Another trip to the ER

On Saturday, D was sitting on the couch and was getting up to go to the bathroom when he felt a pain in his chest. He went to the bathroom, came out and said he was feeling faint and he broke out in a cold sweat. He felt weak. He laid on the couch for a bit and then we decided to take him to the ER.

If you remember, the last time he went to the ER was in Jan and in June '07 he was admitted to the hospital. I've got to admit, this weekend I was thinking my husband was a hypochondriac.

In the ER, they did an EKG and did a chest x-ray and they both came out fine. His blood work came back good. They didn't know what had happened, but were going to release him. Then his blood pressure dropped really low (between sitting and standing) and they didn't want to risk sending him home. He also began feeling really faint and light-headed again.

They decided to keep him overnight for observations so they admitted him. They started an I.V. His blood pressure continued to vary quite a bit between sitting and standing or lying and sitting up. The cardiologist came by and they wanted to do an ultrasound on D, but the technician wasn't available until Monday.

The nurses came in every 4 hours to check his blood pressure and took his blood in the middle of the night. The reason they were taking so much blood was so they could rule out an embolism.

D doesn't do well when his blood is taken, he feels very faint and breaks into a cold sweat. As they're taking his blood, I'm thinking this can't be good for his blood pressure because of how he reacts to his blood being taken.

We hoped that his blood pressure would improve enough for us to go home Sunday morning and then come back for the ultrasound and possibly an echocardiogram.

His blood work from overnight looked fine. The doctor reported no sign of an embolism!

Another concern is scar tissue around his heart. Back in 2001, D had pericarditis (an inflammation of the pericardium (the fibrous sac surrounding the heart) that was brought on by an infection. We're hoping that with his cardiologist appointment in a few weeks will also rule this out!

On Sunday afternoon there was no drastic change in his blood pressure! The cardiologist decided he would release him from the hospital. He's thinking D's chest pain really scared D and then he freaked out (there is a medical term for this) and that may have been what brought on feeling faint, sweats and his blood pressure dropping.

Nurse Christy is thinking it could have been something with digestion. There is a digestive tube near the heart that often leads people to believe they are having a heart attack. And since we've been home, I've noticed D is burping a lot more frequently than he ever has before. We have a follow-up appointment with his primary care physician tomorrow. I hope we find an answer soon and I hope for no more hospital visits!