A broken heart
Posted: Saturday, November 13, 2010
by George Stay
The concrete felt cool on my back as I lay on the sidewalk in downtown Flint and closed my eyes.
Shuffling feet passed by me. Conversations grew louder and then fainter as people walked past on my left. People to my right shouted names.
Ahh, that's better.
A minute or two of peace passed before a familiar voice broke in.
I opened my eyes to see three men bent over me: my son, whose voice I'd heard. And two strangers, one of them wearing the brown uniform of a Genesee County Sheriff's deputy. You just can't lay on a sidewalk in downtown Flint without attracting attention. Especially during one of the city's biggest events of the year -- The Bobby Crim Festival of Road Races.
I had come on this Saturday morning of the final weekend in August to see the race again -- I had raced it annually for a decade or more before arthritis forced me into a hip replacement and a caution from my orthopedist that I was only to run "to get out of a burning building" -- and to support my son and his wife, who was running in the 10-mile race.
After seeing her off, he and I had talked and walked toward the finishing chute, stopping along the way to each get a coffee -- him a regular, me a decaf -- and then stood along the chute, waiting for her to come in.
“I think this is all just a waste of time. But I intend to finish this, just as I would finish a race or a long bike ride. You have to give the system every opportunity to find the source, find the reason, find the problem, even if you don't believe it ever will.”
The three got me up and eventually my son and his wife followed the deputy's recommendation and took me to the race's medical tent. After some confusion over whether or not I was a runner, they checked me out and discovered that while everything else was fine, my heart rate had fallen into the mid- to low 30s (beats per minute). The body is not supposed to let it get below 40. So it was off to the emergency room by ambulance, with the EMTs confirming the low heart rate.
The rest of the day was spent waiting in the ER while tests were done and results compiled. The night was spent in the cardiac watch unit and Sunday was spent in a regular room before they finally released me. For while my heart rate dipped into the 40s regularly during the weekend -- setting off alarms the nursing staff ignored -- the doctors determined that was normal for me because I am athletic -- I have traded running for distance bicycling and have wedded it with strength training.
I could go home as long as I promised to visit the cardiologist the next week. Since that time I have worn a two-day heart monitor and a three-week event monitor, neither of which recorded any low heart rates, though my workouts often set off the latter, causing the monitoring staff to call my house (it sent them a signal through a dedicated cell phone) to see if I was okay. Panting, in the middle of my workout, I assured them all was alright.
Now I have slipped under the skin of my chest a third monitor, about the size of a flash drive, that I will wear for the next three years, or until I have an episode like the one I endured that Saturday in August.
I suspect those three years will pass without an episode. I don't think the doctors will ever be able to figure out why my heart did what it did. I think it will just be a fluke, a confluence of circumstances and physical responses that caused my heart rate to dip that once, never to happen again.
I think this is all just a waste of time. But I intend to finish this, just as I would finish a race or a long bike ride. You have to give the system every opportunity to find the source, find the reason, find the problem, even if you don't believe it ever will.
I just hope this isn't costing my health insurance company too much. After all, as someone who has tried all his life to take care of himself, I have saved them a lot of cash through the years. It would be a shame to ruin my record now.
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Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)Interesting article- Sounds like you need something to make your heart beat faster.... welcome to SearchWarp George- hope you'll stay....... Always- EllaThanks, Ella. I'm not sure what my heart needs, but that is a good suggestion. Any way, I do think I'll stick around here for a while.
Sounds like you have a few dollars left in the insurance companies bank accounts, don't have a heart attack worrying about it. Good luck with the abnormality, and glad to have you around Search Warp. Nice work.
Sounds to me that being athletic can't be all that good for you. lol.Seriously, I hope all is OK. No one needs to have scares like this.
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