Holter monitor & SNOW

I've had some heart palpitations off and on in the past few months. Nothing that worried me. PVC's are common. Then, when we were in Houston, I got 'em bad, about 2 hours worth. My heart would rumble around arhythmically in my chest and then would skip a beat at my wrist. PAC's, as far as I could tell without putting a stethoscope to my chest. It was very uncomfortable. Weird thing is, it usually occurs at rest, not with activity. Therefore, it's not ischemia, just some arhythmia. Due to overtraining? That certainly ain't so! Due to caffeine? Well, I've always been a morning coffee drinker and I did drink 12 ounces of tea the night it happened. I thought it was decaf but perhaps it was caffeinated instead.

It freaked me out enough that I got a Holter monitor, a 24 hour heart monitor that records rhythm. The cardiac tech applied the leads to my chest on Friday at 4:30 pm and I was to keep the leads dry for 24 hours. Yes, it was ok to run and sweat but not too much. I was given a mesh "hose" to wear over my chest to keep the leads in place while running. Sorry, no pictures of that! The small receiver was worn like a big pager, clipped to my pant waist and the miles of wires were tucked into my pants.



There were a couple of times when I pressed the button, which marks the rhythm strip for the cardiologist's interpretation. But nothing at all like I felt that night in Houston. This morning, I ran 5 quick (for me) miles on the treadmill and felt nothing but great during the run (other than the fact that I am still getting over a nasty cold I caught on the plane last weekend). My 24 hours were up at 4:30 pm today, so I finally got to shower! I look forward to hearing the cardiologist's interpretation of the results, though I have a feeling there may not have been any episodes caught during these past 24 hours. Hmm. I am also going to get my thyroid tested. Stay tuned...

And boy oh boy did it ever SNOW last night! We awoke to a fresh 6 inches on the ground. We hardly ever have need for a snow blower, but poor David wished he had one this morning for the driveway!



The dogs LOVED romping through the fluffy white stuff, and even my snow-tired car struggled up the slight hill by the house. This afternoon, while out and about, I stopped to get out of my car to help push the car of an elderly lady over an ice patch in the road.



It seems we are finally over our deep freeze and now...SNOW! It's supposed to warm up over the next week, so it's all going to turn to slush.

It's only the middle of January!

Oh spring, SPRING, please come early this year!