Back in the backless gown...

Hey guys and gals,

Keep smiling POTSies!

I'm back in the hospital. I woke up with chest pain that was working its way down my left arm on Saturday morning. After trying to go back to sleep, it was clear that the pain was too bad so I called my cardiologist. I was told to go to the ER asap, that it sounded like a heart attack. We piled into the car and got to the ER within 45 minutes. Once there, they took me straight back and gave me aspirin, nitroglycerin, and a pain pill. The pain went away, which was good, but my blood tests kept coming back with my cardiac enzymes getting higher each test, so they admitted me. The initial thought was that I had a heart attack, so they scheduled me for a cardiac catheterization, but I couldn't have it until Monday when the lab was open again. They thought it was too risky to have me go home, so I've been in the cardiac wing since Saturday. I had the cath today. While I was very nervous, it went very smoothly and I'm doing well now. They basically put a big iv into my leg and worked it up to my heart. Then they injected dye into the arteries to look at how my heart was working and to look for blockages (I didn't have any) or damage (none showed). When I came to, the doctor said that I had a "clean cath" and it wasn't a true heart attack, that something else was causing the enzymes to be elevated. One possibility is that I have arterial spasms that clamp my veins and cause it to look and feel like a heart attack, but isn't a true one. Another possibility is that I was having damage to my heart from tachycardia and/or bradycardia. They started me on Norvasc tonight in hopes that it will fix both possibilities. I'm hopefully going to be sent home tomorrow. I can't lift anything more than ten pounds for a week, need help walking around, and need to look out for the typical post procedure risks like bleeding and infection, but the doctor says I should be able to go to the Philadelphia Flower Show on Saturday or Sunday, so for now that is my goal, even if I'm in a wheelchair while I'm there. I find that having a goal in mind really helps to get through the rough patches. Keep strong, keep hope, be brave, get through!
- Phoenix

Update: They think I am having vasospasms for some reason which probably caused hypoxia to my heart. It basically acts and feels like a heart attack. Its called Prinzmetal's Angina. They took me off the Midodrine, added the Norcasc, and we're going to see how that works for now.