Wolff Parkinson White

Sorry for the long post - but I want to look back years from now and remember all the details!

 I've always had random, intermittent heart palpitations that were sometimes more frequent when I was stressed, but it was never anything I was worried about.  But in February, I had a day where my heart just felt funny.  That's the best I can describe it - I was aware of my heart beating in my chest, and it just felt off.  Then I started feeling light headed often, and also had some chest pressure and discomfort.  I tried to tell myself it was nothing, but after several days of the same symptoms I made an appointment with my doctor.  They did an EKG at my family doctor and right away saw a delta wave, which told them I had Wolff Parkinson White syndrome.  Basically in addition to the normal electrical pathway in the heart that everyone has, I had an additional one, and my heart was using both of them.  My family doctor referred me to a cardiologist at OSU who did an echocardiogram to make sure the "plumbing" of my heart was working properly.  It was, so she referred me to an electrophysiologist at OSU to address the electrical issue.

None of the doctors I saw seemed super worried about the diagnosis, so I tried to not worry about things, but anyone who knows me knows that is next to impossible for me.  The months that followed were stressful and extremely difficult for me to stop worrying.  I saw Dr. Weiss, my electrophysiologist, in March and he recommended an EP study and possible ablation.  In the meantime he had me wear an event monitor for 30 days to try to catch on an EKG some of the symptoms I continued to have.  At first I was glad to wear it and was hopeful for some answers.  But that wore off quick - after about day 3 I hated the thing!  The electrodes irritated my skin and I had sores all over my chest, it was annoying to sleep with, and I was constantly looking at the screen to see if it was catching anything.  Not good for my worrysome self!  I pushed a button any time I felt symptoms and it also automatically recorded if it sensed something abnormal.  It would then transmit through cell towers to a company in Texas that monitored the activity and then sent the EKG strips to my doctor. 

 

The event monitor didn't show much other than the fact that my heart occasionally went into rapid rhythm, but never tachycardia.  My doctor still recommended the EP study and ablation, which I had on May 15 at OSU.  The weeks leading up to it were stressful and many people told me I wasn't myself.  I didn't realize it then but I was definitely uptight about everything due to being so worried about everything.  The night before the procedure I let Carson stay up with me until almost 11 because I was emotional and worried I might not ever see him again.  Crazy and ridiculous, I know.

 

We arrived at the hospital at 6am.  They prepped me for the study and then Ben was able to wait with me until they took me back.

 

My nurses name was Brianne too!  Spelled the exact same way.  She was super nice and made me feel more at ease.  They took me back for the procedure about 7:20.  They did more prep in the lab and then gave me a drug cocktail to put me in the twilight zone.  I felt a little dizzy when they first gave it to me, but other than that I felt normal and remember everything.  My heart was up on big screens and by going in through my groin, they paced my heart and threw it into fast rhythms to get a good picture of what my extra pathway was capable of.  They also administered adrenaline through my IV to make my heart race.  That was definitely the weirdest part - laying there and all of a sudden feeling like my heart was going to beat out of my chest.  After about 45 minutes they told me that they did want to do an ablation.  I again remember everything - they then began mapping my electrical pathways up on the screen by making my heart race again.  Once they had a good map, they began ablating.  Dr. Weiss was back behind a glass window controlling the pacing of my heart while his fellow was actually controlling the catheter in my leg.  During the ablation, they would start burning and then one of them would yell, "STOP!".  Then they would start ablating again, and soon yell, "STOP!".  I overheard the nurses beside me saying something about heart block, so I asked them what they were talking about.  Right after that I was given another dose of the twilight meds.  And soon after another.  After that I still remember what was happening, but I also remember laying there and looking at the ceiling and thinking about Ella.  I think it was safe to say I was in the twilight zone :)  Later my nurse told me that the doctor didn't want me talking so he told them to give me more meds to shut me up - ha!  I guess I was asking too many questions.  I also later learned that the reason they were yelling stop was because my extra pathway that they were trying to destroy laid right up against my main electrical pathway.   If they were to accidentally destroy my main pathway, I would have needed a pacemaker for the rest of my life.  So thankful for God's protection!  After they were done ablating I stayed on the table for another 30 minutes and then they tried to stimulate my heart again to make sure they had indeed killed the pathway.  I was taken back to recovery just over 3 hours after I had left.  Poor Ben in the waiting room!

In recovery I had to lay flat for 3 hours to let my groin begin to heal and to prevent bleeding.  That was the worst part!  My back hurt from laying on the table all morning and then I was so uncomfortable in the flat position.  Thankfully I had visitors to distract me!

 

Terrible picture, but Kristin came to visit. :)

 

Whitney came with flowers - so sweet!  She and my mom stayed at home with the boys when Ben and I left for the hospital.

 

Ben was excited to get food from a favorite Chinese restaurant he used to eat at back in his good old days of delivering hospital beds to OSU.

 

Tyler visited when he was done in the dental clinic - only a 5 minute walk away.

 

That's love - feeding me since I couldn't sit up :)

 

This was the view above my bed - their pitiful attempt at making me feel like I wasn't in a hospital?

About 2.5 hours after my procedure, just before I was going to be able to sit up, my heart rate spiked into the 140s.  The doctors came in and ordered an echo and ultrasound of my heart right away to rule out bleeding from the ablation.  My heart rate wasn't going down after several minutes, so they gave me a small dose of a beta blocker to help bring it down.  The echo and ultrasound thankfully came back normal.  My nurse assured me that that sometimes happens after an ablation and not to be too worried about it.  Again, anyone that knows me knows that is impossible!  I was supposed to be able to go home 3 hours after my procedure, but because of the high heart rate they admitted me over night.  I was emotional and wanting to go home to see the boys, and my poor nurses probably thought I needed to go to the crazy house.  Ben ran home to get clothes to stay with me overnight and Raina came with a frappuccino and kept me company while Ben was gone.  So thankful!

 

Showing off baby Theiss :)

All was well overnight and I was discharged the next morning just before lunch.  Ben and I made a stop at Starbucks and then headed to Target to surprise my mom, Whitney, and the boys.  We got a call that morning for a house showing 3 hours later, so they frantically cleaned the house and took the boys to Target.  We are so thankful for all of their help!

 

I wasn't able to lift the boys for 5 days so Whitney came and stayed with us when Ben had to be at work.  Don't know what we would have done without her!  My heart started racing anytime I stood up for the first several days so I just did a lot of resting.

I'm now 2.5 weeks post ablation and still not feeling 100%, but better every day.  I still feel heart symptoms almost daily, but not near as intense as they were before.  They said this can be normal as my heart heals and the inflammation and swelling continues to go down, so I am still hopeful that the ablation was successful.  I have a follow-up appointment in July where they will do another EKG to make sure the delta wave hasn't reappeared, which they say there is only a 3% chance of happening.  I am optimistic and so thankful to have this all behind me.  Thanks to everyone who prayed for me, called, texted, provided food, helped with the boys, and sent plants/flowers.  I definitely felt the love!