The first time I experienced this I went to the emergency room. I was sent to a neurologist, had an MRI, diagnosed with migraine, and sent home with a prescription for Maxalt, a quick-dissolving medicine you place on your tongue.
And while no one can tell that I am experiencing these symptoms, the last time I had an episode I was at work. I called a friend to sit with me because I was so freaked by the experience. I was confused. I barely made it down the stairs to meet her. And I had trouble explaining what was happening. When asked one question, I answered as if asked another.
The last two episodes were the most intense, and have lasted longest. Yet, looking back, I can associate three of them to periods of prolonged exposure to intense sun-heat. One occurred after mowing the lawn, another while at the beach, and the last one after a walk on a nature trail.
But still, I was worried enough that I requested another visit to a heart specialist, it having been many years since the first visit. And this began a whole new series of tests, and possibilities.
I had become afraid that I was experiencing TIAs, Transient Ischemic Attacks. These are, essentially, mini strokes. The symptoms are the same as a major stroke, but the difference is that the body resolves the blood clot on its own, and the clots do not cause lasting effects.
So at the heart specialist’s, I took a stress test and had bubbles injected into my heart, through an intravenous needle in my arm, to determine first, whether my symptoms were heart-related. The doctor thought I might have a PFO, a hole in my heart.
It is not uncommon. Every baby has a small hole in its heart. This allows for the movement of oxygen through the chambers since the lungs are unable to do this function while in the womb. Usually, the hole closes within months after birth. Sometimes, and in some people, it does not.
The bubble test appeared to, yes, show bubbles moving between the chambers of my heart. It appeared to be a hole. So I was sent to a doctor who specializes in congenital heart defects, conditions present at birth.
This new doctor ordered a TEE, a Transesophageal Echocardiogram; a test that would be much less pleasant if you weren’t pumped with some very nice and very heavy-duty drugs. For this test, an echo transducer, tube-like apparatus, is inserted down your throat, down into your esophagus, all the way down behind your heart, where your chest bones don’t get into the way. Then the doctor analyzes the ultrasound, or wave frequencies, as they bounce off your heart. This provides a very clear indication of whether or not you have a hole in your heart.
Luckily, I do not recall very much about the procedure. Unfortunately, I am pretty certain I said some very inappropriate and belligerent words to the doctor or attendees after they pulled the tube from my throat.
At this point, the doctor began discussing whether or not I should get a procedure to close the hole in my heart, as this might or might not be causing the stroke-like symptoms and strange episodes. But before deciding, he wanted me to see one more doctor, another neurologist.
It was at this point that I began to feel that I was being “passed around” by the medical profession. While visiting with the neurologist, he took a mallet out of his cartoon-like black doctor’s bag and lightly banging one knee then the next, he ordered more tests. By the time it was all finished, I had had another MRI and an EEG and not only was I paying for doctor’s visits, but I was paying for out-patient hospital bills.
But finally it was decided...
