Heart Health

Back in August, I went to see my doctor because I was experiencing a lot of heart palpitations.  I’ve always had a few here and there, but it had increased significantly and I wasn’t sure what was going on.

I had to wear a heart monitor for 24 hours and it was able to capture what was happening, but the report just said even though these palpitations were happening everything looked normal.

My doctor wanted me to go ahead and have an echocardiogram and also do some labs to check out all of my other numbers.

When they called me to schedule the echo they told me the earliest they could get me in was October.  So, I made the appointment.

In the meantime, I did the requested labs and my vitamin d levels came back extremely low.  We boosted my vitamin d for two months, and I had more labs this month to see how it was going.  After checking again my vitamin d is back in the normal range.   Since boosting my vitamin d my palpitations haven’t been noticeable!

All of that to say, two weeks ago I got a text reminder that the echocardiogram was scheduled for this past week.  Honestly, I had forgotten about the appointment because it was scheduled so long ago and I’ve been feeling much better.  But, I confirmed that I would be there.

So this past week, early on Wednesday morning, I showed up at the heart hospital so we could take some pictures of my heart.

As I lay on the table watching the images of my heart pop up on the screen I found myself in awe.  The cardiac sonographer took pictures of my heart from several angles so she could see all of the chambers, valves, and blood flow.  She measured the size of my heart.  She captured the various beats from my heart and used sound waves to create a map of the blood flow in and out of my heart.  As the red and blue waves popped up on the screen it was like a mini light show.

I found myself thinking about the years I taught 7th graders and how every year we dissected a pig heart.  The first year I had to lead this activity I wasn’t sure how I’d handle it.  I remembered my own days of dissection in school and how grossed out I was by the smells and the experience.  And yet, it was a very different experience for me as an adult. 

Sure, it still didn’t smell great and it was still kind of gross, but it was also pretty amazing.  As we opened those pig hearts we could see the right atrium and the left atrium, along with the right ventricle and the left ventricle.  We could find the superior vena cava, and we could follow the arteries and veins within the heart.  We could see firsthand the intricacies within this organ and were amazed by God’s creation.   

As I lay there during my exam, I began to think about those that I love that have had surgery on their hearts.  I looked at just how small that organ is and found tears leaking down my cheeks as I marveled at how there are surgeons trained to delicately handle repairs to the heart.  It is truly miraculous.

And then I thought about the way that Jesus tenderly cares for our hearts.  In the midst of our deepest grief, he never leaves us.  He offers comfort to those who mourn, he is close to the brokenhearted.

As I lay in that dark room watching my scan, I was reminded that we can take a picture of our heart, the organ, and see how healthy it is and if there is any work that needs to be done to it.  It is not as easy to examine our heart when it is broken.  And yet Jesus is our great physician and walks with us as we move toward healing.  And I am grateful that both of these things are true.

I am happy to report that my heart is healthy and it is healing.

~  Melissa