Hypothyroidism at the Nashville Zoo

Since my ambulance ride to the hospital back in July, I have been dealing with some pretty cruddy results of hypothyroidism. One being that my heart apparently is enlarged, making it too big for my chest cavity, "cardiac entrapment" my doctor says. Although my heart beats normal and strong, it beats right up against the chest wall and causes some "discomfort". 

 This weekend, my friend, Amy, and I took our boys to the zoo. I told her she was not allowed to laugh at me when I got winded hiking the trails of the Nashville Zoo and she agreed. It was a beautiful day and honestly, when we got there, I felt like I could wrangle some gators like the Rileyman and his buddy Cade here. I felt like I could conquer any trails set before me.

But pretty soon I got that feeling that my heart was beginning to beat right out of my chest and into my throat.

As if those elephants were sitting on me.

I told Amy it felt like I was going to throw up my heart and hand it right to her. She looked at me like "hey that's disgusting" but we continued on. 

My body was begging me so much to do what this little cub was doing. SO MUCH. It said "see that little cub? That little cub has the right idea."

But my brain said "No! Keep going! You can dooooooit!"

And I threw up my heart right then and there.

I handed it to Amy for safe keeping and we enjoyed the rest of our Zoo trip and all the pretty birds. It really was a glorious day with beautiful weather. Heat stroke was not on our itinerary this day. It was awesome.

Quick trivia: What makes flamingos so pink?

Find the answer HERE.

And so goes my adventures with hypothyroidism and a heart that is too big for its own good. Does anyone else have this problem??

*****disclaimer.....Yall I did not truly throw up my heart. Although my best bud Amy would have been a perfect person to give it to.

~Amber D. McNabb