Another Bad Day

 

8:10

8:05

It's a quiet morning on the lake, under gray skies. Not a boat is in sight, and rain is forecast for most of the day. It's 9:15 as I finish the blog, Evie is up, and so far, I feel fine. 

Yesterday started out well, with breakfast, my blog, and some hope for the day. I decided to see how I felt if I drove, so I drove over to the CI, walked for five minutes, and came home and felt fine. Chris, who takes care of my boat, called to say he would be over in half an hour. So I went out, started to take the cover off my boat, and suddenly, I was out of breath, my pulse racing. I sat down, and gradually I was able to walk into the house. Once he was here, I walked out to the dock to get a few things from the boat, put them in a wheelbarrow, and started back to the house, and it happened again. I relaxed on the couch in the house, and my pulse returned to normal. I learned my lesson and didn't try to exert myself again.

I had lunch, soup, and the leftover pastitio while Evie was at the store. When she returned, I got up to walk to the bathroom, and my pulse jumped again to 190. Once it stopped, I tried to go upstairs to lie down, and it raced again, and I had a hard time breathing. I almost passed out, so this time we called 911. They took me to UMPC Chautauqua this time, and during the drive, they administered a dose of medicine that calmed my heart. 

When I arrived, they immediately found a room, put me on various machines, and I was diagnosed with both Afib and Supraventricular Tachycardia. My heart settled down, and I was in the ER for a couple of hours. They gave me a dose of  Metoprolol Succinate to slow down my heart rate, a drug I have been taking each morning, but they upped the dose. The doctor suggested that he would admit me for observation, but that would mean I would miss my appointment with my cardiologist today. Before I left, they walked me around the ER for five minutes to make sure I did not go back into Afib.

We were home by 7:00, and Evie made us fried eggs and home fries, and we watched our usual shows until she went to bed. I was anxious about walking upstairs, afraid it might set off my rapid heart rate, but I was fine and was able to read some and go to sleep.

This afternoon I meet with my cardiologist in Erie and hope he has some solutions.