Doubly Exacerbated

I recently went to the doctor for  mild exacerbation of some cardiac symptoms I'd been experiencing. SVTs for those of you in the business (rapid heart rate for everyone else). Nothing serious. As is typical, I was given a few options ranging from full cardiac work up and follow up with my cardiologist, (which I loathe--not him per se, just the whole process) to just continuing to monitor and waiting for it to likely resolve on its own. He said it could be a manifestation of an unknown bout with a virus (damn covid) or some other unknown trigger.

Now in most instances, I'm a 'give me the full gambit' type of gal. Sign me up for all the screenings, all the appointments, all the tests--don't want to miss a thang. 

My husband is more of a 'unless it's free, you don't need it' type of guy. 

Quick aside-- last year I had a minor procedure related to aforementioned SVTs that some might call "elective". I did not call it that (at least to Brad's face). SVTs aren't a threat to your health, typically or technically, but just make you feel pretty crappy, which is why they like to label it elective. 

As one would expect with a cardiac procedure, it's pretty expensive and as is typical with insurance, you're going to meet your deductible and/or max out of pocket before insurance even touches it.

So, with this cardiac catheterization they go into specific zones of your heart and use this fancy computer to try to trigger your specific arrhythmia, identify it's point of origin, and then once they do, they laser it and hopefully eliminate that arrhythmia. Cool right?

So, in the weeks leading up to my surgery I was having multiple episodes nearly every day. The day of the surgery, I had one brief episode before we left and one at the hospital during pre-op prep.

Rolled back to surgery with my nifty "bair hug" thermal blanket (sweating my {figurative, obvi} balls off) and don't remember much else after that.

Wake up 3 hours later to my surgeon telling me that they were unable to trigger my arrhythmia AND sustain it for the required length of time to pinpoint, target, and laser it. So for all intents and purposes the surgery was unsuccessful (and quite a waste of time). Literally gained nothing. But I'm pretty drugged up so while I was really confused and disappointed, I didn't have the strength or wherewithal to ask many questions and drifted back to sleep.

Some amount of time later, I open my eyes to see my husband hovering over my bed.

"Did you know this was elective!? Did you know it's not a danger to your health!?"

*Groggy and confused but feeling this premonition of dread creeping up my spine* 

"Whhaat?"

"The doctor said that they couldn't get your heart to do the thing, but that I didn't need to worry or be concerned because that heartbeat thing isn't dangerous or doesn't cause problems for your health and it's more just annoying!! Why did he say that!? I thought you needed this!?"

What kind of lunatic doctor tells a husband that the surgery his wife just had was shits for and giggles? Seriously. You don't tell a man that it wasn't at all necessary even though his insurance just got billed 54 grand for it.

Palm to the face.

"Why would they even have you do it if the condition isn't dangerous? Isn't surgery more dangerous!?"

"I don't know, Brad, could we talk about it later when I don't have propofol residual wreaking havoc with my system?? It's hard to explain when my brain doesn't seem to remember how to connect with my mouth."

*Muttering to himself and shaking his head* "54 thousand dollars....elective *scoffs*...just want your money...what kind of outfit is this *cchhhh* ...what a joke...*continues to snort and harumph*"

*Making a mental note to remember to strangle my cardiologist--drift off to sleep*

First, Brad isn't the type of husband that you can share medical information with, without another adult present. For himself, for me, or for the kids. Another adult is always required. He can't be my medical power of attorney. He doesn't listen, he doesn't understand, he doesn't care (about the specifics, so he'll just 'yup, yup sounds good' ya until someone's dead, broke, or missing a limb, at best).

Second, if cost is a factor (and when isn't it for healthcare), he's always gonna want the cheapest, fastest option, even if it means his wife is "minorly" "inconvenienced" by some "spells" "here and there" (to be fair, if it were serious, he wouldn't even consider the cost). There's a reason I don't give him those specifics. Tell him things didn't pan out, you weren't able to trigger the arrhythmia, that I'll be fine, and move quickly to the nearest exit.

Another example. I had a septoplasty a couple of years ago to repair a (unknown) decades old nasal fracture. During surgery, Brad ran to Arby's (real quick, he tells me) so he wasn't there when the surgeon came to talk to the "caregiver". So he had to get the rundown from the nurse. Somewhere, something got lost in the translation. Long story short, I ended up with nasal stents (pretty much tiny pvc pipe) jammed up my nostrils for 10 days instead of the required 7. And I was ready for them to be out on day 1.

Thanks, love.  

Anyway, back to my first story (it's tricky to keep up in this heap, so keep your wits about you)--my recent exacerbation of cardiac symptoms. I decided to just watch and see.

So I was explaining all of this to Brad that night while we were cooking philly cheesesteak sandwiches for supper. I was chopping veggies and he was drinking and searing/sauteeing.

*chop chop* "They said it could be cardiomyopathy or like myocarditis, but they say that most of the time it resolves on it's own without issue, so I'll just keep an eye on it I guess."

"Oh, Shit. *flip, stir* That's from covid, you know. You could die. "

"We don't even know when I had covid or if its from that. I'm not gonna die. I could go see my cardiologist just to check in." *chop chop*

"No, I think it's okay to just keep an eye on it and go in if it gets worse." *sips, stirs* 

*Pause*

"Good thing I just paid your life insurance."

Yes. 

Good thing. 

What's the status of yours, just out of curiosity?