before they took me up to a room.

From then on they started doing the tests. First the Ultra Sound Carotid test, blood work, and then a stress test was ordered for the next morning. What a night it was for me. My blood sugar went up because of the stress, and it got high enough that they gave me an insulin shot. Then they gave me shots in my stomach to keep my blood thin and I had blood tests done all night long and of course the good ole BP cuff would come rolling into my room.

Then to top it off I had a real weird room mate who talked to herself, moaned and groaned all night long. She would flip her overhead light on, turn on the TV and turn up the volume, and then fall asleep that way. Once when I went to the bathroom I saw her standing by her bed and it appeared that she was talking to her bed. I couldn't make out what she was saying. She gave the nurses a bad time, by refusing medications, breathing treatments, blood work, etc. She would call the food people and order up a storm, and her bed table was always full of food. She ate like a pig, and then would belch really loud, and moan and groan from eating too much I am sure. At first when I heard her voice I thought she was a man, and when I heard her coughing, I thought I had been put in with someone who had a bug. I found out later she had fluid built up around her heart and lungs. So does this tell you what kind of sleep I got that night? When I did finally fall asleep, the nurses would come in to take BP, give me a shot, or blood work. Needless to say, I felt like a zombie.

Friday was my birthday and most of the day was spent in the hospital still having tests. I had to have a stress test and I sure wish I had brought my tennis shoes so I could have done the treadmill instead of the chemical one. When they inject the medicine to make your heart race, you feel like you are having a heart attack, and I have never felt so weird in my life. My heart rate stayed high too long and they had to work with me to get it back down before I could go on with the follow up X-Ray afterwards. Finally for what felt like an eternity, my heart rate came down to an acceptable rate and they took me over for the final X-Ray. As soon as they started to put me in the X-Ray machine I felt nausea coming on fast. I told them that I was getting sick and as they were pulling me out, I vomited my guts out all over me and the floor. Luckily you have to fast for this test so I didn't have much on my stomach. They didn't have time to get me a barf bag. They took me to the bathroom with a clean hospital gown and let me clean up. Then I went back to try it again, and as soon as I laid down, I got sick again. This time they got the barf bag for me on time. It was deiced to send me back to my room and let me eat something, get settled down, and they would come back for me in an hour. I was able to finally get through the test and then it was just a matter of waiting for the results.

My appointed doctor came in and told me that if all was well with the tests, I would be able to go home for my birthday. So for an hour or so of anxiously waiting, the nurse came in with the wonderful news of everything was good with my heart. I about got up and hugged her, I was so happy. I got home around 5:00 PM and was so glad to see home again. I took a hot bath, and my wonderful neighbor had her kids bring me dinner. I crashed in bed and slept the whole night through as I was soooo exhausted. I will still see my cardiologist next Friday and give him my test results along with the bad EKG and see what he has to say about the whole ordeal.