My Heart Skips a Beat

Remember, I mentioned in my blog post Blood Test and ECG that I've got 24 hour ECG? Well today (I was suppose to publish the post yesterday but I'm having problems with my laptop and the internet connection) yesterday was the day.

My appointment was at 9:15am. The letter mentioned that it may take up to 3 hours for the check up. I wasn't sure whether that included the waiting time. You know how hospital appointment can be? more of a waiting game.

Talking of waiting, when I was in the reception area a book caught my attention.

Coping With Stress booklet explains in detail what stress is, the cause, the little things that you can control and things that are beyond your control. If you are interested in the booklet, I will try and put a link at the end of the post.

Coming back to the test, the first one was ECG, Consultation, Heart Scan and then placing the Heart Monitor to record my heart beats.

1. ECG

The consultant put wires on my tummy and legs (I really don't know how to explain this. If you see the last picture, it is similar to that) I was a bit nervous and that showed up on my ECG, which is completely normal. After finishing the ECG test, I thought of clicking a picture of the machine to show you guys.

That is exactly what I'm not suppose to do. There was a note on the wall which said, mobile phones should not be used in this area. That's it, threw my iPhone in the bag and zipped the bag (imagine if someone had seen me taking a picture? )

2. Consultation

The second part was the consultation with my cardiologist. The doctor took notes of my symptoms and my current medication. He explained a few causes as to why my heart may be racing so fast which results in palpitation and leaving me with a feeling that my heart may have skipped a beat.


Heart Scan

I thought the heart scan will take like couple of minute just like the CT scan. Boy, I was wrong. The scan takes 20-30 minutes but mine is always complicated, so it took longer than normal.

Heart scan is where the doctor takes various pictures of the heart using ultra sound waves.

The doctor warned me that I will have to expose my chest and whether I was comfortable?
Exposing my chest and comfortable? Don't think they go along together very well, do you? But I did not have a choice. So, the answer was no problem :(

During the scan I heard some noise which was more like water bubbling. I asked the doctor whether it was my heart? he answered yes. I was listening to my heart beat. Wooaahhh, don't know how to describe the feeling, but that was good.

As for the complication, the doctor was having problems taking pictures of the far left side just below the chest area. It was all blur and the heart could not be seen. More like a foggy weather with zero visibility. The doctor tried his best but no luck.

The reports will be sent to the head consultant. Depending on the reports, the doctor may send me for further investigation, possibly an MRI. Let's see what happens.


Heart Monitor

The last one was fitting a heart monitor that will record my heart beats and see if there is any abnormal activity going on with the heart. I was told to provoke any situation that may trigger an attack or make my heart beat go faster. This would help the doctors with the investigation. 

Now they will gather all the results, study them and forward the reports to my GP (General Practitioner) or may send me a letter in the post with the next course of action.

As for you guys, did you know that 70% of our body is made of water and when the water level reduces, things start going wrong. This could result in low blood pressure, dizziness and if you are like me ( get suffocated in confined spaces, cannot bear people fighting or loud noises) you may even get a panic attack (I will talk about this in detail some other time).

Few Tips for You and Me

• Drink at least 8 cups of water every day. ( I try my best but still not enough. I will have to try harder)
• Exercise daily, Doesn't matter if it is only for 10 or 15 minutes. ( Seriously need to introduce exercise in my routine)
• Make sure you do not drink more than 4 cups of coffee. ( I am very bad at this especially when I'm at work)
• Try to stay away from situations that is going to make your problem worse. ( I have to)
• Laugh as much as you can (I'll try my best)

As promised, the link to Coping With Stress I think the booklet is free to order or download and if you wish, you may make a donation. But please check the link for all the information.

Works beckons tomorrow after nearly three months of rest. Take care and thank you for reading. Be safe and keep smiling :)