May You Live in Interesting Times

I would really like to have a boring month.  Maybe two.  I have had enough of interesting.  Really.  If life gets any more interesting I think my head might just explode.

As I mentioned in one of my last posts, I'm recovering from pneumonia.  It was bad enough that I had to be hospitalized.  The recovery is taking FOREVER, but at least I am improving and at least I have been out of the hospital for a full week now.

While I was at home recovering, DH took Twin B to the Developmental Pediatrician for an appointment to look into starting him on medication to treat his ADD.  At the appointment, Twin B mentioned that his heart sometimes feels like it is racing.  DH told the doctor that Twin A has also mentioned that his heart feels this way too.  DH also pointed out that I had been wearing a heart monitor for the last three weeks.  The doctor decided based on all this information that both twins should get an EKG before we started Twin B on stimulant medication.  And even though Twin A, though he has not been on any meds for the last two weeks because we were trying to figure out a new one for him, had been on meds for the last year, she figured we should go ahead and get an EKG for him too.

So Friday morning my dad helped me take the boys to a nearby facility to get their EKGs.  It was the most activity I had since before I got sick, and knowing that Twin A often freezes up/melts down at the sight of various Halloween decorations and during various medical procedures and tests, I thought it would be helpful to have another adult with me.  The EKGs themself went well.  Twin B volunteered to go first so Twin A could see that it didn't hurt (aaawwwww!) and Twin A got to watch the tech work the laptop that was recording all the information (and teach the tech more efficient ways to maneuver through the software using the function keys), so Twin A's turn was relatively uneventful, too.

Afterwards we drove the boys to school, my dad dropped me off at home, and I settled onto the couch with my laptop and a mountain of paperwork to do some work.  About two hours after I got back home, the Developmental Pediatrican (DP) called:

DP: I just finished talking with the cardiologist who reviewed the boys' EKG's.  Twin A apparently has a heart condition known as ......

At this point, while I know she continued talking and I heard actual words, the sound washed over me almost as if I was in a Charlie Brown cartoon and the teacher was talking.

Me: Um, okay, hang on, let me get a notebook so I can write this down.

And because it helps me process information, I wrote down Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome and immediately began researching it on the internet as the telephone conversation continued.

DP: After speaking with the cardiologist, he feels that we should get Twin A seen by the pediatric cardiologist who specializes in electrophysiology as soon as possible.

Whoa.  Red flags began waving all over inside my mind as the phrase "as soon as possible."  And then there's that word "electrophysiology" which sounded so strange it was almost as if she just made up that word.  Then I researched what "electrophysiology" was in relationship to cardiology and discovered this doctor specializes cardiac catheterization.  That's right, this doctor was talking about the need to get my baby seen by this specialist as soon as possible.

I have always been very calm during medical crises.  I learn what I need to know, do what I need to do, and most importantly, remain calm and collected to help everyone around me stay calm.  But if I am going to be completely honest, this whole situation has caused my own heart to beat a little faster.

As luck would have it (because who said life was going to be easy) this doctor AND his nurse (the person who is in charge of all his scheduling) were in a class all day long on Friday at another facility.  Despite both the DP emailing the nurse and me calling and leaving a message on her voice mail, I will have to wait until Monday to schedule an appointment for Twin A.  We will have to get him squeezed in some time this week, from the sound of it, and the next step will probably be a cardiac ablation, which sounds really scary but hopefully will come with lots of sedation for Twin A, DH, and me.

So now we are in a holding pattern until Monday.  DH and I are trying to stay calm.  I am attempting to look at the positive side of things:

• This could have gone undetected until there was a problem.
• Twin A had been on meds for a while now, which could have ultimately been really, really bad.
• Ummmm...I'm out of work, which allows me to accept the first available appointment the specialist has.  It also allows me to drive out to the hospital on Monday to work with the nurse on scheduling if she decides that he won't be able to be seen until January.

Okay, that's all I can think of right now.

I am really looking for a possible do-over to this year.  And am hoping that the new year will be really, really boring.