Olga, these man are tell a truth that the word "左突右撞" you encounterd is very probably a word that created by the author, cause I have never seen such a word before, but the meaning of this word is understandable by most chinese, there's a metaphor here, trying to assimilate your heart to a little bird. Try to imagine when you are a little bird and you are nervous, you probably would "suddenly skip to the left and dash to the right" This was actually what the author was meaning.
Hope it helps