When the cardiologist first told me I have a congenital heart condition I was terrified. I've never been so scared in all my life. My blood pressure went sky high for the first time in my life. There was a glimmer of hope in amongst the shock of it though, when he said he could fix my migraines by repairing the hole. It's still controversial, but studies have shown a link between a PFO and migraines, and mine are so debilitating that I thought it was worth going through the procedure so that I wouldn't have to endure daily headaches and frequent migraines.
It involves having a sheath inserted in the femoral vein and passed through the venous system to the heart. A device is then threaded up through the sheath into the hole where it is opened up and it plugs the hole up. Because it is minimally invasive and didn't involve opening up my chest, I was willing to go through it just to get some relief from my migraines and so I told him to book me in!
I had to have a TOE (transoesophageal echo) first, which involves a light sedative so that the doctor can put a probe into your throat in order to get a clearer look at the heart. I booked into the hospital I work at, and it was at this time when I discovered my insurance didn't cover cardiac surgery. The TOE showed up a more extensive heart problem than the first tests, however, so my cardiologist said that I needed to have it repaired soon, at the public hospital.
It showed that I have two small holes, a PFO and an ASD (atrial septum defect) and the atrial wall is floppy - also called an atrial septum aneurysm. This is why I get palpitations, and can be pretty dangerous if left untreated.
I got pretty upset at this news because I'm only in my early 40's and I've looked after my health all of my life. Dad was from 11 kids and his mother and 4 siblings died suddenly of cardiac events, plus he and at least two other siblings have heart disease. I didn't want to be just another statistic. My dad has decided to put his head in the sand regarding his own cardiac condition - he had a heart attack post-operatively last year and was meant to have investigations but declined. He'd rather leave it in God's hands - and that was his advice to me. I can't just leave it in God's hands though - I have two teenage boys who need me! I'd rather let God's hands guide the medical officers, with all their knowledge, to give me the best treatment in order to live a long, healthy life.
So the next step was to wait for the public hospital to get in touch with me so that I could have treatment there. It wasn't too long a wait - 5 weeks, but then they had to repeat the tests I'd already had, and they wanted more extensive testing before repairing the holes in my heart. So for the next couple of months I was in and out of hospital.
I slowed my life down considerably as soon as I found out I have a heart condition. I was a real gym junkie, going to the gym at least 3 times a week, plus swimming, running, cycling and personal training sessions. There were times when I was nearly passing out during sessions, from palpitations, dizziness and shortness of breath, but for some reason I never connected the dots and realised it was my heart that was the problem. I'd had the palpitations investigated when I was pregnant 16 years ago, and I was told it was just SVT - a non-life-threatening arrhythmia, so I had never worried about the palpitations.
In 2009 I was training really hard and I was addicted to the endorphins - I got agitated whenever I missed a training session. I found it hard to stop exercising even when I had badly sprained my knee or broken a rib while training. I was training really hard for a triathlon in November when I got really fatigued just before it. I just assumed I had overtrained but I didn't slow down. The fatigue never really went away and I think this was when my heart condition really decided to make itself known. There were a few times last year when I really should have called an ambulance because the symptoms were so bad but I admit, I was in a huge case of denial. I could have exercised to death! I guess it just wasn't my time to go.
I stopped all forms of exercise at the beginning of this year, and now I just walk the dog every day. Slowing my life down in this way has caused me to become a much calmer and peaceful person - taking time to smell the roses so to speak. I don't think I'll ever be that gym junkie again, but I do miss the fun of exercise, and the social aspect. I actually lost 3kg in weight, which I assume is muscle bulk, but I haven't turned to flab yet!
Next post: The day I nearly died
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