A matter of the heart

I’ve been thinking about all sorts of matters relating to the heart — it’s interesting that we describe both things emotional and spiritual with the metaphor of the heart. “His heart is not in the right place”, “she’s lost heart”, “guard your heart”. That last one comes from Proverbs 4:23 and in full it says “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” Even in a purely physical sense it’s true — it keeps us alive. Did you know that a baby’s heartbeat starts 22 days after conception?

Unfortunately mine’s been giving me some trouble recently. It started with what I thought was a heart attack sometime in the autumn last year, only to leave the ER with a little pat on the shoulder and the possible diagnosis of having had a ‘panic attack’. Okay, so I felt embarrassed. Panic? Really? I stress too much sometimes, but I don’t panic. That diagnosis just didn’t sit well with me. So I kept getting these ‘panic attack episodes’ where my heart would go all out of whack, I’d feel dizzy and nauseous and out of breath and have some chest discomfort, but I’d tell myself to suck it up and get on with it — don’t let these stupid ‘panic attacks’ get to you. Only, it’s been getting worse, and I’ve been getting them more often, and I’m always so tired. Where I had been getting them once every few weeks, I started to get them a few times per week. Now I usually get them almost every day.

So, a couple of weeks ago I went to my doctor to get some antibiotics for a sinus infection that had turned into bronchitis and mentioned to him that these ‘panic attacks’ were getting more frequent. He didn’t buy the panic attack diagnosis either, listened to my heart and quickly picked up a missed beat, asked me some questions, listened some more and gave me the possible diagnosis of Mitral Valve Prolapse (MVP).

Then yesterday I saw a cardiologist, who in turn dismissed the possible MVP diagnosis and sent me to get more tests. He wants me to get an echocardiogram and wear a Holter monitor for 48 hours. I’m scheduled to get these on Monday.

Please pray for a quick and correct diagnosis so that we can start treating this. It has been getting in the way of me being able to do some everyday things and I’d love for things just to get back to ‘normal’ (whatever that is).