My heart does the Hokey-Pokey.

Hey kids. As some of you know, I had a bit of an interesting day yesterday. For the last week or so, I've been having these strange heart palpitations. It almost felt like my heart was skipping a beat. Nothing painful, just out of the ordinary and slightly disconcerting. Of course, I made a doctor's appointment and, of course, since it’s cold season I had to wait a few days before one was available. No prob. Well, yesterday I was in the middle of teaching a CPR/1st Aid class at work (you can almost smell the irony), when I began coughing uncontrollably. Then my palpitations became more frequent. Eventually I asked one of the students in the class to get the nurse. She came in, took my blood pressure, then checked my pulse. After doing this for a few minutes, she said, "I'm calling an ambulance". Um, okay. They then took me back to the nurses’ station and put me on Oxygen until the Paramedics arrived. My BP was 150/100. This was insane for me as I tend to be in the normal to lower end of the BP scale. They gave me an EKG in the ambulance & I actually got to see what it looked like when my heart skips. Kinda freaky. So I get taken to the ER, they stick me with IV shunts, tap me into 3 different machines and come with a possible diagnosis of MVP (Mitral Valve Prolapse). It's nothing terrifying. 6% of the population has it (mostly women) and most people don't even know they have it. I was discharged and told to see my GP today, which I did. I had another EKG and they received the rest of my blood work from the hospital and my neophyls (?) were slightly higher than they should be which could mean there is an infection somewhere. So I either have MVP or an infection in one of the upper valves of my heart. So I'm on 2000mg a day of penicillin for the next 7 days and I have an Echocardiogram scheduled for next week. Once that's all said & done, they'll know what's up.

Thanks to everyone for the happy thought and when I know what's going on, so will you :-)

March For Life- ’09

Hi gang. It's that time again. The Annual March For Life in Washington, D.C. is taking place on Thursday, January 22. The bus is leaving from St. Anselm Church on Dunks Ferry Road (in my old neighborhood). I still have to get the exact details (leaving & return times). The reservation is $10 and you should plan to be gone the whole day. Please let me know ASAP if you are interested in going and I'll get back to you with the details & what you should bring with you.