An Update!!

[jryan]

As some of you may have noticed (some may have not) I have been gone recently! With me left the !!'s! Looking back at what I missed it seems as though the !!'s are rather upset that they were not brought up in their absence. Surely someone could have uttered a mere !! after a sentence rather than the dull, boring, and plain.!! But this thread is not about the !!'s it is an update as to me. If you don't want to hear what was going on and why I was gone, please do find another thread and spare me!!

On Thursday night I was having chest pain as well as shortness of breath and palpatations. I was escorted to the E.R. by my fiance and was rushed to the back. Not 20 minutes after getting to a room, I started to drift in and out of consciousness. My heart rate went up to 200 and my qt interval was prolonged significantly. They put me on 3 different IV's so that they could administer 3 different medications. They thought, originally that it was drugs so put me on a catheter (I hope I spelt it right or maybe it's spelt PAIN!!!) so that they could test my urine for drugs as they were sure that's what it was (despite previous cardiac history)!

I was out cold all of friday in ICU at Saint Mary's Hospital in Madison. On Saturday I was switched from intensive care to the cardiac ward. Everything was fine by this time although they were sure it was not drugs as there would be no way to fake a urine and blood screening while you are still feeling the effects of the drugs. So now they are back at square one. I am stabalized and was allowed to go back home earlier today (Monday, yes I skipped Sunday as it was uneventful). They pulled the recordings off my monitor (it seems it is actually not a pacemaker yet just an implanted monitor of some sort, I don't know, all I know is it's implanted and monitors my heart as well as records abnormalities).

They got 3 readings from the nice Medtronics monitor which will be read by my cardiologist tomorrow, Tuesday. So the big question is what have they found out. The answer is nothing. It seems this time, although my heart was beating abnormally fast (200 bpm), and my qt interval was prolonged, there were no other abnormalities in my heart. It was labled as Sinus Tachycardia, but what really gets the doctors is the fact that supposedly it is not common to have your heart going that fast and the symptoms I had and still have the heart remain in ryhthm.

So, for now I have been instructed to wait. They need more data which will, they are sure, come with more episodes such as the one I just had. For now they are labeling it as stress related. What this means is that normally I have spells of Sinus Tachycardia, a very normal thing and one that is almost always asymptomatic and almost never dangerous. When this comes it is one-upped by the stresses. The physical stress of the crutches, the emotional stresses of my eviction, the car being repossessed, not having money to eat, etc. When the stresses both physical and emotional mix in it turns that completely normal and healthy tachycardia to one that is not so normal or healthy, henceforth I black out and expierience chest pains, shortness of breath, and palpatations.

This is the theory as of now. I was told it probably best I get a wheelchair to avoid stress of walking around and I declined. Regardless, it has been a long struggle and is still a long struggle yet to come. I just wanted to let you know I'm still here and so is the !! If you have any questions feel free to ask. Thanks and have a great day!!


Jeremy Ryan

[Five-Flags]

Well, golly-gee-whiz!!!! Sounds like you're trying to put a few !!!s in the poor nurses' charts!!! They're supposed to learn how patients react to various treatments, and here you go -- screwing up everything they thought they had learned!!!
Shame on you!!!!!

Glad to hear that it all turned out okay, and we'll try to keep the !!s coming as appropriate. Just you stop trying to outdo yourself with the off the wall stuff, or I predict your fiance will perform a little medical malpractice with a baseball bat!!!!!! It's not good to mess with the fiance!!!!!

Welcome back and take care of yourself. Gotta have someone around here to cuss and dis-cuss!..

Have a great day -- Five-Flags

[JohnG]

Sorry to hear about your unexpected ER visit, Jeremy... I hope the docs figure out what's going on with you and you never have to repeat that experience.

Welcome back!

John

(And yes, we at least missed the !!'s!!)

[wwhopper]

Get back to being your normal healthy self and posting here once again.

Keep us in the loop as to your recovery!

Our nightly live chat is not the same without you - and Boris!

[pam]

Take care, Jeremy. This doesn't sound like a fun weekend, at all. My thoughts are with you.

Pam

[jryan]

Thank you all for your well wishes!! I have missed the noghtly livechats as well, but you can catch me on here and there now! They are now considering sinus node abalation! But, knowing doctors, it will probably take months before they make up their mind on anything. In the meantime I will keep you posted. Thanks for the good thoughts and have a great day!!


Jeremy Ryan

[JohnG]

Yup, in livechat right now, come join us!

[jryan]

Originally Posted by jgrohol

Yup, in livechat right now, come join us!

Missed it John!! Here is another update. On Tuesday I was having another episode (shortness of breath, palpatations, occasionally pass out) and went in. This time I chose not to go into St. Mary's (the hospital I usually go to as they implanted the monitor I have), but yet to go to the UW Hospital. In the past the UW Hospital has been a little better possibly because they are public while the others are private.

They pulled the recordings from my monitor and found I have Superventricular Tachycardia. Good news is this is not usually life threatening. They knew there was something more however because they have seen more serious attacks than this. As it turns out, as the nurse was preparing my discharge instructions I had an episode of Ventricular Tachycardia as well. They quickly came in and sure enough they found me passed out.

They admitted me and I was released last night. They put me on Coreg for now as well as scheduled me for a number of tests to be concluded by an ep study and heart ablation in May. This is a sigh of relief as finally they know what is going on and how to treat it! So, in May, my dad will be coming from Detroit and many other family present and I will have the procedure. Depending on what they find they may or may not implant a new device.

This is all confusing to me. But the good news is it can and will be treated. Sorry John, was in the hospital yesterday when you informed me of your livechat. There should be many more to come! Thanks and have a great day!


Jeremy Ryan

[PeteInLongBeach]

Jeremy, I've also had episodes of this in the past, although not as persistent or serious as yours. Try googling "valsalva maneuver" and also:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valsalva_maneuver
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suprave...ar_tachycardia

From what I understand, the ablation procedure is usually quite successful in these persistent cases of SVT. My SVTs eventually subsided on their own, and I rarely get them now. When I do, the valsalva maneuver manages them quite well.

[jryan]

Originally Posted by PeteInLongBeach

Jeremy, I've also had episodes of this in the past, although not as persistent or serious as yours. Try googling "valsalva maneuver" and also:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valsalva_maneuver
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suprave...ar_tachycardia

From what I understand, the ablation procedure is usually quite successful in these persistent cases of SVT. My SVTs eventually subsided on their own, and I rarely get them now. When I do, the valsalva maneuver manages them quite well.

Well thank you very much Pete! I have tried this and other maneuver's and unfortunately they rarely work. The problem in my case is they have to figure out what is caused by svt and what is caused by the vt. They have not often seen people who have episodes of both but the evidence is there so they must now treat it.

Regardless, thank you very much. It is not very fun to have all this going on, especially at a time I am trying to get back on my feet in so many other aspects but what can you do. I was dealt my cards and got a bad hand. Let's just hope the other players in the game of life don't call my bluff! Oh, and yes, they did say that the heart ablation is about 95% effective.

The problem is there are many types of svt in general. My statistical evidence points to a few different types. This probably doesn't mean I have all of these types but they must find it and treat it and that they will do during the procedure. Thanks again Pete for the wonderful information!

Jeremy Ryan