The Heart MRI

I went to the Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, MI for the MRI of my heart.  The Dr. wanted me to have this test in an effort to determine why my heart showed extra muscle thickness in the upper part of the heart and maybe determine why I was having these off-timed contractions.  The hospital is about 20 miles away from my house and traffic at 6:00 a.m. was almost nonexistent.  Van Dyke, a six-lane avenue was almost empty and normally it is stop and go traffic at that time of the day. 

The first thing I faced at the South entrance of the hospital was an army of nurses asking me questions, spraying me with disinfectant and giving me anti-bacterial foam for my hands.  I then had to go to the information center where the desk clerk kept me at least six feet away as he asked me and I answered questions.  Another staff member came to get me and escorted me to the MRI facility all the time keeping at least six feet away from me.  I felt like someone who had the plague.  When I got to the MRI facility another staff member continued querying me trying to determine if I was a high risk of having been infected with the coronavirus.  Finally, after all the paperwork was filled and checked, another technician escorted me to a dressing room (in this case undressing room) and I was asked to take off al my clothes and get into a scrubs-like outfit.  I then proceed into the actual MRI machine and asked to lie down on the sliding table in front of this "tube."

She prepped me by inserting an IV, put something heavy over my chest, put a headset and the table moved into the "tube."  She provided instructions to me over the headset and told me that the software would give instructions on when to breathe and when to hold my breath.  the test took about 45 minutes with pictures being taken 8 to 20 seconds at a time.  If it wasn't for the constant instructions to "breathe normally," and take a breath and hold it." I would have fallen asleep in that tube.  In fact, I think I did a couple of times because the technician would interject herself in the programmed cycle and tell me that I did not hold my breath and she would have to take that "picture" over again.  It was annoying having to awaken.

When she was finished she disconnected me, asked me to get dressed and told me that I could go.  I asked her about the results and she said that my doctor would get in contact with me.  I told her the doctor's office was closed for a couple of weeks.  She said that the doctor had access to the computer files and that he would contact me when he evaluated the MRI.

I drove home about 9:30 in the morning and it was an eerie feeling with all shops, stores, gas stations, fast food places were all closed.  In the 20-mile ride on the busy avenues I did not see more than ten cars.  I got home and the first thing I did was to dip my hands in a bleach solution that I have in a deep dish in the sink and then washed my hands with soap.  I made some chile con queso and refried beans for brunch and about noon the doctor called me with the results of the MRI.  I told him I did not expect a call for two weeks.  He indicated that that the muscle build-up on the top of my heart did not seem as severe as it was indicated in the echocardiogram.  He did indicate that the MRI showed a lot of scarring if the heart similar to what it would show after heart attacks.  I told him that as far as I knew, I did not have any heart attacks.  So the scarring was not a mystery. 

He indicated that he still does not know what was causing the sensations of heart "flutter,"  But that he wanted me to add another medication to the regimen I was already taking.  This new medication, "Metropolol extended-release 25 mg" is supposed to eliminate the arrhythmia.  I went and got the medication and read through the description. DAMN!  After reading all the possible side effects, I don't think I want to take this.  It is worse than having what I have.  I may feel dizzy or pass out, it affects blood pressure and heart rate, may hide signs of low blood sugar, other medication such as cough or cold drugs, diet pills, stimulants, ibuprofen, and some natural product aids cannot be taken when taking this drug.  I cannot have alcohol and it may have an allergic reaction.  Taking this drug may result in a rash, hives, itching, red skin, swelling, blistering or peeling skin, fever, wheezing, tightness in the chest or throat, depression, chest pain, abnormal heartbeat, slow heartbeat, shortness of breath, big weight gain, swelling in the arms or legs, feeling tired, feeling dizzy and weak, diarrhea, upset stomach, and vomiting.  Although it all sounds horrible, the one that caught my eye was the "Big weight gain."  Hell, I'm already in the largest size clothes I have ever worn.  I don't want to buy larger ones. 

The doctor says that some people don't have any of these side effects and that drug companies have to put these for disclosure purposes.  I'll give it a try for a couple of weeks and see how it goes.  If it does not help or causes any of these side effects, the drug is out of here.

The Mystery of the Heart Flutter

Over the past several years, maybe four, I have been feeling a strange sensation in my chest.  It feels as if one is squeezing a small balloon full of water in a hand, and the feeling of the water squeezing through the fingers and "popping" back into the balloon as you open the hand.  That rushing feeling is what I feel in the chest.  It started as an occasional sense, maybe occurring one every few months and it began to be more frequent.  I got a little worried about it a few years ago and I went to a cardiologist to get tested.  Unfortunately, the sensation never occurred during the tests and all the tests came out normal.  On several occasions, I have motioned this to my regular doctor, Dr. Blanchet, but all ECGs that have been taken have come out looking normal.  Last Fall, after another normal ECG, Dr. Blanchet suggested that it may be something else, possibly gas coming out of my stomach.  He asked me to try some medication for gas but I did not take it because I am certain that it was my heart and not the effects of gas.

In November and December 2019, the frequency and intensity of these sensations increased to a point that I became concerned enough to seek another cardiologist.  I called Dr. Blanchet's office for some recommendations and made an appointment to see a third cardiologist in five years.  We had scheduled a trip to Mexico over Christmas and I traveled with these intense sensations in my chest.  These sensations were not painful, nor were they debilitating, I just felt the fluctuations as if my heart were pumping the blood "backward."

I went to see the cardiologist and I was very disappointed in my initial meeting with him.  Again the ECG was normal since I did not have the sensations I described to him.  although I told him that the chances of feeling them were much higher if I lay on my left side.  I had noticed when I lay in bed that if I lay on the left side the feeling is more likely to happen and it would be more intense than when I have them when I am sitting or standing.  His comment was that he needed to make a series of tests.  That in itself did not bother me.  What bothered me was his follow up comment was that he needed the tests to determine what I "did not have."  I indicated that given my symptoms could he direct the tests to see if he could determine what I did have instead of trying to eliminate what I did not have.  He did not seem to be happy at my challenge of his testing procedure and he indicated it was a scientific approach to understanding the problem.  I indicated to him that scientific research, as I understand it is formulating a hypothesis and then test to see if it was true.  He did not respond and proceeded to schedule an echocardiogram and the installation of a monitor for a month to see if they could catch these "sensations" I was feeling.

When I went to have the echocardiogram performed and the monitored installed, the sensations in my chest were quite frequent and dominant.  The technician, doing the echocardiogram was not a very good observer and I asked her if she had noticed the fluctuations that I felt in her monitoring of my heart.  She indicated that she had and she called them "Premature Ventricular Contractions (PVCs).  It seems, however, that she was only trained and interested in the echocardiogram test and was not interested in the PVCs, and in fact did not report them to Dr. Edouard R. Daher, the cardiologist.  I refused to have the monitor put on me for a couple of reasons:  First, to me, the purpose of the monitor was to show that the "fluctuations" in my chest were not in my imagination and were detected by the technician performing the echocardiogram.  It was the first time they were detected by an instrument.  Second, the monitor was to be attached for a month and I had scheduled a trip to Mexico for three weeks and I could not see the sense of being wired and of carrying a monitor all over Mexico.

During the follow-up visit about a week later with Dr, Daher to review the results of the echocardiogram, he indicated that the muscle in the upper chamber was extremely developed and he had no idea as to why that was.  I asked him if it was related to the PVCs that the technician had detected during the echocardiogram and it was the first time he had heard that I had PVC.  The Technician never reported it.  He asked me why I did not have the monitor installed I told him, My purpose was to demonstrate that PVC existed and they were shown during the echocardiogram.  since he did not have any of that information he insisted that I have the monitor installed.  He also asked me to schedule a Heart MRI.  Again I told him that I would do it when I got back from my trip.

Meantime, the fluctuations or PVCs have become more frequent and more intense and I feel them about a fourth of the time that I am awake.  I'm scheduled for the heart MRI on Wednesday March 25th at 7:30 a.m. at Troy Beaumont in Royal Oak.  I am also due to have the heart monitor installed that same afternoon.  But I am only going to keep it on as long as it is necessary to detect and get a measurement of the PVCs - a lot less than one month.  In fact, I believe it should only take a day or two of monitoring at the rate and intensity they are occurring.