With Della's minor surgery over and Dad on the road to recovery it was time for me to get my heart checked out. Some of you may know that I have a (minor) heart murmur and am required from time to time to have the leaky valve checked.
This involves a trip to the Outpatients at the local hospital where I undergo a ECG and my Cardiologist (who is almost family now after 14 years of consultations!), asks me some questions, checks my blood pressure and proceeds to listen, intently, to the dodgy valve. This takes no longer than 30 minutes tops and away I go until the next time, usually around 18 months later.
However, this time there was the added complication of the palpitations I have been experiencing and it turns out that I am having ectopic heartbeats! It appears that these are common and benign. The sensation is of one's heart missing a beat or, of the heart momentarily stopping - not nice. There is no direct link with the murmur but it will need to be monitored.
I am scheduled for an ultrasound scan (me thinks that ectopic and ultrasounds are often associated with pregnancy.......should I be concerned??!!). I must also wear a holter monitor for 5 days and keep a diary of what I am doing when the heart misbehaves (could be interesting!).
Must confess when the Consultant told me the irregular rhythms were nothing to worry about I was relieved, so much so my heart almost skipped a beat!
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