Oncology Visit + Emergency OB Visit

Every Christmas season, I'm due for my annual visit to see my oncologist.  Normally, they draw labs and do a chest x-ray to check for recurrence of the disease.  However, this visit, we had to forego the x-ray due to the pregnancy.  Honestly, I didn't even get labs done.  I had just had a full CBC (complete blood count) performed at my OB's office just three weeks ago.  I obtained a copy of those and brought them to my oncologist.  So really, the visit was more so just social, but I don't even care.  Bill me $40 for it because I enjoy seeing my doctor and his nurse, T.  She was the one who let me cry and cry on the phone to her when we first discovered my mass back in week 5 of my pregnancy; the one that told me that I could call her anytime I needed anything.  They were all so excited to see me.  And I them.
When T entered the room, I got a huge hug from her.  She could easily see my bump.  Then my oncologist's new nurse practitioner came in and she said, "This must be your first because you aren't showing at all!"  Ha!  If only she knew what I looked like beforehand.  Then my oncologist came in the room and he had the biggest smile on his face as he entered.  He told me congrats and then asked, "Can I get a profile view?" So I moved my scarf so he could see and he smiled even bigger.  He could clearly see my belly.  I'm sure to most, I don't look pregnant, but to anyone who knows me and how thin I was before, it's more than obvious!

The nurse practitioner then told me that my heart rate was 120 (it's normally between 60-65) and my blood pressure was 93/65, which is a lot lower than my normal 120/80.  I explained to her that lately I had been feeling extremely weak, fatigued, unable to hold my body up, and my heart racing, sometimes for no reason; that I felt like I did when I had tachycardia the first five years post-chemo.  She then responded, "Well that's because you're having tachycardia."  She advised me to go straight home and rest, no activity, no shopping, no walking around, for the next week until I returned to Florida and talked to my OB.
(Just after chemo, I was experiencing intense rapid heart rate, sometimes while at rest.  After many visits and tests, the cardiologist diagnosed me with tachycardia.  It wasn't surprising.  One of my chemo medications was in a class of drugs that can cause heart damage (or even heart failure).  Good news is that one can outgrow tachycardia and it was easily treated with a low dose beta blocker.  After five years, we weaned me off the medication to see how I reacted.  And nothing happened!  My tachycardia was gone and has been gone for a little over three years now).

They did a small physical exam and all looked great.  They told me that they wanted me to get a scan this summer, after I deliver and that actually works out.  I plan to come back to St. Louis in August or September because I'll be drastically needing my annual endoscopy and dilatation around that time so I'll just schedule my x-ray during that trip home as well.  So home I went, with orders to come back in the summer and orders to rest, rest, rest!

Of course I was frustrated.  I posted on social media about my appointment, along with what the doctor said about needing to rest and calling my OB due to my heart rate and blood pressure.  Almost everyone who commented said that it was perfectly normal.  I will admit, that I wasn't sure they were right.  How on earth could just sitting on the couch cause my heart to race and me out of breath?  How could a 15 foot walk to the bathroom have me feeling like I was close to passing out?  How could standing still for just 2 minutes have my unable to hold my body up and having to squat or sit down right where I was? (Of course they didn't have all the details of our symptoms). But everyone continued to tell me that the increased blood flow and well, simply growing a human can do that and it's normal.  It eased my mind.  Most of the people who offered advice did so out of genuine concern and support.  There were a few that sent me private messages asking for me details about what was going on and I explained.  They told me it was all normal and that I was simply over-reacting.  Honestly, they were condescending because I'm just a first time mama.  They advised me to just rest and drink lots of water and I'll be okay;  that if I call my doctor over nothing, they'll think I'm a hypochondriac and if something serious does happen, they'll blow me off.  I thought maybe they were right.  But when things didn't improve after days of rest and lots of water, I decided to call anyway; even if they thought I was crazy.

When I returned to Florida, I called my OB first thing Monday morning.  I explained to the nurse practitioner what my heart rate and blood pressure was at my oncologist's office.  I explained my symptoms and that it felt identical to the tachycardia I had a few years ago.  She said it is absolutely not normal and I need to come into the office as soon as I could.
Into the office I went.  I sat in the waiting room for 20 minutes, then walked back to the exam room.  I sat there for another 10 minutes before a medical assistant came in to check my blood pressure.  Again, it was low.  Then after another 20 minutes of waiting, the nurse practitioner, L, came in.  She listened to my heart and told me my heart rate was 103.  Definitely a little high for having done nothing but sit in a chair for the past 30 minutes (plus 20 in the waiting room before my walk to the exam room). She then asked me to tell her what all was going on.
The first thing she said was, don't go to social media.  She said that they see far too many women who come in saying their mommy friends gave them advice and it was wrong.  She said, "People believe experiencing something makes them an expert.  People believe their situation is everyone's situation.  Having a baby or even ten babies does not make you an expert.  No one, except a licensed or trained professional, should offer advice on certain situations.  Medical situations are one of them.  Please, next time, just call us first."  She was super nice about it but I felt like I was being reprimanded haha.
However, many of the mamas that offered me advice were right, in some sense.  The nurse practitioner explained that my symptoms, to a much lesser degree, can be normal.  She said, yes, the extra blood flow can make women extremely fatigued and even the smallest activities can make you dizzy and very winded.  And it's even more common in smaller women such as myself.  So while she said that's surely aiding in it, she thinks it is my tachycardia or something similar and is referring me to a cardiologist.  She said her main concern is that sitting at rest for 30+ minutes has my heart  above 100 with my blood pressure far too low.
I think she could sense the concern in my eyes because she then assured me that everything would be okay and it shouldn't be a major issue.  She explained that heart issues are seen in a lot of women during pregnancy and they leave just as quickly as they came once the baby is delivered. She also told me beta blockers are perfectly safe to take during pregnancy so it can easily be managed.

The nurse definitely eased my mind and I'm thankful that I'm on my way to getting answers.  She sent me on my way with strict guidelines to rest until I saw my cardiologist and we could get this under control.  No activity.  No cleaning, no laundry, no dog walking, etc.  "Make the bed and couch your best friend.  Rely on your husband to take care of the house and dogs."  Can I get that in writing?  (Just kidding, Nick has been amazing at doing everything around the house, even while he himself was sick these past few days.)
Unfortunately, the cardiologist called that afternoon and they cannot get me until the 14th.  That is a LONG time to sit and rest for a girl that doesn't sit still well (what can I say, I'm my father's daughter).  I'm going on day four since that appointment and I'm going insane.  I need to get up.  To move around.  To clean and organize and put Christmas away and play with my new items and start clearing out guest bedroom #2 to start the nursery and shop.  And by need to do these things, I mean I want to.  I'm so over laying in bed or on the couch!  My poor husband is surely tired of my whiny "I'm boooooorrrrrreeeeddddd" plea over and over.  He's also getting the wrath of my depression and anger that's setting in from doing NOTHING!  These next two weeks need to fly by so I can get an answer and get a fix!


So long story short:
Oncologists visit went well, for what it could, other than my heart rate and blood pressure.
I will now still ask for advice on Facebook, but understand that everyone is different and your situation is not mine, just like mine is not yours and I will seek my OB's advice asap.  I understand some women truly want to help and others just want to be a know-it-all.  I think I now know who I can trust.
I'm on strict rest guidelines until I see a cardiologist.
I shouldn't be too concerned because whatever it is is most likely not serious and will be easily treated and manageable.


Have you ever experienced a heart issue during pregnancy?
Have you ever put off a doctor because someone else told you it was nothing or normal?

Note: to anyone who commented on this status and told me it was normal and you experienced something similar, don't feel badly!  I would have done the exact same thing.  After all, you're just trying to help and have nothing more to go off than your own experience.  I know that the majority of you offered advice from genuine concern and wanting to offer support, and I thank you.  My nurse and my annoyance came from those who not only offered their experience, but clearly told me I shouldn't contact me doctor, and, essentially, diagnosed me themselves.  I appreciate those that try to help and ease my mind, but not those that are condescending and think they know my body better than myself or a doctor.  I still plan to ask my friends via this blog and social media for advice because I trust the majority of you and you all put me at ease.  I just now know whom I can trust and whom I have to just ignore ;)