Give it a Try

Well, the results are in folks.

Basically I have gotten diagnosed with a condition that seems to be defaulted when everything else has been cleared. My heart is structurally doing everything it needs to be doing. The circulation is working as it should. And my oxygen levels are where they should be. What does that tell me? I must be crazy.

However, good ole Doc told me that there is a diagnosis for this. It's call Inappropriate Sinus Tachycardia. Sinus Tachycardia is where your heart rate increases with exercise or exertion. Huh, every one's does that (unless you are dead I suppose) so I find it interesting that there is actually a medical "diagnosis" for it. However, with mine being labeled as inappropriate, it means that my heart rate increases more than it needs to or it should. This seems to be due to an unknown cause but can be exacerbated by some foods and stress and stuff like that. As it came without a cause, it is supposed to go away on its own - which could take anywhere from months to years.

While every doctor seems to just want to give medication without a exact reason, my doc has been pretty good and understanding that I need a good reason to take the meds, or it just won't be happening. Maybe the other docs had reasons to push this new med on me, but hey, I want to be educated on it first...no education, no go. Apparently there is another medication, in a different family than my sloth-creation meds that is supposed to do what my first one didn't do. It's supposed to balance out my heart rate. The first medication - my body didn't respond to and just made me super tired. This new medication is supposed to not lower my heart rate overall but just keep it from getting into the 180s and 190s. If it works that'd be great. I also am ok with the fact that I won't have to be on it forever because this "condition" is supposed to go away as mysteriously as it came....and with that, it is day 1 of my trial medication...

Hopefully the last...

First, lets take a quick look at a normal doctors office...

Ok, now today, I went into a doctors office behind a locked door. It literally required a number code to get into. Ah, ok...not nervous at all. Let me start from the beginning. A week or so ago, I posted a blog about wearing the heart monitor for 24 hours. Well, the results came back basically normal, nothing to be concerned about. As my doctor and I discussed, based on the results of the heart monitor, we would look into a Tilt Table Test as a last option of what may be going on with my high heart rate and weird symptoms. Since it seems like all of the possible heart conditions have been ruled out, today I had my Tilt Table Test. It was the weirdest thing I've ever seen, been a part of and really know about...I mean, after all, it was in a secured room...

What they do is monitor my heart rate and blood pressure throughout the whole thing. It was interesting at first, but got really boring really fast as I was basically just standing for a full hour. I had to lay completely flat for at least a half hour to make sure that they knew my base heart rate (55). Then they tilted the table (so I would be close to completely standing) to a 70 degree angle in a quick fluid motion. I stayed like that for an hour. The first 45 min were "natural." At the 45 minute mark they sprayed Nitroglycerin in my mouth to stimulate what may happen when I'm working out to see if I got more of a response with my heart rate...which I did - not to the 180s or 90s, but 130s still. Once the hour of "standing" there was over, the lowered me back down and made me lay there until my heart rate went back to resting. While I was laying there they also gave me an IV drip to hopefully help with the massive migraine I got during the "procedure."

(My nurse liked me asking her to take the pic of me strapped in the bed...I think it was the first time anyone has asked her to do such a thing...but it's hard to explain...if I hadn't been there, I'da thought it was some sort of torture bed...)

I don't have any results now, but they said I should have an idea by the end of the week. But if I do have something that this test would show and it was severe, I would have passed out during the test...which I didn't, so that's a good sign. Either way, I was very worn out after the test and still have hints of the migraine looming...I'm off to bed.

One Day Getaway

With some weekend plans falling through, but already having Friday approved for annual leave, I was in desperate need to have a quick getaway - for the day - for the weekend, it didn't really matter. I just needed to relax and have a change of pace. Friends come through at the best time and when you need them. Without realizing how important this trip was going to be, my friend Jenna and I decided to spur of the momently (my new word for the day) to head to Valley Fair in Minnesota for the day. The day turned out to be a much needed trip for me and my dear friend because I found out that she is most likely moving to Oregon by the end of the month. This may be the last "big" trip we take before she leaves and I'm happy I got to take this adventure with her.

Valley Fair - well we got there about an hour late because of numerous detours on the way, so we caved and took the interstate back home. But our time there was fantastic. It was a gray, cloudy, on the verge of downpour day - but contrary to what many would think, that makes a day at Valley Fair perfect. There were no lines. The longest we had to wait for a ride was about 5-10 minutes. We doubled up on rides and definitely got our money's worth, as well as our fill of fair food...mmmm gotta love Wisconsin Cheese Curds, mini donuts and "fresh" fries =) I can't wait to have some funnel cake and caramel apples at the Sioux Empire Fair coming up...

Together

Couldn't have asked for a better day...

Times get busy, for each of us. And it makes it even harder for families to get together with work and friends and each member's schedules. Last weekend, I decided that we had the opportunity for my parents and I to get together and actually have fun - instead of just going grocery shopping as one. So I called up my parents and invited/told them we were going to have a fun afternoon of hiking at Newton Hills. With hesitation due to the weekend chores and duties that would be left behind mom and dad agreed to go. After a wonderful lunch at the Garden of Eatin' we headed off to hike.

Now You See It...Now You Don't

So yesterday I went in to have my Holter Monitor installed for step one of my testing...as my Dr. told me, do everything I want to be able to do except swim (well duh, I don't really want to jump into water with something electrical hooked up to my heart). The doing everything includes running, biking, going up the stairs all day at work, any anything else on a regular basis when I feel my symptoms...so I did. Today, I'm slightly sore and super tired, but that may be impacted by not being able to sleep last night...

Anyway, work was the challenge with this monitor. No, I take that back...dressing for work was the challenge. They don't take stature into consideration when issuing these things. The cords could reach from me all the way to Timbuktu! So, I settled for a basic tee. I loved it actually, but not as "work casual" as I should be. Good thing my boss didn't see me =) Hey what else what I supposed to do when it went clear up to my collar bone? What a relief it was to take it off this morning! Hopefully I'll hear something by the end of the week...

Relief

So some of you may know and some may not about my recent studies and tests. Way back in March I was running with one of my closest friends and trying to prepare of the mini-triathlon in May - which I did write about in my posting of Hardest Thing, however the trials didn't end there. With the triathlon not going well (to put it as optimistically as I can), I wanted to treat the asthma more aggressively.

I spoke to a few people at work and decided to go a a highly recommended asthma doctor here in town. After all the tests, he looked at me with a concerned look and said, "There's definitely something wrong, but it's definitely not asthma." He wanted me to go to see an ENT doctor because my "throat was a little red" and have a cardiac echo done. First was the ENT, who did a scope down my nose, down my throat to look at my vocal cords. Most of they time they use Lidocaine to numb and for a pain reliever, but because I'm allergic to Novocaine, he said "we just won't use it." WHAT??? Well, stupid me, thinking that the Dr. knew what he was talking about, I figured it would be ok without. I asked, "Does it hurt?" His response, "Well it's not a procedure I'd ask my doctor to do, but everyone tells me it's not as bad as they thought it'd be." I pulled up my big girl panties and pretended to be tough. I couldn't pretend for long. You know when you bump your nose and your eyes immediately water??? Well, mine were pouring tears faster than Niagara Falls...which continued up to a half hour after I left the doctors office. As many of you know...my nose was broken when I was a wee lil thing...leaving it crooked. Try to put a scope down a crooked nose - no I take that back, DON'T! Instead of realizing it wouldn't go down one nostril, he tried to push a lil harder....oh my gosh, I thought I had experienced pain before...ah, no, this is real pain: jamming a lil metal flashlight camera thing directly into the already sensitive cartilage of your nose. "Ooops won't go down that one, let's put it down the other one again," was his only response...not a sorry, nothing. So, the third time he stuck that scope in my nose, he finally used it. Afterwards he asks me "So was it as bad as you thought it'd be?" (With tears still running down my face mind you) All I could muster our was a very agitated and annoyed "...Yah." Then he tells me he THINKS I MAY have vocal cord dysfunction and the only way to fix it is speech therapy, but that doesn't cause chest pain. He wanted to schedule me for therapy. No thanks, Mr. I Now Despise You.

Next, I was hopefully that my cardiac echo would show something fixable, so I could treat it with whatever, then move on with my life and be as active as I hope to be. Heck, I had a June triathlon to compete in. After chest x-rays, blood draw and an hour + ultra sound, nothing. Zilch. Dr. Bubak, not satisfied with the results wanted me to see a cardiologist and probably have a stress test since most of my pain and symptoms come upon exertion. So...back to another doctor's office. He was correct and a stress test was ordered. Early this month I went in for the test, did the walk/jog and they hurried me back to the bed for another echo. Even though I had shortness of breath and chest pain, the results showed nothing. My heart and circulation was doing everything it needed to and my oxygen levels were perfect. Nothing concerning, but the only thing "interesting," as Dr. Paa put it, was my heart rate was very high. He wanted to give me a med. A med...without knowing what was causing it. I'm too young to be on mediation that will not fix the problem and just coat the symptom. However, figuring that he must know, he wanted me to try it for a month and we'd go from there. Two weeks after being on the med, I was a total sloth: sleeping during my breaks at work, taking at least a 2 hour nap and going to bed at about 8:30 or 9. I couldn't take it. I called the doctor and said I don't want the meds and I want more testing. The response I got? They've done all the testing they can and this is the only option for medication, so just reduce the medication by taking it once a day instead of twice. This answer did not satisfy me. (I forgot to take a picture of all the contraptions in the room where I did the stress test...sorry).

This week I called my regular primary doctor and said, "I want to be seen as soon as possible, I need future testing!" They got me in in three days. Friday was my appointment and it feels like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. He heard me. A doctor that finally heard me. He told me to stop the medication (Hip, Hip, Hooray). He told me we'd do more testing and that we'd test until we have a solid diagnosis (Yoo Hoo). He told me that I'm too young to be on medications without knowing why...and I'm in too good of shape to be having these problems without real reasons behind them. While I don't have any answers to this problem, I have faith that I finally have someone that is willing to take a deep look and find the cause.

So while I'm still in this limbo, I feel better. He told me to go ahead and try to train for the September Tri, like I'd like to. It will help with the testing to make sure I know what and when my symptoms are triggered - at least for now. But he also is concerned and wants me to take it easy. I'll do my best to heed those words...

Days Go By

So my poor little blog has been ignored and forgotten for about a month. It's not that life hasn't been active, exciting or interesting...A lot of it I just didn't know how to say it and/or time flew way to fast for me to sit down and type about it. So here I am. 8 o'clock on a Saturday morning...ugh. I'm watching my parents dog this weekend and the lovely yet stupid (just for now) dog has her schedule of waking up...which means I wake up then too. I stayed up too late to get up this early. Not a whole lot more to do on a Saturday morning, might as well catch up.

So where do I begin???? The Fourth of July had a lot of family, food, friends and fireworks...as one would expect. Lennox always has a grand celebration with the "Old Fashioned Forth of July" including a road race, parade, vendors and a car show in the park and fireworks to end the night. It may have been a high school reunion since I was able to reunite with many people I hadn't seen in so long. 7 days later was Hot Harley Nights in downtown Sioux Falls which is always a good time. Hard to believe that I went with three crazy guys and we were having so much fun we forgot to even look at the bikes....but the band was great.

The following weeks consisted of going to the lake every day after work that I could. We had a "cold" snap recently so my trips have been put on hold, but I'm excited to get back there and work on my killer tan =)

Today I'm meeting some friends for a relaxing day at Wild Water West so I'm praying for sun and heat. I suppose I better clean before I head out....I'll try to be better about this in the future.