I love my mom. I want to start with this. She is my best friend.
On Thursday night, April, whatever, I started feeling sinus symptoms. A few days ago, Someone at work took a Covid test and was negative, told she had a sinus infection. So I figured this was just one of the many sinus infections I'm likely to get this year. Typical symptoms, headache, sinus pressure, stuffy/runny nose, etc. The usual. Went to work Friday, feeling lousy, but I'm prone to sinus infections, I'm used to them... got home form work, still just feeling run of the mill lousy like I always feel when I have a sinus infection. But, I remember seeing social media posts about people testing positive for Covid-19 after having sinus infections so I'm wondering if that's what is wrong with me. I have all these at home tests, so ight as well see.. i do the second one from a kit I have from work... Is that a faint line??? I'm not sure I trust it, since the test expired in February, but I have these tests my mom ordered from the government... another faint line. After the second test I texted my boss (with pictures of both) saying we might have a problem. He was not happy and recommended that I go to urgent care and get another test and a note saying I can come back to work in 5 days.... I blame the rest of my story on him...
The next day (As I took the test around 7pm and the nearest urgent care closes at 8pm) I went to Urgent Care. After finally getting in the door (It may have only taken 30 minutes, but I'm not the most patient person) I was given a test while having my pulse/ blood pressure taken. The nurse? says my pulse is high. (Medical setting, I've had tons of medical procedures done, my pulse is always higher in a medical setting...) I'm sitting there and the PA comes in saying I'm Covid positive, but my pulse is too high and they won't release me.. I have to go to the ER! (Ignoring the fact that I have a heart condition, was just told that my pulse is high and they won't let me leave) Tried to convince me to take an ambulance. I get he was doing his job, but if you have a patient who has obviously had prior heart survey (saw my scars, they EKG, AND was telling the techs the landmarks of TOF) MAYBE YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO THEM! I got them to agree that my mom would drive me to the Er. So, she picked me up, and after I drove my car home (maybe not the smartest, but I wasn't leaving my car there) we went to the ER.
I get there and they take me right in and do another EKG. Doc says I hav SVT so they give me meds. The nurse gave me some medicine, that doesn't seem like it works more than a few seconds so she gave me more. At that pint to doctors comes in and asks how much she gave me, when she responds he made it seem like she gave me too much all at once. i don't know if it was panic, or if it's just when the drug hit me but I felt instant cushing pain in my chest and all I wanted at the point was my dad (My mom, is wonderful, but my dad was always the one who we called whenever there was some medical emergency. At that point, all I wanted was for him to tell the doctors to stop) For those couple minutes I really thought I was going to die,. I thought they had made some mistake and it was over. And I wanted my daddy, even though my mom was standing right there and I could see her, I remember asking the nurse what "did she do to me" Thankfully, it was just a misunderstanding between the doctor and nurse (the nurse apologized to me a few times, even saying that's how the doctor gets), Yet they wonder why my blood pressure and pulse were so high (thinking you are going to die and the fight or flight response might be a reason), still thinking it's SVT so they give me some IV med to lower it while they talk to a cardiologist. Not too much later the nurse comes in saying the cardiologist said to stop the med.
12 hours later I'm still in the ER. Waiting for my room to clear since they are keeping me ovenight but my positive Covid test (at this point I've taken 4) is messing things up. I finally get to my room around 11:45pm and everything seems ok. Aside from my annoyance that I'm still in the hospital when I want to go home.
(I'm going to skip to the next morning and the docotr w=visit as the night was uneventfull, aside from the typical nurse wakeups for blood pressure and blood tests... why won't they let you sleep in a hospital???)
The next morning the door opens (I was expecting breakfast since the nurse contacted me over the intercom/ calling thing that she was bringing it) when the doctor walks in. And he asks me if I've felt any fast heart beats or anything,. And actually LISTENED when I told him i had a Fitbit that tracked heart rate and hadn't noticed anything personally or through the device. (DOCTORS- LISTSEN TO YOUR PATIENTS!!!) He then told me that it was most likely they Covid that ade my heart beat so fast and that I did not that SVT. And that I most likely could go home that day! I've never been happier.
It took a few hours and another saline IV, I have to drink more, but I finally got leave. Happy that my heart seemed ok, aside frm the typical abnormalities that are found in an EKG with someone of TOF and now (many days) later feeling guilty because in y lowest moments I wanted my dead parent, not the one who is still here and my best friend. And that is what sticks with me the most. How grief and longing for someone no longer here can hit us at our lowest moments.
