Hey...I thought ER was supposed to be over...

I'll try to keep this one quick, since I'm trying to be smart and keep laying down and taking it easy. But I wanted to provide an update for folks who found out, from my live update on Facebook, that I was in the ER last night.

So, long story shot - been having some weird heart things happening. Extra beats and such. This creates a flutter, a wee bit of disorientation and something like, but not quite, light-headedness. It's really hard to put into words. Having the heart that I do, I'm used to things happening like this from time to time. This one was more pronounced, went on longer, and seemed to be getting worse. Still, I didn't want to do anything about it if I didn't have to, since, you know...I'm uninsured right now?

I had the folks call from Modesto, where they were going to be staying last night on their way back from their San Diego trip. Their plan was to come by the next morning, and I was going to follow them back up to their place in Lakeport and spend a couple of days. So, had to let them know that it probably wasn't a good idea, and why. I wanted to be close in case I needed to see a doctor. So instead of staying in Modesto, they hopped in the SUV and drove here to stay the night at my place. After my mother worked her mojo and checked with admissions at the local hospital and found out I'm all but certainly qualified for the county coverage on the bill, I decided to do the smart thing and go in, if for no other reason than to get was happening to me recorded and documented. I've had too many times in my life when I've had a problem, then it was gone by the time I got to my doctor's appointment, and the doctor would then just shrug. Not this time.

For 11:00pm on a weeknight, it was a very crowded ER. Good news? Having a heart problem does get you quickly to the front of the line. They did an immediate EKG on me, which got me triaged right into a bed. Got hooked up to a monitor. Excellent. Someone was clearly seeing what was going on. They also took a chest x-ray to make sure everything was still hooked up right on my pacemaker, and drew blood for some tests. And again, the heart part means front of the line on test results. I felt like Ray Liotta taking a date to see Bobby Vinton.

The folks were able to get their way back where I was after a while and wait there in the curtain area (where I was so disappointed that no one asked for a CBC, Chem-7, type-and-match, and then yelled "Come on, people, MOVE!" Can I get a refund if my emergency experience isn't NBC enough?). Eventually, I got the typcial doctor's diagnosis I'm used to - a good helping of "huh?". They could tell me that yes, I was throwing a whole lot of PVCs. They just weren't sure why. All my blood tests seemed to be okay, my electrolytes were fine. Pacemaker seemed to be working okay. But at least they assured me not to be too concerned about it. Which is frustrating, because while your ear's hearing a doctor say that it's one thing? What your body is telling you is something else. I'd basically spent the last two and a half days in bed, because that's what your body tells you to do when you feel what I'm feeling.

Got home around 3:00am, which is just fine for me, but not so fine on the poor folks, who are normal 6:00am risers. Not that they were complaining, of course. They were very happy to have been there. And I guess it was a nice change to have company along for the ride, considering last time I was in the ER (the trip where I got checked in and got a pacemaker installed the next day) I drove myself there and didn't call anyone until the next morning... Their presence was much appreciated. So they reluctantly headed home this morning (as I insisted, as they have things to do and there's nothing they can really do here) and I (eventually) got up and on the phone and got an appointment set up for this Friday with my cardiologist. The problem itself seems to be a little better. This leads me to believe that my diagnosis might be correct - they changed a medication on me recently, and once this fact occurred to me yesterday morning, I switched back to the original med, just to see if there would be any change - and that hopefully this will lead to a quick fix so I can stop staying in bed all the time. You'd think that'd be a good thing (the bed part), but it kind of blows when you have a bunch of stuff you'd rather be doing.

So, yes, back from the hospital and all seems wellish. I'm just happy they didn't try to keep me there (they offered that "if I wanted" but didn't insist on it) and I'm home with my own bed and my own DVDs. I've been trapped in hospitals with five channels to choose from before, left with nothing for days but Jerry Springer and Cheaters to pass that time. Home is gooder. No doubt.

Speaking of which? Back to lounging. Will update as newness comes.

But the really good news in all this? My brute's up to level 5, and I have a bear AND a puppy!:

http://oconnellmd.mybrute.com