• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Know-it-all Nikki
  • Knit
  • My Heart
  • Read
  • Explore
    • Alaska
    • Depression and Anxiety
    • Life
    • Monday Motivation
    • Nikki’s Notes
    • Recipes
You are here: Home / CHD / ACHD Adventures with Nikki

ACHD Adventures with Nikki

By Know-it-All Nikki Leave a Comment

 

What do tornado warnings, cardioversions, and earthquakes have in common? Absolutely nothing unless you’re me. And then they all fall into the category of “stuff that only happens to me”.

Let me explain.

At the end of February, I made the trip from Alaska to Ohio to see my cardiology specialists. The trip was roughly a month in the planning so I knew it was going to happen, I just didn’t have a good idea as to when.

If you remember, in my previous post about National Heart Health Month, I mentioned I was back in Afib. What I didn’t talk about was the details.

Afib doesn’t impress all of my doctors

The new team I was supposed to be working from Seattle/Alaska said they weren’t concerned when I let them know I was not only out of rhythm but I’d been this way for over three months. They didn’t even seem impressed it was the second time in as much as six months that I had been in Afib.

Their reasoning was I was already on blood thinners and that was the most important issue in their minds. Had I not been therapeutic on blood thinners, the plan would’ve been to start me on them ASAP and then cardiovert me circa June 2017. But because I had an established protocol with anti-coagulants, it wasn’t pressing for them to get me back in sync (or *NSYNC if you’re a fan of the boy band by the same name). Instead, the attitude was to wait until I felt worse, or I was seen in their clinic in Anchorage at a date to be determined in April of this year.

Afib and Heart Failure are not friends

If you’re wondering about the millions of people around the world who deal with Afib and why they aren’t constantly cardioverted, I can’t answer that. I do know it sometimes has more to do with the type of heart problem they have. For instance, most people find themselves with acquired heart disease, meaning they develop heart problems with age, from poor health, or from an illness that attacks the heart. For those people, the solution may be to implant a pacemaker/defibrillator device that will shock them back into rhythm. Even some of us CHDers end up with that type of device.

I am not one of those people. I’m also in a category of adult CHD patients that doesn’t realize when I’m in Afib because I have complete heart block. FUN, RIGHT?!

No.

Heart failure happens when part of your heart can’t pump blood or fill with blood properly. In my case, that’s the right ventricle but since it’s actually doing the job the left ventricle should do, it’s already at a disadvantage.

From Nationwide Children’s Hospital on congestive heart failure in someone with dextro-transposition of the great arteries:

“Although the heart has been repaired, it is still not normal. The right ventricle, which usually pumps blood to the lungs (low-pressure) now pumps blood to the body (high pressure). The right ventricle handles the high-pressure load fairly well for many years but, eventually begins to wear down. Eventually, it becomes dilated, boggy, and weakens.

If the function of the right ventricle continues to worsen, despite medical treatment, a heart transplant is considered.”

For reference:

Normal Heart image via CDC

And my heart:

D-TGA heart image via CDC

So, it makes sense that the longer you are in Afib, the more damage it does to that already struggling right ventricle.

Thankfully, the team in Columbus, at Nationwide Children’s Hospital disagreed with the Seattle/Alaska team and decided I should go see them.

ACHD Adventures with Nikki

The team planned on cardioversion and a heart cath while I was in Ohio. Then they decided to sneak in a stress test and a 48-hour hospital stay to start me on a beta blocker/anti-arrhythmic medication. The last time I was on medication for arrhythmias and Afib was in childhood. I took that medication until I was around 18. (Side note: Our memories can be amazing sometimes. I may not be able to remember what I had for dinner two days ago, but I can still taste, AND SMELL the medication I took as a kid.)

Where was I? Oh yeah… everything went off without a hitch. I did well during the hospital stay, and after the cardioversion, they raised my heart rate on the pacemaker to a resting rate of 79-80, which explains why I felt a little jumpy for the first couple of days post-cardioversion. (Warn a girl, next time, will ya?!)

There’s still a lot more to tell, including a near a close encounter with a nanobot! But I’ll stop here for now.

Till next time ~

 

Filed Under: CHD, My Heart Tagged With: 1 in 100, ACHD, adult congenital heart disease, atrial fibrillation, Congenital heart disease awareness, heart arrhythmia, transposition of the great vessels

Affiliate Disclosure

Know-it-All Nikki is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

*Posts containing affiliate links will always be disclosed.

Previous Post: « A Month is Never Enough

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Hi there!

I’m Nikki and I’m thrilled to have you here. I’m powered by a good chai latte, loads of chocolate, and humor. Here at Know-it-all Nikki, I dish up honest conversations about self-care and mental health. I also share living with a congenital heart defect, my love of books, knitting, midlife, and life as a Buckeye exploring The Last Frontier. So, pull up a seat, grab your tea, and let’s spill some tea, have a lot of laughs, and a few good cries. To learn more about what makes me tick, CLICK HERE

knowitallnikki

My office has no door. If I'm in the middle of wor My office has no door. If I'm in the middle of work, a phone call, or the @stitchingthemilestogether podcast there are extreme measures I need to take in order to get some privacy. 
.
.
The curtain is held closed by office binder clips (not just for files and potato chip bags anymore!) On the other side if the curtain is a baby gate because dogs are like moose and they will not be held back by binder clips. 
.
.
This works so well that I'm considering just leaving it like this permanently!
.
.
.
.
#officelife #homeofficedecor #homeofficelife #amwriting #freelancewriter #freelancelife
Not the most flattering picture I've ever taken so Not the most flattering picture I've ever taken so you MUST know how much I love and miss Nickles Maple Twist Sweet Rolls. These were a staple growing up in Ohio and my kids love them too.
.
Now, of course I can't find them here in Alaska so when @heatherspinsayarn talked about ordering them for the station, I may have let out the saddest, lowest sigh on the planet. Heather pitied me so much she sent me a maple twist sweet roll package.
.
She requested a picture and this is probably the best evidence I can provide. I promise the moment I began chewing, I was smiling like a fool (with my mouth closed of course). .
.
.
.
.
#nicklesbakery #stitchingthemilestogether #carepackage # fiberbffs
After an abysmal birthday month, it's time to rese After an abysmal birthday month, it's time to reset some things and get myself into a better headspace. 
.
But it isn't easy and I believe the words we use have the power to influence our mental health. Notice I use the words "Good choices"? That's because the word HABIT has negative connotations for me. 
.
It's doing something that I have chosen to do, over a habit I am enforcing on myself. I will be writing about this next week so be sure to check out the blog!
.
.
.
.
.
#goodchoices #passionplanner #PashFam #passionplannerambassador #mentalhealth #mentalhealthmatters #selfcarefirst #smallvictories #passionplannerweekly #mayismentalhealthawarenessmonth
This could be very exciting! . . . . . #achd #crit This could be very exciting!
.
.
.
.
.
#achd #criticalcongenitalheartdefect #dtga #dextrotranspositionofthegreatarteries #pacemakerlife #chdawareness #afibawareness #heartfailure #1in100 #ACHDAdventuresWithNikki #achdvoices #chdawareness
I didn't think i would need a laptop today. Turns I didn't think i would need a laptop today. Turns out I was slightly wrong. Prepared as always with all my electronics, I'm thankful my kindle was fully charged as was the keyboard because my tablet definitely wasn't... Sure, I have pen and paper but that's for brainstorming! I was also in need of my favorite chai!
.
.
.
.
.
#mrandmrssmithmovetoalaska #writer #passionplanner #PashFam #passionplannerambassador #mentalhealth #knowitallnikkihasadhd #amwriting #ACHDAdventuresWithNikki #welcometomymobileoffice
Almost an hour later we are finally boarding. This Almost an hour later we are finally boarding. This reminds me of that time I flew to Cleveland two weeks ago.
.
.
.
.
.
#ACHDAdventuresWithNikki #travel #achd #medicaltravel #chdawareness #chronicillness #dtga #adultchdsurvivor #pacemakerlife #pacemakerclub #1in100
Hanging with my former office manager at the satel Hanging with my former office manager at the satellite location has made me realize that time marches on with or without us. Eventually we all move a little slower, our hair color fades, and our age begins to show, both inside and out. 
.
.
But age is just a number and a state of mind. Our people see past the surface and love what's underneath and that's really all that matters.
.
.
.
.
#goldenlily #goldenretrievers #goldenretrieverlove #goldenretrieversofinstagram #mansbestfriend #momsbestfriend #dogsofinstagram #instadogs #dogsofig #petsofohio #petsofinstagram #officedog #ACHDAdventuresWithNikki
Last appointment is an ECG, heart cath site check, Last appointment is an ECG, heart cath site check, and who know what else is planned? My doctors often joke they don't get to see me enough so when they have me, they want to spend as much time with me as they can. 🤣🤣 They are sooo lucky I like them!
.
.
.
.
#achd #congenitalheartdefect #adultchd #dtga #dextrotranspositionofthegreatarteries #transpositionofthegreatarteries #achdvoices #1in100 #ACHDAdventuresWithNikki #achdawareness #pacemakerlife #zippersister #pacemakerclub #adultchdsurvivor #chdvoices
Today i just tell you how tired I am because my br Today i just tell you how tired I am because my brain has forgotten how to function.
.
.
.
.
.
#achd #chdvoice #ACHDAdventuresWithNikki #chdawareness #1in100 #congenitalheartdefect #adultchd #dtga #dextrotranspositionofthegreatarteries #transpositionofthegreatarteries #anticoagulantes #achdvoices #voicesofchd #achdawareness #pacemakerclub #pacemakerlife
Load More Follow on Instagram

Footer

  • About this site
  • Advertising
    • Request a book review
  • Privacy Policy
  • Hire Me

Copyright 2006-2023 NLS Creative Privacy Policy