December 31, 2004 - Friday | 1:05 AM, CST Christmas was great, and hopefully it was just as good for everyone else. Although my Christmas tree (all two feet of it) didn't get put up until late Christmas Eve, and my lights didn't get put up at all, I still managed to hold on to some Christmas spirit. The days following Christmas, however, have been stressful. About three days ago, I began to notice something strange about my heartbeat. Now, throughout my life I'd get what can best be described as a "palpitation" in my regular heartbeat. Its kind of like my heart is beating its regular rhythm, then it stumbles. Kind of like:
Back to normal. I never thought anything of it, figured it was just one of those bodily mysteries that probably couldn't me explained and wasn't worth looking into. They came perhaps once every four months or so, and I wouldn't have anything repeated. A few months back, however, the palpitations began occuring once every couple of minutes. I noticed it after work one morning. I tried to think as to what was causing this, and my best answer was recent stress on the job, plus a highly unhealthy diet due to a large quantity of chocolate consumed in the previous days. Assuming that this apparant dysrhythmia was a result of lowered electrolytes plus increased levels of stress, I fixed myself a bowl of Total cereal, ate a banana, and went to bed. When I woke up, everything was back to normal. But for the past two and a half days, the palpitations have not stopped. I'm not sure if its a result of the increased holiday chocolate and Pepsi, along with the stress of the holiday season (the prospect of two weeks during Christmas time without a paycheck, an argument with Bryan, and a structure fire where for the first twenty minutes I was basically the only one with working knowlege of the engine). The first day and a half the palpitations were very worrisome, but after a good night's rest, their intensity and frequency reduced significantly. I saw the doctor the day they went down (Wednesday), who ordered blood work and advised me to either make a follow-up appointment, or see a cardiologist. I went Thursday morning to the hospital for the bloodwork, so later today I will probably call the doctor's office to find the results, and figure out whether I want to see my regular doctor or the cardiologist. I'm hoping these are the result of improper diet and stress levels, because an organic anomoly that has suddenly manifested itself would definately not be on my holiday wishlist. Just before the palpitations eased up, I bought a box of Total, a jug of Gatorade, and numerous fruits and vegetables high in yummy electrolytes and nutrients. This will help the diet factor of the problem, but the thought of having something wrong with my heart keeps me worried. What I find interesting, is that during increased physical activity, the palpitations cease. Either that or I just don't notice them. Hopefully I can get this figured out as soon as possible.
As I mentioned above, there was a structure fire a few days ago. There was also a structure fire my last Christmas break as well. Although at this one we really didn't get to do anything exciting, other than hold a few hoses and shine flashlights. For the first few minutes, I did get to start to set up the engine, but that was cancelled when they figured the extra mutual aid wasn't necessary. Nevertheless it was still exciting, and I'll get my five bucks whether I do nothing or work for ten hours. Plus, I never go to one of these things without getting my free drink! Which in this case was a cup of hot cocoa. Very holiday, thanks Suzanne, although you really should quit burning down your houses just to be a hospitable egghead. At this rate, there will be nothing left in a few years. With all these mutual aid calls for structure fires, I told some of the guys that we may as well open up a Station 2 in town. Maybe Suzanne's garage? Blamshit. |
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