What's next?
I just got off the phone with my cardiologist.
The hightlights of that conversation are:
My heart is normal (ha! I told him he might need to call some people to confirm).
The monitor caught some episodes of atrial fibrillation and atrial tachycardia; atrial fibrillation is more serious, which we kind of knew already. He asked if I felt it when it happened: um, yes, doctor, I felt it, did you?
He said that my options were to move to a secondary medication that works with the electrical system of the heart, but which could have "side effects that are not as benign as metoprolol" (that's what I'm currently taking). I haven’t noticed any major side effects from the metoprolol, except that I misspell the word “metoprolol” every single time. I guess being tired is one of them, and I’ve certainly experienced being tired but who hasn’t been tired lately? My general malaise and ennui has been ongoing for a long time; it might just be my natural state. Let’s not blame science.
There's also a surgical option, which is more invasive and problematic, and as he said, “Generally tolerated well by people with a normal heart structure [of which I am one; could you please write that down?] and good for people who don’t like taking medication.”
I don’t like taking medication but I’m pretty sure I like it better than surgery.
Then, I asked him what could have caused this whole shebang, and he said, "Genetics, sleep apnea, lack of exercise." But, since my episodes occur during the day and not just at night, he doesn't think sleep apnea is it.
I admitted to being basically inert for the past year and a half. He agreed that could have something to do with it, and didn’t sound too smug when he did it. (He’s a nice guy.)
So the plan is this: we are going to keep my medication the same and he “prescribed” 30 minutes of walking a day, and then he will check in with me in three months. I put voice to my fears about having a stroke (why was it so hard to talk about this? I don’t know, but it is) and mentioned my varicose veins and though he didn't say "Irene, that is crazy! Girl you are NOT going to have a stroke,” he did add a daily baby aspirin to my meds. He doesn’t think the varicose veins have anything to do with anything but was probably happy for the visual. Sir, you are welcome.
Now, if I couldn’t be trusted to write in this stupid blog every day for more than 5 days, can I be trusted to walk 30 minutes a day every day? Honestly, I don’t know. But I kind of have to do it. So? Let’s go. To quote Abby Bartlet (and if you read the last post, you know that I can): Game on, boyfriend.