Issues of the Heart

I know I mentioned a couple weeks ago about having to go to the ER twice...here's what happened.

For as long as I can remember, I have always complained of my "heart hurting." My mom says I started saying this as soon as I could talk. I'll be fine, and then all of a sudden I get this tight, sharp chest pain right in my heart. It'll last anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes. In elementary school, I had a heart monitor to try and detect what the issue was. It looked like a little clip-on radio and had several wires connected by stickers onto my chest. I had it at 2 different times, but we were never able to capture it on the monitor. Through high school and college, it happened less and less, and now I only get this pain once a month or so.

However, on Sunday night, I got this same pain, associated with other symptoms I've never experienced with it. I suddenly felt very dizzy and lightheaded, my heart started racing, I had the tight chest pains, and my left forearm was throbbing while my fingers were tingly and numb. It started around 8pm, and I was hoping it would just go away. Around 11:00, I googled 'symptoms of a heart attack for women' and these were all on the list. I doubted that it was a heart attack, but we decided it was probably best if we got it checked out. Surprisingly, I was very calm the whole time. We got to the ER and they quickly hooked me up to (what seemed like) a thousand machines, with stickers all over my body. They did an EKG and everything seemed okay. Two hours later, we were on our way home.

I felt fine all day Monday and Tuesday morning. On Tuesday afternoon, I was at work, feeding the baby, when the same symptoms started again. My heart was racing, I became really short of breath, lightheaded, dizzy, HOT, and the same tingly/numb feeling in my left forearm. Luckily, the dad was on his way home so I called Doug and asked him to come get me. When the dad (that I nanny for) got home, he started asking me questions about how I was feeling, and I became scared when I couldn't really answer him because I was so short of breath. 

When Doug came to get me, I started to panic because I couldn't walk very well. In the car, I was going to look up directions to the hospital on my phone when I saw that my hands were completely stiff, and I couldn't move them at all. And they were kind of deformed, looking like a claw. That's when I really started to panic (and I think that's when Doug did, too). My breathing became shallower and faster, and the panic attack really set in. (I later found out that the claw-hands are a symptom of a panic attack)

When we got to the hospital, I couldn't walk so Doug scooped me up and ran me in there. I just remember that I was hyperventilating and they were all trying to get me to slow my breathing. They did another EKG and again, everything looked okay. I was sent home with instructions to see a cardiologist and to rest.

The next day, I saw a general practitioner who referred me to a cardiologist. We really have lucked out with doctors here, they have all been great. So after talking with the cardiologist, he thought the pain could be caused by a nerve issue or mitral valve prolapse, which basically means that one of your valves doesn't close completely, a little blood leaks and it could cause pain.

The next day, I had an electrocardiogram and treadmill stress test to see if we could figure out what was going on. The only issue was that these episodes didn't happen when I was being active...I was always at rest and relaxed when they came on. So it didn't happen during the test. He determined that I have mild mitral valve prolapse, and that may be the reason I've always had heart pains, but as for the episodes, we don't really know what caused it.

I haven't had another episode since then, but for about a week afterwards I had the heart pain way more frequently than usual. Now I am feeling fine, but he said if they continue to happen he'd like to put me on another heart monitor to see if they can catch it.

So I'm feeling hopeful that whatever those 'episodes' were, they won't be coming back any time soon. He said things like this can happen in clusters and they may never happen again, so let's hope for that!

I'll be back tomorrow with a much happier post!

Congrats

I'm about to admit something reeeeeally embarrassing to y'all. You're welcome.

I have been craving chocolate so bad lately (well, I always crave chocolate but this was worse than usual!) and today I decided it was time to give in. So I went to the delicious bakery by our house and picked out the most chocolate-filled cake they had. 

This story probably wouldn't be that embarrassing if it wasn't for what I did next. The girl asked me if I wanted anything written on it, and for some reason, I blurted out, "yes, can you please put 'congrats!' on it?" Then I proceeded to tell her a made up story of my husband's promotion and that his favorite cake is chocolate fudge. (That's a LIE! There was no promotion, and he is not a fan of fudge cake!) 

I guess I didn't want to be that sad little girl who eats a whole cake by herself (I have done this once or four times before, and I've never been able to finish it, just so you know :) I'm not that impressive!)

Please tell me I'm not the only one who has done something like this before!? (Or just lie to me to make me feel better :)

Wednesday Ramblings

A few life updates, then I'm going to try to finish all of these drafts I have! So many things to say, so little time.

-First of all, THE HUNGER GAMES. It absolutely lived up to all of the hype. It took me months to start reading them, because I knew I would get sucked in and not be able to stop reading until I finished them all. And that was exactly what happened. During Maisy's recovery was the perfect time to read them, since I refused to leave her side for days. I ended up finishing all 3 within just a few days, and I was SO sad when it was over.
(SPOILER: if you haven't read them and don't want to know how it ends, just skip to the next paragraph :) I had heard that a lot of people didn't like the ending, and I have to say I was surprised by it. Through the books, I thought she would end up with Gale, but I actually liked that she ended up with Peeta. I was surprised by how little of a role Gale had in the books, too...I kept waiting for him to have a bigger part! Before reading them, I was all the way Team Gale (hello, Liam Hemsworth ;) but after finishing the books I couldn't help but be Team Peeta!
After I finished the first book, I saw the movie and I LOVED it, minus one thing- it made me SO motion-sick. I can't handle those shaky camera movies, but I made myself watch the whole thing anyways. I'm really hoping they don't do that for Catching Fire! But other than that, I thought they stayed very true to the book and the casting was perfect (except for Peeta's height...why is he shorter than Katniss!? that bugged me) Jennifer Lawrence is the perfect Katniss. I really wish the Twilight movies used the Hunger Games' casting director!! Those movies could have been so much better.

-I experienced my first earthquake on Monday. It about scared me to death! I was at work, playing with the baby when the whole house started to shake. It took me a second to realize what was happening, then I grabbed the baby and started running! haha I have no idea what I was running to! It probably only lasted 20 seconds, and I found out later that it was a 3.9 (I have no clue whether that's big or not....probably not, since there was no damage at all!) Nonetheless, it freaked me out!

-We also went to our first Dodger's game on Monday! We met up with our friends from Georgia, Jeremy and Emily, to cheer on the Braves! Sadly, we lost (they won the next night!) but we had a great time anyways. And guess who else was at the game....CHANDLER BING! I flipped out when they showed Matthew Perry on the screen, since FRIENDS is my all-time favorite show. I then started spewing out FRIENDS quotes and probably driving everyone crazy. Could I BE more annoying? (Please tell me you all read that in Chandler's voice! :)

I Have the Best Mom

You know what's even better than getting mail?

When your dog gets mail.

My mom sent Maisy a care package, and it was the sweetest thing! She also included something for Pep and Diego, too, so they wouldn't be too jealous :)

Maisy had her stitches removed yesterday and she is just about back to normal. Speaking of normal, hopefully I can get back to regular blogging soon!

IT'S BENIGN!!!!

Maisy's tumor is BENIGN!!!

We have been celebrating since we found out yesterday! With all of the stress in the past week, I managed to lose 5 pounds in 5 days...I just didn't have much of an appetite (which, if you know me, is a VERY rare thing ;) but I'm pretty sure after last night's celebration feast, I've put it all right back on! 

I want to thank you all again for the comments, texts, calls, and emails after I posted on Friday. It was so comforting to know that so many people were thinking of us and praying for us, and I cried as I read every single one.

As for my heart stuff, the echocardiogram went well. Nothing going on with me seems life-threatening so that was a huge relief as well! I'll write another post later with more detail on that, but right now I have to get back to The Hunger Games. I started reading them this weekend and it was the best thing I could have done, because it helped to take my mind off of everything....and of course, now I can't put the book down! :)

Getting Real, Again

Unfortunately, it's time for another 'Getting Real' post. After my mom's cancer diagnosis, then my Mamaw's, I am terrified that there is a 3rd one coming. (3 in ONE YEAR!? SERIOUSLY!?!?)

This has been one of the worst weeks of my life. I've been to the ER twice for issues with my heart (more on that later), and last night we found a lump on Maisy's toe. Google told me that boxers are prone to mast cell tumors, especially in between their toes. This was late last night when I found this out, so we decided to take her to the vet first thing this morning. I cried and hugged her all last night and eventually fell asleep. 

When we took her this morning, the vet knew as soon as he looked at it that it was a tumor. He said there's a possibility that it could be benign, and they needed to remove it right away since they grow so fast. He said it could have appeared as recently as 2 days ago, so hopefully we found it really early. 

They took her back right away, and I just lost it. That was 3 hours ago and I still haven't stopped crying. If you have ever read my blog before, you know just how much I love Maisy. She is not just a pet to me, she is like my child. (If you are not an animal person, you probably think I'm crazy now...maybe I am)

Since it's on her toe, it makes it tricky to get it all since there isn't much skin around it. If they don't get it all, she may need to have radiation or chemo, or even amputation of the toe. I can handle all of this, but what I'm most afraid of is that she will keep getting tumors, which is a possibility. 

Maisy is truly the perfect dog. I always say that she is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of dog, because I don't think I'll ever have another dog as perfect as her. We've only had her for a year, and it's way too soon for any of this to be happening. 

I would appreciate any prayers you could send our way. I'll talk more about my heart stuff later, but I have a stress echocardiogram today to hopefully figure out what's going on. I'm hoping that I can control my crying by then, since it probably wouldn't be good to sob all the way through it.

Kitten Cuteness

I've taken hundreds of pictures of Diego, and here are some of the cutest ones. I figured we may as well start out with the best...this is now my new favorite picture, of all time!

Maisy and Diego are best friends. They absolutely adore each other. They play together, snuggle together, and pretty much never leave each other's side. It melts my heart!

He really missed her while she was outside (ignore the filthy window :)

Mid-air!

Pep hated Diego for the first 5 days, but then had a sudden change of heart and now they are buds! Pep loves to lick Diego all over his head...such a sweet boy!

Maisy loves to hug!

Intrigued by the camera :)

Monday Ramblings

I hope y'all had a lovely weekend and a wonderful Easter! I always find myself getting emotional on Easter, especially at the end of the service when people stand up as they accept Christ for the first time...such a beautiful thing! He is risen!

via

-Doug and I turned into hillbillies this weekend. We are now the proud owners of an inflatable pool, right in the comfort of our very own backyard :) Luckily, the fence is high so no one can see us! 

We had margaritas and basked in the sun for hours. Maisy enjoyed pool time, too!

Her tongue totally freaks me out in this picture! It's huge!

-HAPPY BIRTHDAY (yesterday) to my Pawpaw!!! I love you so much!

-I participated in Katie's spring swap, and I was lucky enough to be paired with Jessica of The Randomness of Me. I got my package last week, and I have to say, she is an amazing gift-giver! You never really know what to expect when you swap with a random person, but I feel like she knew me because I would have picked these things out for myself! (Funny story- I DID buy one of these things for myself- the pink sunglasses case? While I was shopping for her package, I saw it at Target and snatched it up for myself....too funny!) Thank you SO much Jessica for my awesome package! I loved everything!!

-I don't think I mentioned it on here, but my mom was in town all last week for her spring break! We had the best time, pictures to come soon!

-Diego is growing so fast, and it makes me so sad! In Georgia, you get kittens/puppies at 6 weeks old, but here, the earliest they adopt out their kittens is 10 weeks! (At least that's how it was with the rescue we got him from) So I feel like I missed out on a whole month of kitten-hood! He really is the sweetest thing though....we are smitten!

Shower Inspiration: Part 2

Here are the rest of the DIY projects from Allison's baby shower! You can see part 1 here.

My other favorite craft for Allison's baby shower were the candy egg favors!

I got the idea from this pin:

Source: howdoesshe.com via Julie on Pinterest

And I made a few changes to make it a little less time consuming. In the original, she made the nests out of melted chocolate and chinese noodles. I decided to use brown shredded paper, and it took less than 10 minutes to make all of the nests!

Since I wasn't using chocolate in the nest, I decided to put the eggs (we used jelly bean eggs) on a drop of melted chocolate so they would stay in place in the nest.

And for the tags, I designed them using MyMemories Suite, printed them on cardstock, and tied them up with yarn!

I followed this tutorial for the tissue paper pom poms, except I crinkled them up so they would look a little less uniform and more fluffy and cloud-like. 

My mom wouldn't let me tape the yarn to the ceiling, so I got these dowels at Home Depot for less than $2 and set them on top of the light fixture. I was worried it would look tacky, but several people at the shower commented that it looked "very anthro" :)

I found these birds and birdhouses at Michael's for .99 each! I bought some cheap acrylic paint to spruce them up and match the decor!

And for the game, I got the idea from this pin: 

Source: hankandwhit.blogspot.com via Julie on Pinterest

Again, I designed them using MyMemories Suite and printed them on cardstock (I bought a 100-sheet pack for $5 and made everything, including the invitations, from this one pack! Such a deal!) And I changed Wishes for Baby to Wishes for Fisher, because it just sounds much cuter :)

That's it! I've found that it's a lot more fun to make everything rather than getting store-bought things. I think it makes for a much more personalized event!