Holter Heart Monitor

This is me right before I got the monitor. Today was a big day, but a good one at that.This morning I went in and they did an echo cardiogram. Really neat. It is a sonogram for your heart. It looks just like what you would see your baby on although you see your heart beating instead. It was really neat. She took pictures and videos at all different angles and then turned on something that showed you all the blood moving. That was neat too. It was red & blue and showed you were the oxygenated blood versus the un-oxygenated blood was and if they were interfering with each other. The last thing she did was turn on the sound. That was neat, but odd. It was the sound of your heart beating but also you could hear the blood sloshing around going in and out of your heart. I felt bad for the little valves- always having to work. No wonder they get tired...

After doing the echo cardiogram I met with the doctor who doesn't hear anything from listening to my heart and her doing the exam but she wont know if there is a structural problem until after the echo comes back. Also, the EKG is just a little snap shot of what your heart does all day. Therefore I was placed in a Holter Heart Monitor. I have to wear it for 24 hours. As of right now I have 10 hours and 55 minutes left. Here is some information on them, and a picture of the exact one I'm wearing.

HOLTER MONITOR DESCRIPTION:

Holter monitoring is a painless test which provides a continuous recording of heart rhythm during normal activity. This electrophysiologic test is used to assess and document cardiac rhythm disturbances, and to monitor the effect of antidysrhythmic and pacemaker therapy. The monitor is usually worn for 24 hours (or longer) to obtain a recording. The Holter monitor can record heart rate and rhythm when you feel chest pain or symptoms of an irregular heartbeat (called arrhythmia). The doctor can then look at the time when patient noticed these symptoms. Reading this printout will give the doctor an idea about the nature of the heart problem.

I took pictures but don't think I will be posting them considering it is my chest. It is extremely itchy and awkward. I have tape all over my chest.

Aggie Ring Pictures (just a few)

More to come later...its late but I just wanted some pictures up...

Pictures From Kingwood

My mom has been here since I got the news about my heart and brought with her pictures of what our neighborhood looks like. The house next to ours lost a huge tree and across the street did also. Thank God the wind was blowing the way it was or our house would have been a goner.
Across the street they lost one of their big trees also...This is my driveway you see and our neighbors side yard.This below is the side of our house. It missed our windows by inches
This is our fence. Mom has been wanting a new fence along the back anyways...Thank Ike. : )

I'm Your MVP

So I am sure most of you have heard by now about my oh so wonderful week so far....(it can only get better right?). but for those of you who have yet to hear I'll give you a quick re-cap.

I have felt sick since Thursday morning. I have just felt congested, nauseated, had a migraine, stomach ache, and extremely sleepy. I slept for most of the weekend blaming it on the hurricane. Sunday, however, I was tired of being trapped in the house. I was all dressed up and was so excited to go shopping. However, I went outside and turned on my car only for it not to start. My battery was DEAD. I was fuming and frustrated. I still felt awful but now I was mad that my car was dead. I called my family but since the hurricane no one's phones were connected or working. So I called Justin, and then called Kason. Kason came over and jumped me and we went to Advanced Auto Parts. They said it was my battery that was dead but they could fix it in about 20 minutes. I stood inside and talked to what I now know as the manager. I stood inside and chatted for a few minutes when suddenly I felt awful. I told him I was feeling dizzy and was going to sit down outside (on the curb). My plan was to walk to my car and sit in my car until it was ready but I couldnt make it. I only made it to the door before my eyes went black. I sat on the curb where I became unable to move. My body felt like it was slowly shutting down. I became unable to hold my head up. I tried to call my friends but I was unable to hold the cell phone. My body felt like it weighed 800 pounds. My cellphone felt like 900 pounds! It was super scary. The manager came out and gave me some water and asked if I was alright. I could see ants crawling on me and me not being able to do anything about it was horrible. It was like I was in a dream. The manager eventually asked me if I wanted to go sit in his office for awhile and I remember putting my hand up for him to help me stand up and then that was the last thing I remember until I was awake in his office. I continued to try and get in touch with someone but NO ONE was answering their phones. I called Justin and was crying by this point and he said he would call Taylor & Eric. 15 minutes later I had been walked to the car by the manager (who had given me his card, his cell phone, his wife's name, etc.) where I had just sat down as Taylor & Eric came to my rescue. Eric drove my car home and I rode home with Taylor. The second I got in the car I started balling. I have passed out before but never like this. It was so scary. I really thought something horrible was going to happen and I had no way of getting in touch with anyone and was all alone and super humiliated.

Monday morning I got up and made a doctor appt for 2:15. I got yelled at by the doctor for not calling 911 when it happened. I started crying. I was a mess. I really am just scared. She came back in the room and told me they were gonna do a complete blood work and that my heart sounded funny so we were going to go ahead and do a EKG. I have had an EKG before (9th grade, my heart always beat funny) but it came back completely normal. I went downstairs got my blood and just wanted to cry. I just knew my blood work was going to tell me I was dying of cancer or something horrible. I go back upstairs and the doc tells me my blood works looks basically normal. My white blood cells are low but nothing to be concerned about. I told her my fears and she told me that my heart is what I should be worried about....(great, thanks lady!).

They ran the EKG and she proceeded to tell me that it looks like I have an enlargement of my right chamber of my heart. (Great, just what you want to hear when you go in because you passed out, thinking your anemic and they tell you that you have an enlarged heart...perfect right!?) So I left the doctor crying still unable to get a hold of any of my family. Finally on the bus I was able to get ahold of them where my mom continued to tell me she wasn't going to freak out or cry (in between her sniffles) and was in my driveway 3 short hours later. : - ) I have since been much more keen to every abnormal heartbeat or breath I take. It is just scary.

My mom & aunt think I have what my aunt has: MVP- mitral valve prolapse. (hence me being your MVP). The symptoms are as follows: (tell me if this doesnt sound like me???)

Mitral valve prolapse is the most common heart valve abnormality. (great, they will know how to treat it)
Signs and symptoms of mitral valve prolapse include: fatigue, palpitations, chest pain, anxiety, and migraine headaches.
Echocardiography is the most useful test for mitral valve prolapse.


So I have hit a few speed bumps in my life in the past three days. So keep me in your prayers & I'll keep you updated. Sorry I know this is a long one...more to come on my first day of placement at a later date...

P.S. A BIG BIG THANK YOU to Kason, Taylor & Eric-

once again my KNIGHTS IN SHINING ARMOR came through for me...

Gave me chills...

watch....

The Zoo & Ike

As of Thursday night another dog joined our zoo. Manga is his name. It means "disobedient solider" in Greece. If you are wondering where Manga came from...he is my stat professor's basset hound from this summer. He and his wife are going to California for the weekend to get her a new car. They will be returning on Sunday. Having three puppies (Manga- almost a year, Pip-6 months and Drake-11 weeks) has been quite a handful during this hurricane weekend. Its awful because they cant go outside and play so they are playing inside and they just so happen to choose my room to play in. : ) figures right? Friday night we all were standing in the front yard and it really did look like a zoo. I'll break it down.

Our house: Pip, Manga and Drake (mutt, basset hound, lab)

Next door: Wehner, and Rock (wiener dog and English bull dog)

Next to them: Autumn, Harley, Chance (Australian shepherd mix, husky mix, lab)

End of street: Cobb, Max, Haven (lab, poodle mix, lab)

The Girls: Shiloh (Great Pyrenees)

all together a grand total of:

12 dogs in 5 houses
Thank god for no cats. : )

Yesterday I prepared myself for Ike....

flashlights, lanterns, lighter & candles, and don't forget the disinfecting wipes

Enough water to last me awhile...hopefully

Yet as I sit here writing this... it is just rainy and windy. no conerns but I am prepared if something was to happen.

8 days

I remember ordering my ring and thinking that 95 days seemed so long and far away

....now it has come down to the last week.

8 days.

I know that it is just one day

I will get my ring, put it on, take some pictures and then I will have it- but it is so much more than that....

I have worked hard and made some amazing memories over the past years.

Here is the re-cap...

Freshman Year

I lived in Spence dorm on the quad. Joined Delta Gamma and spent time with my DG friends. This is a picture of me and my twin in the sorority, Jessica at the Grab a Date in December 05

Sophomore Year

I lived in the sorority house with my pledge class. One of my favorite memories from college is being able to live in the house but my favorite memory of that year is meeting the love of my life. This picture is me and Justin- one of our first pictures taken together

Junior Year

Junior Year Chelsea and I moved into our own house on a local street where our other 5 best friends live across the street. Junior year we all turned 21 and had a fun year being together. We spent all our time together at either our house or the girls house. This is a picture from my 21st birthday with my baby.

Here it is...now..SENIOR YEAR

It is finally here. Senior year. I feel like I just moved into Spence and looked at the Quad where this picture was taken in disgust and people would spend all their saturdays here with the band- waking me up early on my Saturday morning- now I am one of those people. I am looking forward to this last year of college. Cant really believe its happening...This picture is the first game of my last football season with once again my favorite boy.

We will see where this semester takes me...