blood tests

i forgot to mention in my last post that i did get blood test results back at my doctor's visit this week. everything came back fairly normal. one of my iron numbers, the one that measures that iron in my blood, is completely normal. the other number, my iron storage (ferritin), is still low but almost normal, according to my doctor. he said the normal range is 15-290, and i'm at 11. is it just me, or does that sound like a huge range??

if my iron is almost normal, and i've been told my symptoms were caused by low iron, wouldn't you expect those symptoms to have disappeared by now? unfortunately, they haven't.

i have my CT scan tomorrow, and my doctor referred me to a pulmonary specialist as well as a sleep disorder specialist. i don't think anyone really thinks i have a sleep disorder, i think we're just all out of other ideas.

oh, and results from the stress test, when the techs freaked out that they saw something, came back totally normal. my guess? i think maybe the spike in my heart rate occurred when the techs were talking about the donuts in their break room, since i hadn't eaten in 4 hours at that point. i guess love will do that to your heart.

- L

you think you saw what??

i had my second stress test in one week today. totally lame. this time i had a stress test with echocardiogram, which means they do an ultrasound of my heart before and after exercising.

for a stress test, the technicians have a target heart rate that they need to get you up to in order to make sure your heart is truly "stressed". my target heart rate was 180. that sounds kind of high, given that my normal heart rate sitting is usually about 60. however, as i mentioned earlier, my heart rate increases just upon standing, even if i'm just standing still. when they put me on the treadmill this morning, even before they turned the machine on i was already at 110. so, getting up to 180 was a breeze. i could have continued to run for a while longer (see, i'm not THAT out of shape!) but they stopped once i reached the goal.

immediately after the treadmill stopped the technicians pushed me on a bed and began the echocardiogram. they moved the little stick around my chest and took pictures of my heart. at one point, the technician performing the echo turned to the other tech and said "woah! did you see that??!!" i looked at the screen to see what she was talking about, and all i could tell is that my heart waves had completely dropped off the screen for a few seconds, before coming back and resuming normal wave activity. the tech saw it again a minute or so later, and AGAIN exclaimed "oh my god!! did you SEE that?" when i asked what she saw, she dismissed my question.

don't you wish they taught medical technicians better bedside manners? aren't they trained to keep a straight face??

so, naturally, i've been worried all day since my test this morning. what did they see? is it something bad?? is my heart okay??

out.
- L

apparently i must be stressed....

...because i failed the stress test. had my treadmill stress test yesterday. i thought it went okay, i didn't have any problems running and the test technician didn't mention any problems. however, i got a call from my doctor this morning that i have to do it again. apparently the results showed a postive for something called ischemia. however, ischemia false positives are common in women my age, so the doctor thinks that's what it is. so next week i get to go in for another stress test, this time with an echocardiogram before and after exercising.



on a more exciting note, the beach house here is AWESOME! we're having a great time right on the sands of mission beach. in fact, i've got better things to do than sit here and blog! peace out!

- L

do i have something on my chest?

i was supposed to get the holter monitor put on tomorrow. i called the cardiologist today because, as i mentioned before, i have to have the holter monitor on for 24 hours. my stress test is scheduled for tomorrow, then they were going to put the holter monitor on right afterwards. however, i didn't want to run on a treadmill, put on a monitor and not be able to shower for 24 hours. that seemed like severe punishment for my friends at the beach house and the bf. so, they offered to put the monitor on today and it will come off tomorrow right before my treadmill test. which means....shower tomorrow after the treadmill! hooray!



so, i have all these wires sticking out of my chest. i feel a little like an alien, but not even one of those cool green slimy aliens that sigourney weaver rocks, but instead like one of those goofy aliens will smith is friends with. not quite the same thing.

if you compare that picture above, with the picture from the night i came home from the ER back in may, you can see an obvious difference, and probably understand why i'm a little nervous about the treadmill test tomorrow. someone's a little out of shape. :)

out.
- L

eeeeekg

i saw my primary dr. he took another EKG and scheduled a holter monitor and stress tests for my heart, and another xray to figure out what that thing on my lung is. he thinks it could just me a discolored spot or a calcium deposit, so we need to get a better look.

in the last 4 months i have had 4 EKGs. i really wish people would stop ordering them - if they're coming back normal, maybe we should stop wasting my money!! i bet my insurance company isn't too happy with me. i've already cost them thousands of dollars in the last few months, and unfortunately it looks like its about to get even more expensive.

the stress test is where they hook me up to an EKG and it records my heart activity while i exercise on a treadmill. a holter monitor, unfortunately, is a device i have to wear for 24 hours that records my heart activity through the electrode pads like an EKG. unfortunately the only time i could schedule the heart monitor test is for the weekend when my friends and i have rented the beach house. i'm going to look pretty silly in a bathing suit!!

out.
- L

back in the ER, back in the ER, back in the Eeee Rrrrr!

well, i was back in the ER yesterday. one of the symptoms i have been having over the past few months is accelerated heart rate every time i stand up. when sitting its usually at about 60-70 bpm, which is very normal. but when i stand up, it goes up to about 120. this weekend it went as high as 165. it's a weird feeling when your heart is beating as fast as it would be if you were exercising when you're just standing there.

in addition to the accelerated heart rate, i also had chest pains and shortness of breath all weekend. on monday morning, i called my doctor to try to get an appointment. the receptionist put the nurse on the phone who told me to immediately go to the ER. at the ER, they ran a bunch of tests including an x-ray, an EKG and blood tests.

the doctors couldn't find any reason for the chest pain or shortness of breath. however, the x-ray did reveal that i have a spot on my left lung. i don't know what it is, or what that means, but i don't think that's good news.

out.
- L