So out of all the things that I had planned to do today, spending a few hours in the ER department of The Mater Hospital was not one of them.
But of course my body, or more specifically, my heart, had other ideas.
It's not the first time either. Last November I had just returned to my seat for the 3rd period of a Giants game when out of nowhere my heart starts dancing at 196 beats per minute. Was this a particularly exciting game you may ask...as did the doctors...but no, as I told them in the ER it was a rather dull mid-afternoon jog up and down a hockey rink whilst Ed Courtenay practised his passing skills with the other team. Had I been drinking? Nope. Not a drop. I mean we were losing the game, but Matt had just handed me a bag of Minstrels so life wasn't all that bad.
And today? Well... I sat down. Yep, that's what I did right before it happened this afternoon.
I hadn't been doing anything. Besides eating lunch. Neighbours had just finished and I figured I better head back to my desk. Now, granted, it's their annual cliffhanger week, but really - the thought of Libby dying in an old abandoned warehouse / come dance party venue just doesn't keep me up at night. Honestly.
Today I had just 'sat down'. And unless you count the only common denominator of 'sitting' - once again, it's onset was entirely random. Thankfully however, Today, I knew what I was dealing with.
That night in November, I had been diagnosed with a condition known as SVT. Supraventricular tachycardia. I've included the link to the Wikipedia article, but in short, it's rapid heart palpitations that can last anywhere from a few minutes up to a few days...tho I'm guessing it would be best never to let it run that long. No, the doctor told me at the time, if it ever happened again and didn't feel like it was stopping any time soon, to come straight back in. So that's what I did.
It had been going for about 20mins before I called Matt. I had tried all the methods that the Heart Specialist had showed me to regulate it and it just wasn't working. When we arrived at the Mater they swung me straight into Resus. It had been going for around 45mins by this time and after an ECG or two and some various other tests, they shot me with a dose of Adenosine which had nipped it in the bud the last time. Basically what that does in this case is slow the flow through the AV node of the heart to reset the rhythm. Or in other words, it rebooted me.
It's the most bizarre feeling in the world. Feeling like your whole system is grinding to a halt. Then as fast as that happens, everything kicks in again. The nurses all referred to it as "the injection of doom". Lol. Yeh, good job I'd had it before...you, um, really don't want the patient to panic whilst they have a BPM of 212! =P
Anyways, a couple more hours, a few more tests, some oxygen and a bag of saline later and I was feeling much better. I was still a little dizzy, but well enough to be let home.
So here I am. Still finding little sticky ECG pads stuck in random places on my body. Seriously, check out the photo of the bounty so far! I mean, how many do they need?? =/ lol
It's been a long day.
I didn't get the new Gtv edited. I didn't get to the bank. I didn't get Play-off supplies. I didn't get, well, anything done that I had originally set out to do.
But...I did get complimented on my She-Ra t-shirt by almost every member of ER staff. Oh yes. It rocks ;o)
Incidentally, Matt has never heard of an inappropriate time to take a photo. And you guys think I'm bad? =P
