One, two three, (me & HMR) redux

Last week was a big week for me, weight-wise for certain, but also because I had planned to start HMR.   

"The best laid schemes of mice and men / Go oft awry"

Instead of starting the HMR program I ended up making my way to the emergency room.  My HMR appointment was scheduled for early evening and I decided that it might be nice to take a short nap.  Almost as soon as I started to nap, my chest began to feel "funny" - by this I mean, my heart was beating fast, I felt nauseous and the oddest thing of all... I felt like I could pass out if I closed my eyes.  The experience was very strange and made me totally uncomfortable.  I considered calling 911, but did not.  Instead I decided to take a shower and then drive to my HMR appointment.  My thought process went something like this -- I'll drive to HMR and if I still feel funky, then I'll just go to the ER.

So I arrived at the hospital, still felt strange, and made my way to the ER check-in instead of the HMR class.  At the ER I was given an EKG/ECG and sent back to the lobby to wait for a triage nurse.  While waiting for triage, I saw at least 4 other people in the waiting area and overheard them talking about "chest pain" as the reason for their visit.  I will not forget the woman on the phone telling someone "she was at the ER because her son had chest pain and couldn't seem to breathe properly"; I won't forget her because when I saw her son, he was at least 450 lbs and could not have been any older than 14.  All of the people having chest pains were overweight, at least the ones I could see and hear.  That made me sad on so many levels.

Back to me:  The ER Dr. (Wilson) instructed the nurses to come get me and see me "sooner rather than later" because my BP was high and my heart rate was consistently high, approx. ~125-130 beats.  The medical staff took blood, hooked me up to EKG/ECG, bp monitor, pulse ox, dropped an IV line (fluids) and took an x-ray.  All of my blood tests were normal, my EKG/ECG was normal, the x-ray was normal, but my bp and heart rate were NOT normal.  I was given a nitroglycerin patch - did not help.  I was given a beta blocker and a Xanax (took a bit, but everything seemed better after that).  My heart rate and bp became more normal and I started to feel much better.  I have never had a panic attack before (that I know of), but I am pretty certain that part of my problem was related to having one.  I could not get my mind off of my how abnormal I felt and it stressed me out to the nth degree.

It is now April 19 and so far so good.  :-)

Of course I have follow-up appointments with my Dr. to see if I need BP medicine and to go over the issue with him.  Getting the weight off is one of the best things I can do, I think for my physical as well as my mental health. 

As far HRM - I'm all set to start class on April 20 and start the program on April 21.  Wish me luck. :-)