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For four seconds, my heart stopped.
I was feeling a little woozy all day, on my first day back at work after an absence (vacation and holiday) of about 10 days. When I first felt dizzy during an 8 a.m. Columbia County Board committee meeting, I thought it was because I stood up too fast when I sought a closer look at the price quote displayed on the computer screen. (Really? $43,000 and change to move audio-visual mechanisms in the courthouse?) But I got a little worried when the dizziness persisted after I got back to the office, plowed through my 84 emails and wrote the story about the proposed courthouse expenditure.
My desk dizziness prompted me to get my blood pressure checked at the local Walgreen's. The reading, 100 over 70, was low, but I don't usually panic unless both the systolic and diastolic are in double digits. I thought a Subway -- a 6-inch roast beef on nine-grain wheat, with lots of peppers and onions -- would perk me up. I felt woozy enough in line to need to bend over and get some blood rushing to my head, but I got my sandwich.
But I didn't eat it -- not for another five hours, anyway. Instead, I made for the nearest booth and laid my head down hoping for the dizziness and cold sweating to pass long enough for me to get in the car and drive the few blocks to Divine Savior Healthcare.
I don't think I ever lost consciousness. For sure, I had enough voice to say, "Help," and ask the nice stranger in the next booth to call 911.
The paramedic was none other than an ex-mayor of Portage, whom I know well, except I didn't recognize him at first.
What the paramedic told me, and what the ER doc told me later, is that I had an episode of atrial fibrillation. AFib causes irregular heartbeat; in my case, according to the ER physician, my heart stopped beating altogether for four seconds.
While I was in the ER (for about four hours) being buffed up with IV fluids and hooked to monitors, I used my iPhone to read about AFib. It can present with symptoms like mine (cold skin, profuse sweating, dizziness), but sometimes it shows up during a physical examination on a person who claims to feel fine.
And what do the medical websites advise for dealing with AFib? Take a wild guess.
LOSE WEIGHT!
Uh...hello?
I did lose weight, about 130 pounds over 20 months. The paramedics and ER personnel asked several times whether I was taking diet pills to lose weight. I wasn't. I know they're dangerous. I was losing weight in a healthy way, by eating less food and better food, and by increasing my activity.
So I exercise, either in the gym or the pool. I eat lots of veggies, white-meat chicken and fish, all cooked without butter, oil or breading.
Shouldn't this make me healthier?
It did, the ER doc said.
But even with a healthful lifestyle, plain old age and mortality deal us a blow.
I don't yet know what I'm dealing with -- whether it's a one-time episode or a recurring or even chronic condition. To find that out, I need to connect with my primary physician, and maybe wear a heart monitor for 36 hours or so.
The ER doctor ordered me to stop taking my blood pressure medication, which seems like a good idea.
I'll know more, I guess, when I see my doctor.
For now, I'm going to work. But I'm going to try for a short workday.
For four seconds, my heart stopped.
I was feeling a little woozy all day, on my first day back at work after an absence (vacation and holiday) of about 10 days. When I first felt dizzy during an 8 a.m. Columbia County Board committee meeting, I thought it was because I stood up too fast when I sought a closer look at the price quote displayed on the computer screen. (Really? $43,000 and change to move audio-visual mechanisms in the courthouse?) But I got a little worried when the dizziness persisted after I got back to the office, plowed through my 84 emails and wrote the story about the proposed courthouse expenditure.
My desk dizziness prompted me to get my blood pressure checked at the local Walgreen's. The reading, 100 over 70, was low, but I don't usually panic unless both the systolic and diastolic are in double digits. I thought a Subway -- a 6-inch roast beef on nine-grain wheat, with lots of peppers and onions -- would perk me up. I felt woozy enough in line to need to bend over and get some blood rushing to my head, but I got my sandwich.
But I didn't eat it -- not for another five hours, anyway. Instead, I made for the nearest booth and laid my head down hoping for the dizziness and cold sweating to pass long enough for me to get in the car and drive the few blocks to Divine Savior Healthcare.
I don't think I ever lost consciousness. For sure, I had enough voice to say, "Help," and ask the nice stranger in the next booth to call 911.
The paramedic was none other than an ex-mayor of Portage, whom I know well, except I didn't recognize him at first.
What the paramedic told me, and what the ER doc told me later, is that I had an episode of atrial fibrillation. AFib causes irregular heartbeat; in my case, according to the ER physician, my heart stopped beating altogether for four seconds.
While I was in the ER (for about four hours) being buffed up with IV fluids and hooked to monitors, I used my iPhone to read about AFib. It can present with symptoms like mine (cold skin, profuse sweating, dizziness), but sometimes it shows up during a physical examination on a person who claims to feel fine.
And what do the medical websites advise for dealing with AFib? Take a wild guess.
LOSE WEIGHT!
Uh...hello?
I did lose weight, about 130 pounds over 20 months. The paramedics and ER personnel asked several times whether I was taking diet pills to lose weight. I wasn't. I know they're dangerous. I was losing weight in a healthy way, by eating less food and better food, and by increasing my activity.
So I exercise, either in the gym or the pool. I eat lots of veggies, white-meat chicken and fish, all cooked without butter, oil or breading.
Shouldn't this make me healthier?
It did, the ER doc said.
But even with a healthful lifestyle, plain old age and mortality deal us a blow.
I don't yet know what I'm dealing with -- whether it's a one-time episode or a recurring or even chronic condition. To find that out, I need to connect with my primary physician, and maybe wear a heart monitor for 36 hours or so.
The ER doctor ordered me to stop taking my blood pressure medication, which seems like a good idea.
I'll know more, I guess, when I see my doctor.
For now, I'm going to work. But I'm going to try for a short workday.
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