Diagnosis

The story starts a few months ago in June, during a routine appointment with my pediatric cardiologist, who has been monitoring my sisters and me for a heart disease my father has. The appointment was going as usual: undress and put on The Awkward Gown, let's stick some stickies all over your body and make a cool picture with your heart rhythm, let's pour ultrasound goop all over your chest and check for babies abnormalities. Everything was sufficiently awkward and uncomfortable (read: normal) until the doctor came back in at the end of the ultrasound. He explained that he thought he saw a hole between my right and left atria, but he couldn't be sure without doing another procedure.

A few days later, another cardiologist performed a Transesophageal Echocardiogram (TEE for short). During this procedure, the doctor sedates the patient and sticks a probe with an ultrasound device in the  mouth and down the esophagus until it is sitting right behind the heart. This way, the cardiologist can detect with certainty whether or not there is an abnormality.

When the doctor came in before my procedure, I was super sedated and tired but I was trying to pretend like I was fine. I was fighting the sleepiness like it was my job. So he doubled my sedative and ZZZ. When I woke up, I was suuupppeer loopy. I remember hiccuping, being cranky, and wondering why my mother thought it was the ideal time to sell every. single. one. of her old Oprah magazines to the used bookstore when all I wanted to do was go home immediately and sleep.

After a long nap, a few more days and another appointment, it was confirmed that I had a fairly large Atrial Septal Defect (ASD). Basically, there is a hole in the septum of my heart between my left and right atria. Here's a handy picture for clarification:

via. 

Basically, the oxygenated blood is being greedy and is sneaking back into my right atrium so that it can be oxygenated again. Consequently, the right side of my heart has more blood to work with and oxygenate. Over time, the right side of the heart enlarges (mine already has a little), gets tired, and calls it quits (not good). Solution? Open heart surgery.