My trip to the ER

I've been the dentist every week for the last 5 weeks:
1) Cleaning, 2) Went in for fillings but started crying because Mom had just died a few days prior. They sent me home and told me to come back next week, 3) 2 fillings on the right side, 4) Went in to do 2 fillings on the left side, but was so congested in my nose and draining down my throat that I could hardly breathe when they were working on me. They did one filling., 5) Final filling.
The last filling was below the gum line and I'm still feeling some pain. That brings me to my story for today.
I waited to take ibuprofen this morning, because I wanted to see if it was going to hurt again and I wanted to be able to describe exactly where the pain was coming from. On Sunday, it hurt so bad that I really couldn't tell where the pain originated. My forehead, jaw, teeth, sinuses- everything on the left side hurt. I was resigning myself to the fact that I would probably have to make another trip to the dentist.
I called Nathan shortly after he got to work this morning to ask him about the car. We had been having a few issues with it making a funny noise. We talked about having me call the dentist. I told him that I was trying to wait and see how I felt today. I noted that my left side of my face was feeling pretty numb. As we were talking, my heart started to race. My left arm and my legs felt really weak. I told Nathan that I felt really dizzy, but not to worry and not to come home. I hung up the phone and realized I was having a hard time breathing.
I called Nathan back and said, "Come home. I'm going to pass out." I called a friend who lives in town and she rushed over to take the kids while I tried calling my dentist. Clearly, my reasoning abilities weren't at full capacity. The dentist was busy, but she would call me back. Ok. I decided should probably call my MD. I called the clinic and pushed the number to schedule an appointment. I waited on hold for the next available person for a minute. My heart rate was a little slower, but still faster than normal and felt very dizzy. My face felt numb. My friend told me it was time to call 911.
There must have been no other emergencies in Winsted at 8:45am because Nathan counted at least 10 people that were in our living room when he got home. They arrived quickly. Ethan thought the ambulance, sirens and uniformed officers were great. I lay on the couch as they checked my pulse, gave me some oxygen, checked me for stroke activity (I recognized the tests from when they did them on Mom), checked my blood pressure (138 over something) and my blood sugar (normal- thanks for the Lucky Charms).
The EMT's/first responders decided to treat me as if this were a possible heart attack or stroke and they gave me some baby aspirin with instructions that I needed to chew them before swallowing them. Then they loaded me onto the stretcher and carried me out of the house to the ambulance. Nathan had arrived and rode along in the front. The EMT in the back with me, actually got an IV in on his first try! He went straight for a vein in the inside of my elbow. He couldn't see it, but he could feel it. The stains on my shirt and the blanket they had over me attest to the fact that he found it!
My heart rate had settled down to normal and I felt a lot better. I was still dizzy. I was cold and anxious and it was making me shiver. We made it to the hospital in about 20 minutes. While Nathan admitted me, they got me situated and asked me lots of questions they had already asked.
Once I was in the ER, they did some more blood pressure checks and hooked my up to the heart monitor. The IV was still running and I hadn't used the bathroom for a while before I left. With the additional fluids they were pumping into me, I really had to empty my bladder. No one was with me so I had to holler for some help. Finally, a nurse came. As the first nurse arrived, my heart started racing and I became very dizzy again. A second nurse was coming to hook up some additional heart monitoring stuff and they were able to get a good read on what was happening. Once I felt more stable, I took my trip to the bathroom.
The ER doctor came to see me and asked me to explain, "in your own words", what had happened. I did. Then he asked me if I had any recent stress in my life.
I answered, "Yes".
"Can you tell me about it?"
I immediately started to cry. I know, from some of my posts, it must seem like I'm a basketcase all the time, but the truth is, my life has carried on in a pretty normal fashion. I'm not walking around depressed and sad all day. After taking in everything I said and reading the print outs from the heart monitors, he told me that I was dealing with SVT and something else that is another kind of tachycardia that happens when another part of your heart want to make your heart beat. Well, I had two other areas of my hear that wanted to "help".
He listened to my heart and told me that the heart murmer that he heard was not aortic like my mom's (yeah!), but a more benign murmer. However, he said that if he were me, he would have my doctor do an echo at my appointment on the 29th just to get a good picture and to alleviate any fears I had. He really believes that I am very healthy, just dealing with a lot of stress. I didn't realize that it was that bad, but I guess it is.
He discharged me and gave me a prescription for a beta blocker (Propranol) to help keep my heart rythm under control. It was my choice whether I wanted to take it or not. I decided that I wanted to have it, at least for the time being. I didn't want to go home worrying that it might happen again. I also have some instructions on what to do if it does happen: briefly hold my breath, pinch my skin enough to cause pain, bathe my face in cold water, submerge my head in a sink or cool water or take a cool shower. . . Doesn't that sound fun?
Nathan and I rode home with Tom Henely. I took a nap for about an hour and a half and I'm feeling alright now. I feel a little silly about it and I'm afraid I just blew through the tax refund we were going to use to get a second car, but I was so scared at the time and I think I made the right decision to go in.