I was back at the cardiologist on Tuesday morning.  This was a follow up to see how the BP medication was working. It has helped some but not quite enough as my diastolic readings are still high and the pains and palpitations have not abated. 

As are result the Doctor has put me on a calcium channel blocker. It will do two things, lower my bp a bit more  and hopefully reduce the pains the palpitations.   If the channel blocker doesn't seem to help in two weeks I am to up the dose.   I am also supposed to continue monitoring my BP and write down when I have events.

My next follow up is 2 months unless things do not get better and at that time she would consider a long term heart monitor and possibly an angio as it would be the last test to do. 

Oh, and in the mean time, I should also see my GP and have myself checked for esophageal problems. I guess some people have bad heart burn, spasms, etc... and it can appear to the person as palpitations and pains. And we need to rule that out just to be thorough  

BUT the Doctor is not denying that I have a heart issue as there is my high blood pressure and the traces from the EKG do show something going on.

So I started the CB Wednesday and I have been even more tired for the past few days. I think my body has adjusted to the meds because I was not as tired when I woke up this morning.   

All of this means still taking it easy, lots of sleep and no metal working for a while longer. 

The Heart:
I have been on the BP medications for almost a month now.  I have been recording my BP almost every day and yes I am feeling somewhat better but then there are days I feel horrible.  

I am going see my endocrinologist on Friday the 9th and then back to the cardiologist the following week. I am seeing the endo to ensure that my thyroid meds and the hormone replacements I am taking are not too hight as they can cause heart palpitations.  

Depending on those results, the cardiologist will either increase/decrease/change my blood pressure meds and/or add a channel blocker and possibly schedule an angiogram to determine if the doctors can actually see some problem - as we still don't know why this is happening.   

Some days I feel like I am handling it all well and other days I just want it to be over. 

The Weaving:
And yes, the weaving is calmer and more relaxing that hammering away on metal. That has to do with keeping my BP down and how tired I get. The added benefit is that when I am down at the weaving barn I am socializing (and not with friends from work) and making new friends. Some of the ladies at the barn have been weaving for almost 40 years and I am the "kid" of the group!!!

I just finished the scarf for Myra - I put pictures on my FB feed last night. It is 80" long, I think that she will be able to wrap that around her neck several times! 

I am also doing some chain maille (weaving of a different sort). I made a dragon scale bracelet for me - which I ended up selling to a friend. I am now making another dragon scale for another woman at work and another one for me. PLUS I am working on a Byzantine bracelet today which is yet another sale!

Last Tuesday was my follow-up with the cardiologist after the nuclear stress test. It was a long meeting with the doctor and here is what it comes down to.

1. No blocked arteries (Yeah, I can eat hamburgers and fries again and not have to worry so much.)
   
2. There is a slight anomaly in the heart wall but it was present ONLY when my heart was at rest. It could be a shadow or other Image artifact but they can't be sure unless I had an angiogram.
3. I also had no skipped beats or other heart events that appeared on the traces during the stress test.
   
4. The monitoring of my BP and pulse shows that I have a low to normal heart rate but my BP is on the high side and is classified as high when I have the pain and the longer events of palpitations.

Result?
Because it is all so general. I probably have what is called Coronary artery vasospasm  which you can read about here:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/coronary-artery-spasm/AN01371

How is it to be treated?

1. I now will take a BP medication that will lower my BP and hopefully the palpitations will go away as well.
   
2. If after a month (when I go back to the doctor again) my BP is still a bit high, they will increase the dose.
   
3. IF the palpitations and chest pains are still there then they will put me on some sort of channel blocker. They don't want to do that right away so they can see if the BP medication takes care of it all.
   
4. I have also been told that I can start to exercise so I am going to take 2-15 minute walks today. We are hot and humid too and I told Erich that I would not run any marathons right away ;=).
   

We are both hopeful.

Monday I had my Nuclear Stress test.   Here is what transpired:We arrived at the doctor's at 11:45 am and of course had to wait a bit before being taken into the nuclear medicine office.  A small injection port was inserted into my wrist with a big honk’n needle (which hurt of course) and was taped into place. The tech then took out of a lead lined box the nuclear dye which was then injected into the port. There was no burning or other sensation - thank goodness because the needle on that syringe was BIG.
[Note: I HATE needles, when I was in third grade I bit the doctor who was trying to give me a tetanus shot. He had to have one too!]

I then went back to the waiting for 45 minutes while the dye to be dispersed through my system.
 
Eventually I was taken back to nuclear medicine where I laid on a table with my arms over my head for 20 minutes while the imaging head (a big table like thing) slowly rotated from right to left. During this time "YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO MOVE" because you can blur the image. As your shoulders start to ache and quiver from your arms being over your head, you are lectured by the tech - DON'T MOVE
 
After that, I was sent back to the waiting room for the stress test. I had to wait about 15 minutes.
 
Once in the room, the nurse put all 12 leads on my chest (for the EKG) and put me on the treadmill and cranked that puppy up. 
I know it was the same test I took in early June but it seemed harder and of course during this they took my BP every minute.
Every 2 minutes (?) they increased the speed and angle of the treadmill. 

At 8 minutes I thought that I was going to lose my footing and get flung off the back of the tread mill.  Luckily, the test was almost done and at this point the nuclear tech came back in and injected me with the nuclear dye AGAIN.  After the injection they lowered the angle and dropped the speed of the tread mill but I had to stay on for another 1 minute so my heart would really assist with the dispersion of the dye.
 
And of course, then I had to go back to the waiting room for another 45 minutes.

I was eventually called by the nuclear tech and once again I went back to the imaging room to be recorded for another 20 minutes with my arms over my head.  This time though, my heart beat was audible on a monitor speaker. You could hear each time there was a missed beat or a double beat -  which was rather disturbing because you wonder if the next beat will happen when there is a longer pause between the beats.
 
When the scan was over I went back to the waiting room because I now had to have the 24 hour recording monitor put on.

(I went back to the doctor's office Tuesday at 4pm for it to be removed and they can down load it to their computer for analysis)
 
We left the office about 3:00 pm and we went out for late lunch or early dinner as I had not eaten anything since 9 am.
When we got home I watched television for a while and went to bed.
 
Oh, and Erich had fun with the Geiger counter again as I am emitting radioactivity (for about 3 days and less each day.).
These are beta particles vs. gamma from the iodine when I had my thyroid removed.   Today I still set the thing off!
 
 
Sounds like fun eh?
I get the results NEXT Tuesday.
I was very tired yesterday and feeling a bit better today.

Today I return to the Cardiologist for the Nuclear EKG. I will be there over 4 hours because of the setup, prep  which is me drinking a dye that can be seen my the nuclear imaging machine, test and recovery.  Afterward I will have a recoding EKG put on me and I will wear it for 24 hours - which I have to return tomorrow afternoon.

What has been happening since my last visit? 
I am a bit more concerned because I think it is getting worse. I am noticing more palpitations and more pricks of pain. Last week the palpitations where happening on/off for over an hour - a few at a time, then nothing for 10 min or so and then they would happen again. I took a nitro just to be safe and after an hour they were gone.  

I am also noticing that if I don't get at least 8 hrs of sleep, I have palpitations. On those nights were I get over 9, I have very few if none. Last weekend I was busy both days and was up early but did not go to bed until 11pm. On the following monday, I did not feel good all day - very tired (more than normal) and the palpitations  were not more frequent but they seemed stronger.

I have also been tracking my BP (doctors orders) - the systolic is about 125 to 130 average; the diastolic is running on the higher side about 80-85 BUT there were a few days where the diastolic was 90-105, which was worrying.  

Today, the doctor will take the BP monitor we bought and compare its reading to the unit in the office, then they can "adjust" the readings I have been recording in the notebook. This will give them an indication of what the true readings are. 

And of course I don't get the results today, I will have to go back again next week to get the results. I'm hoping that the diagnosis can be handled with beta blockers.

About mid-May I went to see a cardiologist. I was having heart palpitations a week before I they would go away and then come back.  I was having them while I was watching TV and was not stressed one bit. 

Three years ago, my sweetie pi had an emergency aortic valve replacement, so I figured I would go to his Cardiologist.  It was when I asked for the telephone number of the cardiologist that I told my husband why I needed it.  I had an appointment within the week and it was during this initial visit, he took a base line EKG and nothing out of the ordinary. Listened to my heart, took pulse and bp - all seemed ok.   

I was also given a prescription for a low dose of Nitro incase I need it - and on May 30th I had a little heart event in the afternoon and ended up taking a Nitroglycerine tablet (a very low dose).  I was hoping it would just go away but when my sweetie pi saw me and asked what was wrong (I guess I had a funny look on my face) - I  said that was having a little bit of pain in my upper chest and I had some tingling down my left arm and even the last two fingers on the hand were tingling too. It was steady for about 5-10 minutes - it was not getting worse but not going away either - and that was when he asked and I told him. It was then that I took the pill and sat downstairs in case I had to take another one and we had to get to the car really fast  He did not freak out but was very concerned so we sat together while we monitored what was going on.  After about a half hour all was ok and no other issues for the rest of the evening.

Then on May 31st I was scheduled for the stress test and an echo scan the following Tuesday. During the stress (treadmill) test  my heart was beating normally the entire time, which I thought was very strange though one "blip" did show up on the trace.

Just before I left for Maine, I had the Echo scan. I had one skipped beat during the scan which the tech said he was able to catch on the recording. He could not say much but indicated that my ejection rate looked good as did my arteries. 

I was not schedule for the test result follow up until I returned from Maine.   Oh, and while away I had no chest pains but I did have a few palpitations which I notices were happening the day after I did not get a very good nights sleep. 

Last week, I had my follow up. 
Yes there is something wrong with my heart. The palpitations were clearly visible on the stress test traces plus my heart rate and blood pressure shot up in the last two minutes of the 8 minute test.  On the Echo scan, they also showed up plus the diagnosis of “lack of thickening” of the heart wall (I can’t remember what part of the heart) – this means that when then heart contracts this area is not or is not fully contracting thus the lack of thickening.  

So now, I am to take my blood pressure at least 3 times per day and write it down for them. NO heavy exercise until given the A-OK 

I am scheduled for a nuclear (dye) stress test.  This is so they can actually see what is happening in the heart wall, this is scheduled for July 25th.  After that they will also have me wear a hear monitor for 24 hours and I have to record what I am doing when I feel the palpitations so they can correlate the trace with my activities. IF they find anything funky after that I might have to have an angiogram. If it is minor I might just have to take beta-blockers.

As to what caused this, no idea. But my father had some similar issues in the 70's so my sister thinks it may be the same thing as I am about the age where his palpitations showed up but back then they never could identify what the problem was.

As my sister has said - Aging is a one-way ticket to nowhere and it's not fun. It is a pain in the ass.

What motivates you?
As I have written about earlier, I'm struggling with my weight and I am not really motivated to loose it.

When we are younger we are brainwashed into believing that skinny is better and it will attract a partner/spouse; that's why we should keep our weight down and our looks up.

When I was in high school and in college I was very athletic (strange for a geek, I know) but back then girls did not do weight training. In college I Fenced and did quite a bit of training: stretching, weights, swimming, fencing, running and even playing chess. Each item brought different skills to the game and I was quite good at it. BUT the effect of all this training was I put on quite a bit of muscle. I think I went to college weighing about 110 pounds and I was quite skinny. When I graduated, I weighed about 135 and at one point my father said I was FAT. 

Now that I am older and I have a husband (and not looking to find another one!) I certainly don't listen to those who tell me that IF: I put on a little makeup I would look "more appealing" - Hey my husband likes the way I look. By loosing weight, think of all the great fashion I could wear - No thank you! I am quite happy to wear baggy jeans and t-shirts. Then there are the general health reasons - well I may not be in World Class shape but I am not going to die of a heart attack any time soon (if this post is not finished, maybe I dropped dead here and now).

As you can see, telling me all these "common" reasons doesn't do it for me. I need a goal - some thing to accomplish and everything else is just a consequence. 

Here let me give you an example.  Years ago I was told that I "needed" to learn Java (the programming language) as it would help my career. I started to learn it and got rather bored and set it aside and actually, it has not influenced my career one bit.  Now I have an Android phone. I want to program a few apps for myself and oh, guess what -  I have to now learn Java. Learning Java for just knowing it does nothing for me. 

Basically it come down to this - I need a goal for learning. To learn, I need something to apply it to. 

So were it this all going? Over the past few months I have done some more weight training and just going to the gym to lift weights is not so fun for me. I was taking walks at lunch but I gave up because the results were too slow to appear.  But through all of this I found I was dreaming about RUNNING. Nothing was chasing me, I not running way from anything. I was just running, out along a trail  and I WAS HAPPY, I WAS HAVING FUN.  Hmm, maybe my dreams were telling me something?

So yesterday I got new running shoes; track pants and jog bra.  I have also set a goal of running a 5K in by summer, and no it won't be fast AND I am going to aim for a 10K in either November or December. 

Today I went for my first walk. Here are my stats: 2.14 miles in 29:51 minutes. My average speed was 4.31 mph. 

FYI I am using the free app Google MyTracks which you can use to record distance for all sorts of activities.  I will be posting my progress as I go

I admit it, I have not been working on loosing weight; but hey, I have some great excuses.Let's start over 6 years ago with the discovery that my thyroid stopped working. Not only did it stop working...I actually had thyroid cancer. Unless you know the symptoms and you push your doctor to do more, this can be missed as mine was for over a year maybe even two. I was always cold. I started to put on weight. My thyroid was slightly swollen and my doctor said to take kelp since the thyroid hormone test we low but still in the normal range. Over time the weight gain got worse, I was wearing sweats in the summer time, I was really cranky, irritable and had no energy, I even started to get some huge hives that would appear and disappear in a few minutes if not hours.  I stopped running, walking, and lifting weights. I did not knit or quilt. I gained over 20 pounds, then 30 and then 40 pounds.


I was also getting a lot of sinus infections at that time, so I went to a Ears, Nose, Throat specialist and he found that I had a deviated septum (probably from the hard whack on the nose I had a year or two earlier, while doing karate, and it had not been broken). But during the general exam, the ENT doctor felt my thyroid. Not only was it swollen but he felt a lump. I was scheduled for a CAT scan within the week and there we found not one but THREE lumps in my thyroid. I was then referred to an Endocrinologist and scheduled nose surgery to correct the deviated septum.

After going to the Endo doctor, he did a complete thyroid workup. First, we found that my thyroid levels were not low - the were almost non-existent (first bell is going off). Then he did a biopsy of the nodules which came back with the result of cancer - but the most common and easiest to cure. Surgery to remove my thyroid was scheduled.   By now I was calling the situation "NICK THE NODULE" and I was gaining weight by just looking at food.

After the thyroid surgery and 3 weeks of recovery, I had to have a Radioactive Iodine treatment - which made me slightly radioactive for 3 days. FYI, the iodine has a half life of 3 days, so after that you can be around people but during this time, you can't go near pregnant women, small children, any government installation, like an airport, that has detectors - you will set them off!

BUT before you can have the treatment, you have to cleanse your body of iodine. No fish, salt, or any other thing that could have iodine in it. You also have to stop taking Synthroid which is the hormone replacement medicine you are now taking for the rest of your life. In three weeks I went from feeling good to feeling worse than before. I puffed up, I got cold again, I got so fuzzy brained I could not drive. I really would not wish this on my worst enemy!

Then I was given the treatment. And my husband who is a tech nut like me decided to pull out a Geiger counter and see how radioactive I was. Then he wanted me to pee in a cup for him, so he could keep testing the decay. Now I can joke about it but because I was feeling so crappy, at the time I WAS NOT AMUSED.

One year later I had a full body scan and had a second iodine treatment, which was not as bad as the first but I was also very  depressed so I went to a therapist, took some happy drugs and it was two years before I felt good again.

And then it was one thing after another...
My husband had to have emergency aortic valve (replacement) surgery and almost did not make it. Between my job and his recovery my health took the back seat again.

I then tore my right rotator cuff - it was months before I even got the surgery approved by my insurance, the surgery was performed and it then I had 6 months of physical therapy. That was 2 years ago.

So here we are - six plus years later and I am 40 pounds over weight. I decided to do this today, not because it was the start of the New Year, but because it was time - I am going to loose the weight and get fit.