Problem List: Incidental Findings of My Heart
In October 2018 I went to my primary care doctor for what I thought was just a muscle strain. But I also mentioned some chest irritation as well, which probed an EKG. What the first one showed only brought on more questions, but I had never had one before to compare it to, so they took a second one.
Both of my EKGs ended up having the exact same irregularities - Right Bundle Branch Block, or RBBB. RBBB is a heart block in the right bundle branch of the electrical conduction system. During a right bundle branch block, the right ventricle is not directly activated by impulses travelling through the right bundle branch. The left ventricle however, is still normally activated by the left bundle branch. In human terms, or at least the way that I understand it, a RBBB is simply an electrical miscommunication between my heart and brain (or whatever it "talks to"), but does not negatively affect my hearts overall function.
My primary care doctor, however, thought I should go in for some blood work and chest x-rays. I never even got the results of those tests back before she called and insisted I just go to the ER for a CT scan, because she was concerned about possible blood clots. So there I went...
I had to wait for the scan, which was stressful. And then I had to get the scan, which was stressful. Afterwards I had to wait for the results of the scan, which was (you guessed it) stressful. I was there for roughly 3 hours, wires and IVs connecting me to the IV pole, quieter than I have probably ever been in my life. Finally, I got my results.
A pericardial cyst. My nurse had never had a patient with one before. The ER doctor had to call cardiology to get information on it. Apparently 1 in 100,000 people have them. So I got an appointment with a cardiologist, who would go on to give me a cardiac echo.
Surprise, there's still more. The echo showed I have a pulmonary arteriovenous fistula, AKA a shunt. The diversion of the flow of a fluid—in particular blood, but also cerebrospinal fluid—from its normal route to another, which may be accidental, as in a traumatic arterio-venous aneurysm, or by design. Again, in human terms, this just means that not all of my blood is oxygenated before it enters my heart.
All of these things on my problem list have been deemed "incidental findings", meaning the muscle pain I had originally gone to the doctor for had nothing to do with my heart. And also, none of these problems are life-threatening, or even negatively affecting me now. In fact, I was probably born with all of them, and I've been physically healthy for all of my 20 years of life thus far.
Regardless of the fact that none of these problems are life-threatening, this whole experience has been one of the most stressful in my life. I have never broken a bone, gotten stitches, been admitted into a hospital, etc., so to find out you have been living with some heart "problems" is quite shocking.
Needless to say, this particular day in October is one I would prefer to forget. But it has also been one of the most eye-opening. These particular diagnoses could have been worse, dangerous, or deadly. I consider myself lucky to have lived a healthy life, and continue to live one.
I encourage you all to look at what you can do today and be grateful for it. Try not to complain about your job, exercising, grocery shopping, volunteering, etc., because in a split second everything you know could change. An accident could take your legs, a heart attack could claim your youthfulness, a sickness could have lasting effects for the rest of your life. Take ownership over everything you have been blessed with in this life, especially if you seldom feel blessed to have them. Start living your best life today, because it could all be different tomorrow, and you don't want to look back and regret everything you could have done but simply chose not to.
Life. That in and of itself is something to live for.
Both of my EKGs ended up having the exact same irregularities - Right Bundle Branch Block, or RBBB. RBBB is a heart block in the right bundle branch of the electrical conduction system. During a right bundle branch block, the right ventricle is not directly activated by impulses travelling through the right bundle branch. The left ventricle however, is still normally activated by the left bundle branch. In human terms, or at least the way that I understand it, a RBBB is simply an electrical miscommunication between my heart and brain (or whatever it "talks to"), but does not negatively affect my hearts overall function.
My primary care doctor, however, thought I should go in for some blood work and chest x-rays. I never even got the results of those tests back before she called and insisted I just go to the ER for a CT scan, because she was concerned about possible blood clots. So there I went...
I had to wait for the scan, which was stressful. And then I had to get the scan, which was stressful. Afterwards I had to wait for the results of the scan, which was (you guessed it) stressful. I was there for roughly 3 hours, wires and IVs connecting me to the IV pole, quieter than I have probably ever been in my life. Finally, I got my results.
A pericardial cyst. My nurse had never had a patient with one before. The ER doctor had to call cardiology to get information on it. Apparently 1 in 100,000 people have them. So I got an appointment with a cardiologist, who would go on to give me a cardiac echo.
Surprise, there's still more. The echo showed I have a pulmonary arteriovenous fistula, AKA a shunt. The diversion of the flow of a fluid—in particular blood, but also cerebrospinal fluid—from its normal route to another, which may be accidental, as in a traumatic arterio-venous aneurysm, or by design. Again, in human terms, this just means that not all of my blood is oxygenated before it enters my heart.
All of these things on my problem list have been deemed "incidental findings", meaning the muscle pain I had originally gone to the doctor for had nothing to do with my heart. And also, none of these problems are life-threatening, or even negatively affecting me now. In fact, I was probably born with all of them, and I've been physically healthy for all of my 20 years of life thus far.
Regardless of the fact that none of these problems are life-threatening, this whole experience has been one of the most stressful in my life. I have never broken a bone, gotten stitches, been admitted into a hospital, etc., so to find out you have been living with some heart "problems" is quite shocking.
Needless to say, this particular day in October is one I would prefer to forget. But it has also been one of the most eye-opening. These particular diagnoses could have been worse, dangerous, or deadly. I consider myself lucky to have lived a healthy life, and continue to live one.
I encourage you all to look at what you can do today and be grateful for it. Try not to complain about your job, exercising, grocery shopping, volunteering, etc., because in a split second everything you know could change. An accident could take your legs, a heart attack could claim your youthfulness, a sickness could have lasting effects for the rest of your life. Take ownership over everything you have been blessed with in this life, especially if you seldom feel blessed to have them. Start living your best life today, because it could all be different tomorrow, and you don't want to look back and regret everything you could have done but simply chose not to.
Life. That in and of itself is something to live for.
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