Charlie's Adventure Part 1

November 23-November 26:

We are sitting at home having a relaxing Saturday afternoon just Charlie, myself, and Brooke.

Charlie lays down for a nap, which I thought was unusual considering it was only about noon. He said he was just feeling a little odd. Not sick, just kinda icky. A couple of hours later he wakes up and as he sits up he holds his chest. I ask him if he is alright and he responds that he just feels some tightness in his chest.

About an hour later I realize that every time he has taken a deep breath, he has grabbed his chest and winced some. I again ask him if he's okay and he responds that he's feeling some discomfort. He likened it to when it is very cold outside and the burning sensation you feel in your lungs as you take a deep breath.

I tell him we should probably go get him checked out just to be on the safe side. I called my babysitter to come watch Brooke and we head out.

In the back of my head I figure he will probably be diagnosed with pleurisy or bronchitis,  we'll get some antibiotics and be home in a few hours.

I never in my life imagined how wrong I would be.

Since he had chest discomfort he was taken straight back and an EKG was performed. Shortly after, the nurse asked if he had ever been diagnosed with any heart problems. I asked her if there was something that showed on the EKG, since when she asked she had a semi-concerned look on her face. She non-nonchalantly said he just has an irregular rhythm. Turns out this rhythm was atrial fibrillation.

We were both shocked. Charlie has never had any serious health issues, and frankly, rarely gets sick.  Even with colds.

They also ordered a chest x-ray which showed what looked to be an enlarged heart.

So, he was admitted. My husband has not been admitted into the hospital since he was 12 years old when he had his tonsils taken out.

Fear, worry, anxiety, shock. I felt it all within about .02 seconds. And I know Charlie felt all of these as well. 

Being that it was a Saturday evening and we were in a fairly small hospital who doesn't really do much on Sunday's,  we had to wait until Monday to find out what was going on. Yes, the Dr came in and spoke to us Sunday, but we didn't have any kind of answer until Monday.

They did an echo-cardiogram,  which is an ultrasound of the heart, and also did a 2 part stress test. Monday they did the first part which required an injection of radioactive dye and a ct scan. Tuesday, the second part of the test was completed in which the inject a medicine to stress the heart while they monitor it on an EKG machine and monitor his blood pressure and then they run another ct scan looking for blockages.

On Monday after the echo, Dr.  Butler informed us that Charlie's heart was not enlarged but that he did have a buildup of fluid in his pericardial sac. This is known as a pericardial effusion.

On Tuesday, the cardiologist informed us he wanted us to be transferred to a different hospital to have the fluid drained from the pericardial sac. And he also finished the stress test which showed no blockages.

So, Charlie was transported by ambulance to Northwest in Bentonville to the ICU.

This is getting super long and there's still many days left, so I'll give you a reading break and do a part 2 soon.

You can now read Part 1 and Part 2.

Short-term Goals

When I say short term, I'm talking within 3 months. I'm trying to set short term goals for myself in 3 month intervals that way I can keep a better gauge on where I'm at. I also have super short term goals which are weekly or monthly goals. Like doing x amount of lunges or squats or walking x amount of miles in a week. I just cannot get the hang of this running thing, at least for now I'm gonna do power walks and maybe eventually work myself up to running. Who knows we'll see.

There is an outdoor gym just over 2 miles from my house. I think it is exactly 2.2 miles. My short term goal is to be able to walk to the gym, get some decent arm and leg workouts in, and walk back to the house.

Last night I had my husband drop me off at the gym (his knee is bum right now) and told him I would just walk home. There is a huge hill (huge for me, elev. is about 120 ft) shortly after I started my walk back to the house and I completely underestimated how much that would take out of me. I got halfway back to the house and had to have my husband come and pick me up. I just couldn't take it anymore.

I really need to work on pushing myself more too. I know my head is giving out way before my body is and it's making me mad. I have to find a way to make myself work through the pain. I will never see results if I keep doing things the way I'm doing them now.

I can really tell that I haven't had hardly any activity whatsoever in the past year. A couple years ago a mile or 2 wouldn't have really bothered me that much and now 1/2 a mile and I feel like I'm dying. I push through until I hit at least a mile but seriously! I can't wait to start seeing this progress!

Getting Started (Even though it's been almost 2 weeks now...)

I can't say for sure how many times before I have said I was going to lose this weight and how many times before I have given up. The difference between then and now is this time I'm determinded. I have never in my life wanted to be healthy as much as I want it right now. I need to be a better example for my children. I need to be the mom that I always envisioned I would be, instead of the mom that is always tired and never wants to do anything. I need to do this for me. I am so ready to feel better, to not hurt all the time. I have had tests done, I know that the reason I hurt so bad is because of this extra weight. (Side note: It's finally raining!! YAY)

Ok, back to business. So what is it about a 30th birthday that will make you reevaluate your life so much? I gave up smoking and other than a few light cravings have absolutely no desire to have a cigarette. I would rather have a good workout than have a cigarette. These are just my Week 1 changes and I know that there are many more to come. I'm trying my best to not get hung up on scale numbers, because I know they don't mean much in the big scheme of things. I'm trying to focus more on eating healthy and exercising. And I have to say, I'm really enjoying this new lifestyle change that has been made....as a family. :)