Theus Wealth Advisors Maryland

When a Heart Breaks…

 

In mid-July, I traveled to Austin to be with my daughter, Allison, as she underwent a procedure to stop her arrhythmia. This was the second go-round for her, but a completely different type of arrhythmia. Who knew there would be so many?! Or that many people suffer from these types of erratic hearts?

Imagine living with this: “the heart rate is at least 100 beats per minute, but in some people can become substantially faster than 200 beats per minute. SVT (Supra-ventricular-Tachycardia) commonly produces palpitations – a feeling of having extra heart beats or of a racing heart, which can be quite scary. In addition, a person can experience light-headedness and dizziness, weakness, fatigue or dyspnea (shortness of breath). This means that SVT can be pretty annoying, and if it occurs often enough, SVT can even become very disruptive to your life. Fortunately, SVT is only rarely life-threatening.”

The operative word here is ‘disruptive’. Allison was gray in color when I arrived. Her symptoms nearly mimicked those of heart attack – chest pain that radiates, can’t breathe, extreme fatigue. She’d been dealing with this for over a year and in the last few months, the symptoms worsened… and the cardiologist just kept putting her off… until she had a major episode in his office that they were able to record. He was able to witness the event and the after effects. Even he changed colors at that point.

I write about this because life events happen all the time. We can quote statistics out the ears for the likelihood of certain things happening, but we all tend to ignore indicators because hope springs eternal: ‘I’ll get to this later.’; ‘It’s just not that bad.’; ‘This isn’t going to happen to me.’ And then it does. And when it does, it is 100% you and everyone around you, who is affected.

Allison is probably un-insurable… for at least the next few years. Would that matter in your world? If so… how? If you end up with a debilitating event, how would that change cash flow and lifestyle? Have you sat down and really considered the effect?

Every year, 735,000 Americans have a heart attack. I lost a client last year to one – a healthy 62 year old competitive soccer player. Also a friend who was 70 and in terrific shape. However, age is not always a factor – years ago, my husband lost a first cousin who was 34. And ladies! Those symptoms are different for you!

“When a heart attack strikes, it doesn’t always feel the same in women as it does in men. Women don’t always get the same classic heart attack symptoms as men, such as crushing chest pain that radiates down one arm. Those heart attack symptoms can certainly happen to women, but many experience vague or even “silent” symptoms that they may miss. Check out this link to see how different those symptoms are for you: 6 possible signs.

Back to erratic hearts – there are several types of arrhythmia, and the procedure to stop them is usually an ablation – which is accomplished by transmitting some form of energy through a catheter – inserted into the femoral artery and ‘pushed’ up to the heart – (heat energy, freezing energy, or microwave energy), in order to damage the tissue at the tip of the catheter. The heart is ‘lasered’ or burned along the conduction line(s). Something that takes a bit to recover from, as you can imagine. One of the nurses shared that she’d seen a patient who, at 72, had had four such procedures, which began in his 40s. The effect of the procedure is almost immediate. The first thing Allison said was, “I can breathe again!”

The lesson to be shared with you this week is: be alert, take care, and get an advocate for your care! Sometimes doctors are rushed; sometimes they don’t listen; sometimes the right question isn’t being asked or answered. “Practicing medicine” may involve science, but communication is an art. And sometimes, you have to be a squeaky wheel. Ask any nurse.

And one more share: American medicine, while currently fraught with ridiculous policy and stifling regulations, is STILL the BEST health care in the world. Let’s keep it that way!