The start

Day 1.

On Monday, 30 May 2022 my heart went into a Ventricular Tachycardia rhythm which ended with me getting shocked from a defibrillator and a trip to the hospital.

I worked from home that Monday - I am lucky to have a job in IT from a very flexible digital marketing consultancy. I followed our usual early evening routine when my son and his dad got home from daycare at 5 PM.

My other half got the bath started, and I got started with cleaning the kitchen so I could get supper ready. I washed some dishes, and loaded the dish washer.

My son (he is 3 and a half) called me from the bath - he was done and wanted me to get him dressed. I picked him up and carried him down the hall to get him into his pajamas. He then requested to eat his dinner in his room (cause 3 year olds are all about the novelty). I walked back and forth down the hall a few times to get this setup.

With the boy’s supper sorted, I felt the need to eat something. Before I could, I started to feel incredibly light headed. I crumpled onto the bed in my room (I just made it there from the boy’s room next door). I felt very weak. I called the husband to come and help me, as I literally could not move. By now it was about 6 PM.

I was lying on the bed, sweating profusely. I was unable to talk much to convey what was wrong. All my energy was used by just breathing. Every time I tried to move, I was in pain. I did remove most of my clothes due to feeling sooo sweaty, and remained only in my underwear. After a bit of symptom Googling by the husband (no, this is not menopause!), an ambulance was called.

Ambulance time

3 paramedics from St John’s Free Ambulance were at my house within 10 minutes. They hooked me up to the ECG and my heart rate was 200 beats per minute. That, I have since learned, is classified as a Ventricular Tachycardia heart rhythm. I was immediately given oxygen, which I remember thinking I did not really need (clearly I did).

3 more paramedics arrived. I wasn’t too sure why at the time, but found out a bit later that it was due to the one shift ending and another beginning.

2 intensive care speciality paramedics arrived. Yep, by now there were 8 paramedics in my bedroom, crowded around my bed.

Ketamine time

The paramedics informed me that my heart rhythm had been too high for too long, and that they would need to shock me out of it. They were going to give me some horse tranquilisers so that I wouldn’t feel the shock. Neigh. This was all a bit scary to hear.

While this conversation was happening, 2 of the paramedics were desperately trying to find a vein to land an IV line into. This turned out to be a nightmare task for them, as none of my veins wanted to play ball. The poor guys even tried my toes for a vein.

After some more prodding, I received some Ketamine via IV. I remember going into a Minecraft like world with fabulous colours. I was escaping a maze alongside the paramedics. The next thing I remember is the husband talking to me from outside the maze, and his face breaking through the clouds like the Tellytubby sun.

Right about this time I realised that I was having a hallucination. After answering a few questions correctly from the intensive care ambulance paramedic, I was loaded into a wheelchair. They managed to get me and the wheelchair down our pokey stairs and then down the steep driveway of doom to the ambulance. All this while allowing me to crack jokes and covering my remaining dignity from the neighbours with a sheet.

Hospital time

I was rushed straight into the ED triage at the hospital by the ambulance. They placed me in a R room, which I think stands for Resuscitation. After hooking me up to some new monitors and handing over some paperwork, I said goodbye to my new paramedic friends.

My new doctor friend asked me a lot of questions. In particular he was keen to understand what might have led to this special evening to happen. In particular he wanted to know how much alcohol I normally have. I was in a weirdly happy and jokey mood after the ketamine, and I am not sure the serious doctor appreciated this. After my happy interrogation, I was being admitted to the cardiac ward in hospital.

I received a Covid-19 test, which was thankfully negative. An orderly came and wheeled me up to the ward.

Just a regular Monday night, really.