She’s got rhythm

Lately, it seems, I wake up tired. Not because I’ve been out carousing half the night or digging ditches all day long. Nope. No obvious reason, except for one: I’m in AFib. Again. Here’s a life tip: When your EKG looks more like a stock market chart than a recording of your heart’s electrical activity, you might have a problem. As in, an irregular heart rhythm — and often very fast — heart rate. That’s atrial fibrillation. I’ve seen this movie before. Back in 2017, I was in full-blown AFib with no symptoms except for a “resting” heart rate of 130. I got my mitral valve repaired and was good to go. Then it returned in 2022, with even fewer symptoms. I was tired and sweaty, something often attributed to getting older and being a post-menopausal woman. Wrong again. Apparently, I am predisposed to this AFib stuff. And it likes to return when it damn well pleases. You probably know someone who has it. Or maybe you have it. I swear, it’s like the ubiquitous tonsillectomy of the 21^st century. “Whose got AFib? I do, I do!” Strangely enough, in early June at my annual cardiologist visit, I was just fine. Two months later, not so much.

Thank goodness for my Apple Watch, which has a built-in heart sensor to take an ECG (same as an EKG, but with a “C,” as in electrocardiogram). For a consumer-grade device, the watch’s ECG provides actionable information that my doctors take seriously.

Note to self: If the result keeps registering “inconclusive,” you might be in AFib. Get checked.

It sounds odd, but the rate and rhythm of your heartbeat is controlled by the body’s electrical system. We all have a natural pacemaker in our heart generating tiny electrical impulses that initiate each heartbeat.

As the cardiologist’s physician’s assistant explained to me at my recent visit, my heart is now rate controlled with medications, and my risk of stroke is minimized by taking a blood thinner every day.

“Also,” he said, “AFib won’t kill you.” Good to know.

But as we do know – and he didn’t actually say (or sing) this – the rhythm is gonna get you. 

For medical nerds out there: According to the Mayo Clinic website, AFib is the most common heart rhythm disorder. It is found in about 1 percent of the overall population, particularly in the elderly. While rare in young people, it’s found in 5 percent of those over age 65 (like me) and 10 percent of those over 80.

Then there’s an atrial flutter, which I like to call “AFlu,” that’s similar to AFib. But the heartbeats are more, shall we say, organized. You’d think I would’ve gotten that one, right? I mean, I alphabetize our spices, for cryin’ out loud. In a perfect world, my delicate heart should flutter not fibrillate.

Thankfully, I’ve got a good team of doctors.

My general practitioner is a gem who has saved me not one, not two but three times now, as most of you know: She is Dr. Jami Small, internist to the stars, including most of my close friends and family in metro-Detroit.

As far as I’m concerned, she can never retire, and I trust her adult children will continue their higher education well beyond post-graduate school.

Along with attentive physicians, I pay attention to my body, such as it is. If you don’t feel like yourself, don’t ignore it. You’re not being a baby. And if you are, who cares?

Tomorrow, I’m going in for my second “cardioversion.” Without getting too deep into the weeds again, a cardioversion is a medical procedure that uses quick, low-energy electrical shocks to return an irregular heartbeat back to normal rhythm. It’s not the same as a defibrillation, which uses a stronger shock.

Rebecca and I like to call cardioversion getting zapped. My last zapping was in 2022, also around Labor Day. Honestly, I’d much rather march in the parade, if you want the truth.

Here’s a link if you’re bored and enjoy comparing/contrasting complex cardiac procedures: Fix her upper – Heart Matters Blog

So, there you have it. By this time tomorrow, I should be back home feeling refreshed and ready to take on the long weekend.

Or as Gloria Estefan sang: “The rhythm is gonna get you — tonight.”

(Editor’s note: Yes, the main image on this post was created using ChatGPT, an Open AI image generator.)

(YouTube video: In honor of her 69th birthday on September 1, “Rhythm is Gonna Get You” is for Gloria Estefan. Written by her and Enrique “Kiki” Garcia, this dance hit was released in 1987. That’s a year after I moved to Miami for my first real journalism job. Sung by Estefan and The Miami Sound Machine, the song blended her Cuban and American musical cultures reflecting Estefan’s heritage and her adopted country. And South Florida fans adored her for it, proudly calling her “Our Gloria.” The song was originally titled “Boogie Man’s Gonna Get You,” but Estefan changed it because she didn’t want to scare children. In 2018, the song was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress.)