MVP

...and no, I don't mean most valuable player. I was diagnosed with Mitral Valve Prolapse in 1994 when I went in for a routine appendectomy. The doctor couldn't begin the surgery until my heartrate was stabilized. As I lay there on the table, in and out of it from pain, I could just hear phrases every now and then... "not stable" "cardiologist" "heart condition" Finally they called in a cardiologist (a nice guy who was gardening at home and came in asap in his shorts and tennis shoes!) who diagnosed me with mitral valve prolapse. The docs explained it as the most common heart valve abnormality and told us that most people are unaffected and only a small percentage actually need valve replacement. Ok great, I was thinking, now get my appendix out before I die from the pain!

The main inconvenience with MVP is that because some of the blood in my heart actually "leaks" backwards, infection is much easier to get than in a normal heart. So, before any dental cleanings or procedures I have to take antibiotics. No biggie! (Oh yeah, and no caffeine, only water and sports drinks like gatorade....oops.)

Fast forward to the year 2000 where I'm at a sorority function at my college...
Chest pains hit, dull at first and then very strong. With every breath my chest and shoulder ache terribly until I'm in tears. It's to the point where holding my breath was the only way to not cry, and then when I did have to breathe, the pain was literally unbearable. I called the cardiologist who had came to the hospital that day and he asked me to go to the Heart Care Center immediately. Mom rushed me in and I was diagnosed with pericarditis, an inflammation of the thin membrane that surrounds your heart, also known as the worst pain EVER. The inflammation was so bad that when I was breathing, my inflated lungs were coming into contact with the membrane and causing the terrible pain. So some anti-imflammatory drugs later, I was fine. The doc told me to take 4 ibuprofen every four hours and if I ever had a cold, or any type of virus, to start taking the 4 ibuprofen every four hours to try and prevent infection.

Fast forward to June 30 2007...
I'm now living in AZ with my hubby and we decided to go out and meet friends. We ate dinner and as we leave to go to a different bar, I start to feel chest pain, only when I exhale. I started to take shallow breaths hoping it would go away, but as the night continued the pain got worse and worse until I couldn't breathe at all. My left shoulder was radiating with pain and every breath I took made it worse. Matt brought me home and I took Ibuprofen and laid down, tears streaming down my face, determined to get through the night so we could go to the doctor. (I was so delerious I forgot that the ER is open 24/7!). The next morning Matt took me to the Urgent Care center where an EKG was done and returned some abnormalties. My blood was tested and my enzyme levels were fine, but because of my history with pericarditis, the doc wanted me to have an echocardiagram and some further testing that was not available at the UCC. We were instructed to go to the ER immediately.

We arrived at the ER and were taken back right away where another EKG was done. I ended up staying in the ER for over 8 hours being tested, blood drawn, etc. I was on a heart monitor where my heartrate was going from 40 bpm up to 140 bpm in a matter of seconds. Alarms kept going off, and I was still in terrible, terrible pain. Finally they decided to give me some pain meds (via a shot to the rear, Ye-OUCH!) and the pain became more bearable. The doc said there were no signs to say that it was pericarditis again so he didn't see a need to even do an echocardiagram. After my EKG came back normal (who knows?) the ER doc informed us, "Chest pains are the most difficult thing to diagnosis. It could be your liver, it could be your heart...it could be any number of things. I'm not here to blow smoke and pretend like I know what it is when I don't. The tests came back showing that your heart seems to be in good shape, so get some rest." And whoosh, he was gone. Excuse me, what? So I was discharged with diagnosis "Chest pain-unknown cause" (Insert Sigh here)

The worst part of it all is that I don't know what causes these spells and I don't know how to prevent them or stop them when they start. Lately my palpitations are much worse and much harder to get rid of. Usually if my heart starts to beat rapidly I just lay down and take a nap, and when I wake up, everything is back to normal. But in the last couple days I can't even do that. I'll doze off and then jump awake with a pounding heart and hardly able to catch my breath. And since I've been pregnant I've had very little to NO caffeine and lots of gatorade.

I guess I'm just scared and it's pointless to go to the doctor because they never help. I think I might mention the palpitations to my doctor tomorrow at my OB appt. because I really am starting to wonder what my heart will do throughout the rest of my pregnancy, and delivery.

Sometimes I think it could be anxiety/stress related too, since I've lost my job, am moving across the country, bought a house 1700 miles away, have a house to pack in 2 weeks, etc. etc.

Here's hoping for a heart healthy day!