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How to See a Cardiologist or Night at the Hospital
Sometimes you have to spend the night in the hospital just to see a specialist.
Date: 1/11/2010 9:03:06 AM ( 15 y ) ... viewed 1154 times (This is a continuing saga and I’m not good at writing recaps. Start here at your peril.)
The ambulance ride to the ER was uneventful. My BP had calmed down and I felt somewhat better. No sirens. No flashing lights. Once we got there things started going bad again. My legs were shaking, my blood pressure went up, the EKG showed lots of PVCs and I felt terrible.
An internist came and introduced himself as (let’s say) Dr. B. He was in charge of my case. He gave me a dose of a new BP medicine, coreg, and told me that I my blood work was negative for signs of a heart attack. But he didn’t like all the PVCs, even though they are generally benign, and he didn’t like the way my blood pressure went up and down. He was trying to see if he could get me on the schedule to see a cardiologist.
In the meantime, R and I decided it was time to tell the kids. P & C aren’t exactly children anymore but luckily they both live nearby and soon made it to the ER. P brought his wife, daughter and sister-in-law. And someone told my work what was happening. Soon I had eight people with me in the ER. I was surprised because when I broke my arm there was a one visitor limit. Maybe the number goes up with how sick you are.
Dr. B came back and said he could not get me on the cardiologist’s schedule for that day and the only way I could see one the following day would be if I were an in-patient at the hospital. Otherwise I’d have to wait until Monday. How did I feel about that?
R and P and C and I discussed it. I felt better. Maybe the coreg was just the thing. Maybe the weekend would be uneventful. P and especially C did not like this idea but R thought it would probably be fine. As we debated, another episode came on. Dr. B made the decision for us. He didn’t feel comfortable with me going over the weekend without seeing the cardiologist.
I checked in and R, P and C went with me up to the new room. Very nice; it should be for that price. I didn’t have to have oxygen anymore but I was still on the EKG and automatic BP cuff. I felt better again so the whole thing seemed a lot less serious than it had. Dr. B explained that the cardiologist would see me when he made his rounds some time in the morning.
The night was uneventful. P stayed with me, sleeping on a reclining chair in my room. No one gets any sleep in a hospital because nurses are always coming and going, checking on you to make sure you’re just sleeping and not dead. That wouldn’t have been so bad but P had a much harder time. He kept sniffling and sneezing and complaining of allergies. And the recliner had a tilt to it so that there was only one “comfortable” position which soon became uncomfortable. I offered to change places but he declined.
I had to fast while waiting for the cardiologist. Nothing by mouth after midnight. He didn’t come at six like I thought he would. Or at seven. Or eight, or nine, or ten. He didn’t come at eleven or twelve. I guess he really was busy. Finally at about one-thirty, the nurse told me he was on the floor. At two I was summoned to the stress test. Before I went, I put my order in for room service, veggie burger with veggies on the side. In some ways, a hospital stay is like a hotel.
I went to the stress test in a wheel chair. That seemed a little odd since they were about to put me on a treadmill. They hooked me up to there own EKG and took my BP. BP was low but I was having a reasonable number of PVCs. Then I took a little walk. I think I did pretty well. It took a few settings before my systolic BP reached 200. Then, quick as I could, I had to lie back on the table as they took an ultrasound of my heart.
It looked fine.
They wheeled me back to my room and my waiting lunch. As soon as I ate, I checked out—I mean, I was discharged. P left for work. R drove me to my car, which was still at the doctor’s office, and I drove myself home. On the way home I picked up my prescription for coreg.
Maybe the whole thing was over. Maybe the coreg did the trick. And good to know there's nothing wrong with my heart, I can cross that off of my list of concerns.
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