O/T - Scare with son ...hospitalized

[weisssoccermom]

A parent never stops worrying or being concerned. On Monday night, my youngest (26) called me very very agitated, scared, concerned....you name it. He had apparently been having some chest pains throughout the day and they had only gotten worse. 26 year olds aren't supposed to be having to think or deal with this. He said that they hurt him most of the day but were mild enough that he just considered them an annoyance (WRONG ANSWER SON!). However, when he attempted to walk to his car and got out of breath, that scared him. What was worse, he was getting SO cold....to the point of super shivering and then not being able to get warm BUT....he got really freaked out when he tried to walk up the stairs and he couldn't catch his breath. So, mom to the rescue. I drove over to his house and picked him up and he was SCARED! Later he told me he was afraid that he would go to bed, have a heart attack and die. Off to the urgent care we went where the doc did an EKG, listened to his heart/lungs and said....'YOU need to get him to the ER". Ok, now mom's freaked out. The nurse said that had I not been there they would have called an ambulance. Ok, off to the ER we go and thankfully it was only 10 minutes away. They took him in right away, drew some blood, started an IV and then had us wait and wait and wait. A chest X-ray was done and we waited some more.....all the while scaring the heck out of both of us. His chest pains were NOT going away. I, as the mom, was getting PO'D when finally, after THREE hours of waiting, we were called back. Then it was immediate...another EKG, another blood draw, set him up on fluids....WHAT IS GOING ON? They tell us that they are concerned that son's cardiac enzymes are elevated and they want to run another sample. Now, second sample shows an even higher elevation (they never were super elevated though...but definitely NOT normal for a 26 year old). Still in ER until the morning (keep in mind we arrived at Urgent Care around 8:30pm....hospital at 9:15pm) when they finally admit him. I'm a basket case....no sleep.....my sciatic is not a happy camper....those ER chairs are not conducive for sleeping, nor are the chairs in the waiting room or even the bucket seats in the car in 40 degree weather. I'm tired, I NEED sleep and son is finally resting. I slip out around 7:30am because they tell me there likely won't be a bed available in observation for a few hours. Get home, fall onto the couch and in less than an hour....phone rings...."I've been moved mom"...WHAT??????? He tells me to get some sleep and come back later (THANK YOU!). Meanwhile, they have run a blood test to test for a blood clot....comes back negative. Another blood draw for cardiac enzymes show that the third time is the charm....levels are decreasing and are now within 'normal limits'. So, they've ruled out a blood clot and a heart attack (cardiac enzymes by now would have been through the roof, not lowering), lung infections like pneumonia/pleurisy because chest Xray showed lungs to be clear. Now they're leaning towards either myocarditis or pericarditis. They did an ultrasound in the ER but it was with a probe designed more for the abdomen but the doc still said everything looked good to her. Now, they're wanting a CT scan to definitively rule out a blood clot...that gets done....negative. Ok, another blood draw.....cardiac enzymes are still normal so another normal EKG. Last test....echo....heart is normal but the pericardium is inflamed.....diagnosis....pericarditis.

Apparently not very common.....according to doc about 200,000 cases per year. Sounds like a lot but really isn't. Said it just happens.....any virus can cause it. Usually clears up all by itself but follow up is important. According to my doc, no predisposition.....it just happens. The last 36 hours have been a roller coaster of emotions...finding me praying that my son isn't going to die....watching his monitor in the ER....being cognizant of every beat of his heart, wondering if it was going to be his last (obviously before they knew what was wrong)..trying to will his heartbeat to 'calm down'...to having my mind go to scenes from ER where one of the docs dies from a PE (again, obviously before we ruled clots out). It doesn't matter how old our kiddos get....we never stop being their parent....the mom/dad who not only loves them but worries about them all the time. Remember to HUG those whom we love....and never forget that even though your kiddos grow up and move on in their lives, YOU are still their parent....the parent who loves them beyond belief.

Weisssoccermom

[DarknessEmbraced]

How very scary! I hope your son feels better soon!*hugs* I'm glad it wasn't a heart attack.*hugs*

[susie0915]

I worry about my kids all the time. They are 32, 30,and 27. So glad he is going to be okay. How scary that must have been for you.

[Ampes]

That is frightening ! I think I worry now more than when they were small! Mine are all young adults !

[juliej]

OMG, what a scare! I swear very hour in ER feels like ten years. The clock moves so slowly and you're sure they've forgotten all about you.

I'm glad it turned out to be something less serious. But you must be exhausted by now! Hope he and you are both recovering. Take care of yourself too!

Hugs,
Juliej

[NHMike]

We're the generation that worries about kids and parents and it's rough when either has problems.

[Robino1]

What a Night!!!

I'm so glad everything is working out for your son. Yes, hold your kids (if they are close enough) and always tell them you love them. <3

Get some rest!

[CRguy]

Glad things took a turn for the BETTER Jaynee

ANY -carditis ( endo, myo, peri ) can be potentially life threatening
so sounds like the team did a good job of getting things figured out.

Speedy recovery to him
( and to your frazzled nervous system ! )

Harmony
CRguy

[weisssoccermom]

Thank you all for the kind thoughts. Yep, it was scary.
I just read that the most common age group/gender to get this is MALES between the ages of 20 - 50 so guess he fits the profile to a 'T'. The info I read also indicates that in up to 30 % of the cases (I believe it was from 15 - 30%), the patient has a recurrence of this problem. WHAT!!! Nobody ever said anything about that to either of us. YIKES

I do NOT want to go through that again. With something like this, I think no matter whether or not you've been through it before, you'll ALWAYS wonder what is going on. Is it another attack? Is it now a heart attack?

Hey CR.....why does pericarditis cause the enzyme levels to rise? That's the one thing that I haven't found out anywhere. His enzyme levels were elevated which concerned the docs, but I haven't been able to figure out if that was/is normal or not with pericarditis. Shed any insight on this?????
Thanks

[CRguy]

probably the simplest explanation I could find is kind of a "collateral damage" due to surface inflammation

The inflammatory process of acute pericarditis may involve the epicardium and cause myocardial damage, as reflected by creatine kinase (CK)-MB enzyme release (7). This damage may be also responsible for cTnI release in patients with acute pericarditis, as recently reported (8,9). The temporal pattern of this release is similar to that of an acute myocardial infarction (AMI); however, the true prognostic significance of cTnI remains unknown in this setting (8,9).

from Cardiac troponin i in acute pericarditis

but there are also a whole group of enzymes which would be monitored temporally during an acute "attack" of any -carditis

The 9th slide in this powerpoint illustrates the "timing" effect nicely for an actual AMI incident
https://www.slideshare.net/desi111us/cardiac-enzymes

later edit to add in info on "-carditis" issues :
is your son a gym rat ? ANY viral infection and/or fever should be viewed with greatest caution for those who do intense workouts.
My former Doc warned me about training and competing ( karate tournaments / sparring ) when I was having a run of respiratory infections.
He had an elite hockey player patient (24) who put himself into cardiomyopathy/endocarditis crisis with intense training during a severe viral respiratory infection.
Wife's coworker's son (26) went into cardiac arrest 3 times on the table in ER and eventually had to have an LVAD implanted = doing fine now 2 years later.

Wanted to make the point that too much WORRY.... is not possible when dealing with these issues Jaynee.
These are SERIOUS and want to make folks are aware that you need to see the docs. Your son did and you were there for support ... BUTT too many young warriors just try to shake it off or work through it .... = NOT a plan !


Continued best wishes on his recovery
CRguy