SVT | My Awesome Olive Shoots

Winnie the Pooh meets strange heart rhythms, don’t recommend it.

The normal, forgettable rhythms of my heart changed one night when I was about 10 years old.

Prior to that, I only knew that my heart was beating because I was still alive. Suddenly it was like having a bowl of jello inside my body. Btw, I hate jello.

After a stirring 5th grade performance as Winnie the Pooh (hold the applause) I came home and my heart began beating wildly. The pages in my library book began pulsating to the rhythm of my thumping chest. I was weak and afraid.

I really had little control over when my heart would beat strangely and then suddenly go back to normal.

It required several visits to the emergency room throughout my adulthood. Only when I was pregnant with my oldest son would I learn that I had SVT, a non-fatal but super annoying heart condition that plagued me until I had a cardiac ablation two years ago.

I was DONE with having unpredictable heart problems. Like many things in life, you know how much you can handle and then make necessary changes to fix “rhythms.”

Me just before I had my cardiac ablation

At times my heart could beat like a hummingbird, up to 220 beats per minute.

I very much enjoy participating in this weekly writing assignment. You might like it too!

So what comes to mind when you think of the word “rhythm”? Check out what other people are writing about this word! It’s pretty cool!

I wrote on Tuesday how I enjoyed being normal.

Then Wednesday happened and I went to the hospital with a fast and irregular heartbeat.

When they hooked me up to the monitors, my stupid heart was pounding at 209 beats per minute.

I felt faint and clammy and utterly exhausted. My moment of normalcy was short-lived.

I’ve lived with a weird heart rate since I was a little girl.

When I was pregnant with my oldest OS, I had an especially nasty bout of it, quite similar to Wednesday’s episode and was hospitalized overnight for that event.

Finally they gave my heart problem a name, it’s SVT, supraventricular tachycardia. With little warning, my heart will flutter like a bowl of Jello. I do not like gelatinous things, in particular when that gelatinous thing happens to havoc in my body.

A friend called and I tried to ignore my crazy heart and speak normally. I’m not sure I succeeded though. Then another friend called and this time, I felt too weak to talk. The Hubs was having lunch with a friend and when he returned, he noticed I wasn’t any better. I didn’t complain or protest when he announced we were going to the hospital.

If you are ever looking for a quick way to be seen in the Emergency Room, have a heart problem. You will suddenly become a high priority patient.

I was quickly ushered into an examining room and before I knew it, an IV was inserted into my arm after two tries. I felt very weak and lifeless and then the doctor told me I was going to have some medicine pumped in my veins.

The nurse grabbed my arm and asked me if I was ready.

Say what???

I couldn’t understand why they were asking me this, what was going to happen?

Was I going to feel something?

The nurse emphatically told me yes, I was going to feel something.

No sooner had the adenosine entered my system, then my heart rate went from about 209 to about 113 in a matter of seconds.

It’s like you’re driving fast on a slippery road and then suddenly you hit the breaks and stop.

I was blessed because the adenosine worked on the first try. I learned that this doesn’t always happen. I also learned I do not like bedpans…

I saw the cardiologist today and will try another medication to help keep my heart beating normally. Have you ever thought about how we take for granted things like a strong and steady heart beat? As of Wednesday, I praise the Lord for my husband being home to take me to the hospital and for a beating heart that’s behaving.