Modern medicine

Holy shit, modern medicine is amazing! A little over a week ago, doctors at BIDMC fixed my heart... without cracking open my chest. The only side effect- some serious bruising on my thighs where they slid some wires into the two branches of the femoral vein.

UPDATE:
Almost a year later, but I just found this blog post that does a decent job of describing what it's like to have an EP Study. (Wish I'd gotten anesthesia. And the Valium. I got a sleeping pill after puking all day in my post-op room when they decided that I needed to be observed overnight.) I have to say that I did not think that the Cath Lab at BIDMC looked dingy at all. My only complaint - it was very cold.

What is Telemetry?

Telemetry - the unit of a hospital where patients' vital signs and heart rates are closely measured

Friday's fainting spell sent me back to the Beth Israel Deaconess ER. They admitted me to the Telemetry/Cardiac Unit. Here's what was running through my mind as they wheel me in - I'm 28. Am I seriously being admitted to the Cardiac Unit? Isn't that mainly for old people? This is really scary.

For all I might bitch about in regard to the ER, this place was like a whole different hospital. Even though it was a weekend I did not feel like I got the B Team. The doctors, nurses and aides were wonderful, knowledgeable, compassionate, and professional. It was very scary for me to be there, but they did their best to make me feel as normal as possible while still hooked up to various machines.

Highlights (I'm trying to see the brighter side of things)

• They figured out what was wrong with me. On a Saturday.
  
• Getting to see an ElectroPhysiologist. Some hospitals make you wait until a weekday to see a specialist.
• Discussing world politics with one of my CNA's. She's from Nigeria. It was enlightening. Seriously.
• Being reassured by a nurse that I'm not the only person under the age of 50 to have been admitted there in the past decade. She said it's not uncommon for younger people to have cardiac issues.
  
• Unhealthy hospital food. I made it my mission to order the least healthy options available, but to always add a green salad or fresh fruit cup.Since I wasn't on a cardiac diet I had free range to order whatever I wanted. My meals included such nutritious options like chicken fingers, a side order of fries, chocolate cake, pancakes (with real syrup and real butter), grilled cheese.

They let me go home until my procedure on Wednesday. Yay! I'm not a prisoner of the hospital any longer. Not to mention that I would've gotten fat eating so many unhealthy meals.