The Heart of the Matter
Bad pun for today’s entry: today I was outfitted with a Holter Monitor, which is essentially a self-contained heart monitoring recording device. I have four electrodes stuck to my chest and something the size of a pager taped to my body. Why? Well, it’s certainly not for kicks. Leading up to Christmas, my wife noticed my heart rate wasn’t regular. It was kind of offset, with the occasional third beat coming in where there’s usually only two, followed by a pause, then returning to two. Repeat this a few times and as you can understand, it’s cause for worry. I’ve got a genetic history of heart problems in my family, too, so it’s not really something to take lightly.
Last week, a checkout with my doctor resulted in him saying it’s likely benign and nothing to worry about - something that won’t necessarily ‘go away’ but also something that isn’t a huge cause for concern. Nevertheless he scheduled me a Holter Monitor, which records my heartbeat over the course of 24 hours (or so), and I have to keep a log of what I do. Part of my doctor’s suggestion was to consume caffeine and alcohol in order to stimulate my heart more than usual too. Tomorrow I’ll also get some moderate exercise as well.
Obviously it’s not the most awesome thing to think about, but even since having a doctor’s opinion and assurance that I’m okay, I haven’t felt quite as stressed out about the whole thing (the holidays were more than a little distracted, and I had at least one sleepless night over the break, because of worrying). It’ll be a couple weeks until I have any results but I’ll try to share them once I get them.
6 Responses to “The Heart of the Matter”
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wizened old soul on January 7th, 2010
Well, here comes the genetic feedback commentator, me–you are absolutely right to want to get it checked out with that little Holt monitor (brings back all kinds of memories…), just to see how things go in the benign department.And I’m glad you’re not as stressed about it, as THAT would shou up via the monitor. One of my friend’s husband had to wear one for some days, as his blood pressure would go up every time he walked into the doctor’s office to have his pressure read (!), so his was always elevated. Well, turns out he was always checking his monitor, and every time he looked at it, his heart rate rose–what a hoot.
wizened old soul on January 7th, 2010
This is a day or so in; is your skin beginning to itch? Mine really bugged me after a while, but perhaps that was because of the frequent application of those suction cups to my bod.
Garrett on January 7th, 2010
No real itches - the worst part was not being allowed to shower. That and losing clumps of chest hair when the electrodes were torn off.
wizened old soul on January 11th, 2010
I walked around with red, itchy suction cup marks on my chest for over a week, which made me feel like a reject from an alien invasion snatch…
Tony on January 11th, 2010
Best of luck, G!
gwilli on January 12th, 2010
yeah, best of luck, garrett.
but also, I want a dr. like that. drink booze and coffee?? I’ll make sure I do lots of this, too. maybe it will help you somehow.