Well, I recently had a major life event. It has been a wild few weeks, to say the least, and I want to write about it to get my thoughts into words. Writing for me has always been a way to express and deal with my own fears, anxiety, and other emotions. If you have followed this site for any length of time, you know that each day can be a battle, but I still stop and thank God for the opportunity to face it. This latest heart scare was no exception. It all served as a very vivid reminder that no matter what this world throws at me, it is still all in God’s hands.
It all started the weekend of May 15th. April and I went down to Fredericksburg, Texas, to celebrate our fourth year wedding anniversary. We were looking forward to getting away, doing a little shopping, and just spending some time together. When I woke up Saturday morning, I was not feeling well. I told April that I did not want to go to a local hospital in Fredericksburg and would really prefer to just go home. On the way home we were researching symptoms online, which can lead you down a rabbit trail if you are not careful. As we drove closer to home, I started to feel a bit better. I told April, maybe it was a bad nights sleep on the bed at the Vrbo we stayed at. I told her how about I sleep in my own bed tonight and see how I feel in the morning. If I still feel off in the morning, I will go to the emergency room.
Sunday, May 17th, when I woke up, I still felt off. There was no denying it, so I went straight to the ER. My heart rate was running over 100, my blood pressure was high, and the doctors told me I was showing signs of V-FIB. Needless to say, they admitted me to the hospital right then and there. After being seen by a cardiologist, they said that it appeared my electrolytes had gotten really low and my current blood pressure medications were simply not working. They put me on some new prescriptions and sent me home that Monday afternoon.
Taking this situation very seriously, I knew I had to make some immediate life adjustments. I started a Mediterranean Keto diet to help lose weight and eat more heart healthy. My daughter gave me her Apple Watch to track my heart rate, and I started checking my blood pressure three to four times a day. I was logging everything in the Lose It! app, walking three miles a day to get those 10,000 steps, and working out with weights three times a week. After a week, though, my blood pressure was still high, and my heart rate was still running over 100 several hours a day, even while I was just sitting still.
I saw the nurse practitioner at my cardiologist’s office on June 11th. My heart rate was still high, and my blood pressure was elevated, but it was not concerning according to the NP. He decided to raise the dose of my blood pressure medication from 12.5mg twice a day to 50mg twice a day. That maxed out the dosage for this specific medication. I was trying to also intermittent fast during this time which is difficult when you have to eat with your medication exactly every 12 hours. After a day or two the new medication seemed to work some. My heart rate even dropped into the 40s, and my blood pressure was getting closer to normal, but this improvement only lasted a few hours each day. When I asked the cardiologist about it, they said it can take some time for the body to adjust to the medication. So, I kept going, trying to eat right, exercise, and stay the path to a healthier me.
My primary care doctor wanted me to come in and do a quick blood pressure check on June 22nd. I went in at 8:00 AM. My blood pressure actually looked good, but my heart rate was sitting at 121. They did a quick EKG and immediately told me I needed to go straight to the emergency room. April drove me to the same ER I had visited in May.
I was once again admitted to the hospital. My heart was racing, my blood pressure was high, and I was having missing beats and extra beats. By this point, I was down about 20 pounds since that May visit. I had taken that first scare very seriously, and the weight loss showed it. Over the next four days, the doctors ran me through the gauntlet. I had numerous CT scans, one of which showed I had a small blood clot on my lung. I had a chemical stress test on my heart, and finally, they did a transradial angiogram.
All the tests showed that my heart is a little larger than it should be, which the doctors say is most likely a result of the long-term high blood pressure. Thankfully, there was no blockage found, so they concluded it must be an electrical issue of the heart. They finally managed to get my blood pressure and heart rate down. I am currently running on average around a 70 heart rate and a 119/79 blood pressure. I think the cocktail of medications they have me on are working for now.
But I need to share the scariest part of this entire experience. The night after the transradial angiogram, my wrist opened up while I was asleep, and I bled a lot. Looking at my bed later, it looked like I had lost a pint or two of blood. I strongly believe the Holy Spirit woke me up right at that moment and kept me from bleeding to death in my sleep. It was probably more scary than the actual heart issues I faced. I just thank God I was already in the hospital and that the nurses rushed into the room to take care of me.
Through this whole process, I did learn a little bit about my family history. I found out that my mom and her mom both had tachycardia and had to have an ablation done to fix the misfire. So, it looks like this heart issue might be hereditary. I now have to see a cardiac electrophysiologist to try and figure out why my heart is misfiring, or at least that is how I say it, as it is probably not the exact medical term.
So, where am I today? I have now lost about 30 pounds total, with almost 10 of those pounds disappearing while I was stuck in the hospital for a week. I am taking it easy for the next few days to give my body a genuine chance to heal from that transradial angiogram. I will be on blood thinners for the next three to six months to help ensure no more blood clots form while the one they saw on my lung breaks up. There was actually some disagreement among the doctors over that blood clot, as I did not show any of the normal signs of shortness of breath that are typically associated with them. I plan to keep eating healthy, and I have even given up eating as much meat as I used to, especially beef. I am focusing on lots of fresh vegetables, olive oil, fish and chicken now.
The hardest part of dealing with all of this is thinking about April, Megan, and my toddler grandson, Malachi. I want to be around for them for a lot of years. Personally, I don’t mind going home to Jesus. This world is fleeting, full of sin, and temporary. But I still feel like God has plans for me here, and He will have me here for a while longer. Besides plans for my family, I truly feel God brought me back to work so I can teach at TPA, where I have the incredible opportunity to share all about Him, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit with the next generation.
When I was lying in that hospital bed, two specific verses kept returning to my mind. The first is Joshua 1:9, which says, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” The second is 2 Corinthians 12:9, where the Lord reminds us, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” These verses show me that no matter what our physical bodies go through, it is still all in God’s hands. He is the one who numbers our days, and He is our ultimate protection.
I would appreciate any and all prayers as I navigate this next step. Please pray for quick appointments so we can get all of this squared away, that I will enjoy my weight loss journey, and pray that if it is God’s will that I continue for years to come helping to do HIS work while I am here. I also ask for special prayers for April and Megan, as they seem to be struggling with this situation the most right now. I personally feel a little like Paul in Philippians 1:21–24.
If you don’t know Jesus, I pray you find Him before it is too late. We never know what life will throw at us from one minute to the next, or when our earthly tent will give out. If you are unsure where you stand or if you are looking for that narrow road, here are steps to salvation. Don’t wait until a medical scare forces you to look at eternity. Turn your life over to Him today.
