New Thing #14 - An EKG: Wheeeeeeeee!

Okay, so I was going to write about my trip to Oktoberfest today, but we weren't there long enough to really get any good blog material. So, I've decided to write about something that might cause some controversy. It's not exactly a fun thing, but it was definitely something new for me. So, bear with me, and try not to freak out.

Recently, I've had some heart "palpitations". I guess that's the easiest way to put it. Basically, just a racing heart at weird times, and more frequent after I work out. At least more than normal. I'm thinking it's just anxiety/stress-related, but I know that putting off going to the doctor for stuff like that is never a good idea. I'd rather be safe than sorry, so I headed to my doc on Monday. After an initial convo about my caffeine and nicotine intake (which is none of the above), my doc recommended an EKG right there in her office. The nurse gave me a cape looking thing to put on while I waited for her to come back with the EKG. It's a good thing she told me how to put it on. You would think it would be simple: head in the hole, drape over your shoulders and snap in front. But, looking at that giant piece of blue paper, I could see how some people might have some difficulty. My nurse Mary came back in and told me to lay flat on my back on the table. She then hooked up the electrode things (for my medically inclined cousins, please forgive my lack of medical terminology), to various parts of my body. I expected the chest/rib cage, but she also hooked up the little dots to each one of my lower legs. And since she had little ice cube fingers, I wouldn't have been surprised to see the EKG jump every time she touched me. I need to figure out some kind of invention that keeps doctors/nurses hands above freezing. I could be a millionaire!

I was only hooked up to the EKG for about 5 minutes, and I think she pulled off three different print outs. From what I understood, nothing was inherently wrong, but my heard did jump from 61 to 88 beats per minute while just lying there. Weird enough that my doc wanted to do full blood work to see if there was something else that caused it. And that's when the fun really began.

My doctor's office has their own lab, so I just had to go down the hall to get my blood drawn. I'm not a big fan of getting my blood taken, but I'm not going to pass out or anything. I just don't really like to watch. The lab tech poked and pushed on both of inner elbows trying to find a good vein. Apparently, they were all on vacation b/c she couldn't find a single one. They're either super tiny or like to hide way down deep. That's when I suggested she use my hand. I must have been out of my mind. I don't blame the tech, everyone has issues drawing blood from me, and she was really apologetic. It only took her two attempts to get the needle in my hand, which was pretty shocking. I even suggested after the first try that she use a pediatric needle, b/c they're smaller and that's worked in the past. She smiled and said, "this is a pediatric needle." Damn. She needed three vials of blood, so after 5 minutes or so, I asked if she was almost done. (I told you, I don't like to watch.) She hesitated, and I knew that was not a good sign. "Uh, well, not really. It kind of stopped." Um, what? How does my blood just stop flowing? You would think if it had a way to escape, my blood would have delighted in oozing out in those vials. I guess not. I dared to look, and she was right, I had filled less than half of one vial. Great.

She gave me a few options at that point. She could have another nurse come in and try, I could come back on Tuesday, or they could send me to another lab. Well, I had already taken off work to come, so I definitely didn't want to come back the next day or go to another lab. I opted for choice A and another nurse came in. She found my arm vein in one try and shortly thereafter she had her three vials of blood. Piece of cake.

I got my results back a few days later, and everything came back normal. So, my doctor wanted to wire me up to a 24 hour heart monitor to check and see what's going on with the ol' ticker. Since you can't shower with that thing, I waited until Friday morning to get hooked up. The cardiologist's nurse was very nice, but again, cold hands!!! Sheesh. The monitor looks like a big pager and has five different colored leads. Each lead snaps to an incredibly sticky circle that's stuck to my skin. The red lead goes under my throat right at the top of my collarbone, the green lead slightly lower and more centered over my heart, the brown one dead center right around my diaphragm, the black on the left side and the white on the right side. The recorder part clips to my belt/pants and the screen just reads the current day/time, and includes a countdown to when I can take it off. The shirt I originally wore to the doctor's office wasn't going to cut it. I looked like I had a giant red bullseye on my chest. Needless to say, I went home and changed to a higher collared shirt so I didn't have to explain the huge circle all day.
Here's what the contraption looks like:


For the most part, the monitor didn't really bother me. The sticky circles pulled at my skin a little, but it wasn't too bad. I had to explain the recording box to a few people, since it was attached to my pocket. I miraculously slept without disconnecting any of the leads from my body or from the recorder. I guess I subconciously knew not to toss and turn a lot. After the countdown was over, I just had to unsnap the electrodes, and I'll drop everything off on Monday. My docs will analyze the data and get back to me. The crappiest part was getting those damn sticky circles off my body. One word. OW! I made the mistake of peeling one off without moistening it. I think I peeled off a circle's worth of skin on that one. A shower helped me loosen the other 4 and some lotion removed any traces of weird splotches.

I didn't want to worry anyone, so I almost didn't write about this. But, it's a part of my life, and it was new, so I went with it. No need to worry (or call me in a panic! ;-)

**Update: after the cardiologist and my doc looked at the results of the heart monitor, they didn't really see any issues. Normal, healthy heart with minimal irregular beats. So, it looks like I'm just stressed out after all. ;-)