Thursday, September 04, 2008

One year went by

A year ago yesterday, I had a 7-month-old, a 4-year-old, a 7-year-old and a 9-year-old. We were having a nice morning, despite the fact that I'd stayed up late sewing and eating chocolate the night before, and drinking some sort of awesome chai tea latte. We got up and I had my usual cup of coffee. I made some butternut squash for Canaan. Someone knocked on the door and as I turned to answer it, Canaan grabbed a huge bottle of bleach and it fell off the counter onto the kitchen floor. The lid broke and the bleach spilled everywhere. After tending to the visitor, I cleaned up the bleach mess.

Around 12:00 I went upstairs to put Canaan down for a nap. I laid him on my bed and got in next to him. I latched him on to nurse. I closed my eyes.

Then things went wrong. Very wrong.

My heart flopped. It just beat one time very, very hard. Harder than I'd ever felt my heart beat. And then it raced. And thumped. My heart was doing flips inside my chest. I bolted halfway upright, looking out my bedroom window and trying to get a grasp on what was wrong.

Then I started to feel dizzy, like I might pass out. Like - oh my gosh, like I really might pass out. And I was home alone with all those kids.

"Malachi - bring me the phone!"

"What phone?"

"I DON'T CARE, JUST BRING ME A PHONE THAT WORKS!"

I called 911. I told him that my heart was beating way too hard and fast, and that I was home alone with four children. I was getting weak and he couldn't hear me very well. He said, "You're home alone with a four-year-old?" I said, "No, I'm home alone with four children." He said, "don't worry, we'll make sure they're taken care of."

Panic! What would they DO with my children? Where would they go? They'd be afraid!

Hello - we have in-laws across the street!! I sent Malachi to get Grandma and Grandpa. They came right over and got the kids, and I somehow got myself down the stairs and onto the couch. My sister-in-law came over and sat with me while we waited for the ambulance to come. I felt so weak, so tired and surprisingly more embarrassed than afraid.

The fire department arrived and asked me tons of questions and put an oxygen mask on. So embarrassing, all these people in my living room and here I am slouched on the couch in pajamas at noon. Alif walked in and looked pale and nervous. The ambulance arrived and they loaded me up.

My heart rate fluctuated between 180 and 220 on the way to the hospital. The paramedic put an IV in and said he was going to give me a medication that would stop my heart for a split-second, and that it might hurt. Nervous! It didn't hurt. No wonder - when we arrived at the hospital he told the doctor that he gave me Digoxin and it "didn't even touch it".

The rest is a blur of medications, staring at my vitals and waiting for my heart to convert, finding out that it was not the v-tach they'd suspected but instead it was a-fib which usually happens to very old people or extreme athletes (I don't qualify in either case). I converted to normal sinus rhythm within a few hours. I stayed overnight and was very glad to do so, as I was afraid to be home alone with my babies again. I called my midwife to find out if I could still nurse with all the meds in my system. They all checked out fine, so I pumped and when Alif brought the kids to see me, nursed Canaan. It was the longest 36 or so hours of my life.

Those few hours wreaked some pretty serious havoc in my life. I was so afraid. I couldn't imagine ever exercising again, for fear that my heart would go crazy. I started having panic attacks, mostly at night. I couldn't imagine driving anywhere ever again. I ended up in the hospital again - TWICE - within the week, thinking I was in a-fib again, but I was "just" having panic attacks. They gave me a tranquilizer.

I felt so . . . not in control. What an awful feeling, to go from feeling like a normal, productive woman to someone who can't do the simplest daily task without feeling afraid.

My Mom paid for me to go to counseling. My counselor worked with me for a few months and really understood what I was going through. Several of her family members have had a-fib and she herself has suffered (!!) from panic attacks. She really helped.

When I look at my life today, I am so thankful that my a-fib was a one-time occurrence. I'm thankful for the ability to live each day and not be afraid every time I lie down or get into the car. I'm prayerful that it never happens again. I'm completely caffeine-free, I try to get enough sleep and I try not to use bleach.

I think the thing that was so disturbing about it was that it was so random. I've never had a problem with my heart at all, and all of a sudden it went completely berserk. It was such a strange thing to be fine one minute and very not-fine the next. I can say one thing for sure, though. There is nothing that drives us deep into the Father's arms like a health scare. For that, I'm thankful.

9 comments:

  1. Oh, my. What an awful experience to go through! I have had my heart race before from too much caffeine but never like that. And I've also had panic attacks before, and I can totally understand how you could think that it was your heart acting up again. Living with the fear of something like that happening again is not fun at all.

    I'm so glad it was a one-time thing and hope and pray it never happens again!

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  2. i have only ever had one panic attack and it scared me so bad i passed out. hoe scary for you and the kiddos. thank God everything is alright. i cant believe it has been a year!

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  3. So thankful that you are okay 1 year on. There's been a few things lately where i have realised how close I often get to a serious accident at home and then I think how on earth would I handle that with 2 little ones. Sounds like you have very rational thinking, I am hoping that if the situation arises that I will be able to locate my rational brain that I usually carry with me. It's got me through panic attacks many a time (they think my heart is sending wrong messages to my brain because of a wonky valve and causing the attacks when I am usually cool, calm and collected) Rational thinking and a heap load of prayer!

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  4. thanks so much for sharing. so glad you are ok. and yes, the Lord has us in his hands, thank goodness for that!

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  5. ohmygoodness!
    thank you so much for sharing. sometimes we need to be reminded that every breath is a gift from God - and to be thankful for it.
    (i had a panic attack when my water broke - "nevermind, no thanks! i don't want to have a baby after all!" - my poor husband ;-)

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  6. Hey, Happy Birthday!!! I hear we share the same day!!

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  7. I cannot, cannot believe this happened. It still feels so unreal. I still remember the tone in Mom's voice when she called. Your perspective is incredible on the whole thing.

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  8. how very scary. Im glad everything turned out ok

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  9. Hey there! You stopped in at my blog and commented a few days ago, and I thought I'd return the favor :) I'm just curious how you found my blog...?

    Anyway, I've had a good time reading your posts, and I wanted to let you know how touched I was that you posted this particular story. I'm new to the blogging world, and haven't really shared anything too personal on mine yet.

    Your comment at the end of this post, about being driven deep into our Father's arms during our times of struggle, or in your case, this random health scare, well it was touching.

    Although I haven't been through something even remotely similar to what you shared, what I gathered from your story is, that life is so short, we never really know what will happen.

    It could be something completely random that could take my husband or myself or any one of our children from this earthly life, and did I do everything possible to ensure they knew they were loved and cared for? It made me realize that I need to be in better check with my family to make sure the little things are tended to.

    I really think that things happen to us for a reason. If not a reason that you understand, one that someone else might....like me :)

    Thank you, keep up the good blogging!

    ~Ivy

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