It's true that we are made of flesh and blood and thoughts and dreams and a host of all else imaginable. Yet, lately I have never felt more like a car. That's right! A mechanical contraption with varied parts of pumps and gears and belts, fluids here and there, and some spark plugs to crank the machine and keep it puttering along to where it needs to go. I lost a bit of the familiar humanness in the process of which I found myself in.
Healthcare is a field I am very familiar with, having spent around three decades of my life as a Registered Nurse. But nothing prepared me for the set of events I found myself thrown into. I became a patient.
The whole ordeal started out quite simply. A routine visit to the nurse practitioner for my yearly. The only real change I had encountered since our last meeting was increased fatigued, which was getting to be a severe malady and crimping my lifestyle. I was certain it was due to the many pleasantries of my old enemy, fibromyalgia. But I didn't discount that it could be a low Vitamin D deficiency since I was prone to that, also.
That all changed when she put her stethoscope to my chest and came up with, "Your heart is beating with irregularities." I quickly retorted with , "The hell you say," and put my fingers to my wrist to feel for myself. And so it was. It was true. (Isn't this just like noticing your engine has a sputter?)
So, off I went for diagnostics. (Just like we do when we take the car in...) First blood work. (Check the fluids.) Then and EKG to check the heart rhythm. It showed PVCs (pre-ventricular contractions) but there were lots of them. (The spark plugs weren't firing in order/the timing was off.) But the strangest thing is, I never felt the first "flutter" to know something was amiss. I was just going about my business but in slow motion.
Now, don't get me wrong, I've always admired the philosophies of Thoreau, but not in matters of my heart. Who exactly told it to re-arrange the music? Not me!
The next stop was a consult to a cardiologist. Okay, sounded reasonable. He made arrangements for an ECHO, a chemical Stress test (I wasn't about to have a manual exertion with fibromyalgia,) and a heart monitor to wear for three weeks. None of those diagnostics were difficult, but the waiting was.
The ECHO showed a small blockage in the front of my heart and that the pump (ejection fraction) wasn't terribly bad, but could be better. The other tests just verified that those PVCs were sustained and putting a burden on my heart. So, the next stop was to consult with an electrophysiologist for an ablation. In my case, the electrical pathways weren't going on their intended route, so he fixed that by destroying abnormal tissue and making the firing area normal again. (Like a car, I got re-wired, you could say.)
I'm back at home, feeling so much better now. My heart is beating normally again. I have one more test to do later this month and that is a CT of the coronary arteries to see if I will need a heart cath/stent. They only do that depending on the location/severity of any blockage. I am also taking two kinds of cardiac medications and expect one to decrease cholesterol. (Additives for the fluids.)
What can I say? When you have a Vintage car, you have to keep it up, right...I am a 1954 model, after all.
About the Creator
Shirley Belk
Mother, Nana, Sister, Cousin, & Aunt who recently retired. RN (Nursing Instructor) who loves to write stories to heal herself and reflect on all the silver linings she has been blessed with :)
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More stories from Shirley Belk and writers in Wheel and other communities.
Just Don't Kiss Me
"This time would be different," she promised herself. Even though all the other players would have their exact roles and all the scripts would remain the same, she wouldn't play the game as she had before. No, she would have a different strategy; one that would change the course of her future. She wouldn't blow this opportunity. It was her second chance. She knew the value of coming in with a different mind-set, a clearer vision, and she was determined to use logic and not "follow her heart" as her youthful impetuousness had demanded before. She would decisively think before acting with each move. Failure could not...must not be an option. Not again.
By Shirley Belk6 months ago in Fiction
Comments (7)
You held creativity by the neck with this one. Thinking of yourself as like a car, with all the same inner parts. That's a powerful analogy. From a nurse, to becoming a patient yourself. It always feels too impossible, especially when you get treated by one. You always think, surely they can't get sick as well. They just can't, because it doesn't work like that. Our hero should always have good health. The nurse noticed your engine have a sputter, so you went and checked it for yourself in disbelief 🤣 serious but you timed the humour just right. Even with all those medical terms, I still understood what was going on, thanks to your amazing teaching skills and your humour and calm writing pace. Fantastic! The PVCs, sustained, putting a burden on your heart. Sounds terrifying. And the blockage in the front of your heart... I can't imagine hearing all this. I am relieved to read that it's beating normally again. Sending prayers towards the results of your CT of the coronary arteries. You're a 1954 model 🤣 🤣 this was lovely to read. Still sending you all my prayers and love ❤️🤗
Shirley I am glad you are okay and feeling better.
I’m happy you’re feeling better, Shirley. That all sounds pretty scary to me. I’m a 56 model and have definitely slowed down a bit, but thankfully everything continues to function reasonably well. I loved the car-body metaphor!
I went for an ablation 2 years back because of SVT (Supraventricular Tachycardia). I'm so glad you are okay. I hope all goes well for your CT. Sending you lots of love and hugs ❤️
On 7/19 I will have reached my 4th week since I had a triple bypass and new valve put in. My recovery has been much faster than everyone thought, but I do have much further to go. This old car has a lot more miles left.
Daahlink - 1st thing that I noticed was the '54 Studebaker that you mentioned at the end of your schpiel. From one irregular to another. Bless you, my friend. j.in. the other. l.a.
I can deeply relate. Having been a nursing home administrator over seven facilities, I know how easy it is to care for others while forgetting we're not invincible ourselves. I love how you compared the body to a vintage car, so true. Glad you're back to running smoothly. Wishing you continued strength and steady rhythm!