4d ago
Cardiology referral letter arrived today and I genuinely burst into tears. Relief I think, not dread, though honestly who can tell anymore. So I've been keeping a little notebook by my bed for the past three weeks. Every time my heart does its weird fluttery thing I write down the time, what I was doing, whether I'd had coffee that day, and roughly how I slept the night before. It started because I kept going blank at the GP and saying "oh it happens, you know, quite a lot" like an absolute idiot. Now I have actual times and dates. 2.17am on a Tuesday. 11.40pm after two cups of tea after 4pm. That kind of thing. The caffeine one is interesting. I haven't cut it out completely because I am not a saint, but I moved my last coffee to before noon and the late-night episodes do seem less frequent. Could be coincidence. I'm writing it down anyway. What I actually want to know before I see the cardiologist is what tests I should be asking about. I know there's an ECG, I've had one of those at the GP already. But I've seen people mention Holter monitors, the ones you wear for a few days? Is that something I can specifically request or does it depend on what they find? Also whether thyroid gets checked as a matter of course or whether I need to push for that. Not looking for anyone to diagnose me, I promise. Just want to walk in there having asked the right questions rather than nodding along and forgetting everything the minute I leave.