got a-fib?

That was the title of the "Lunch & Learn" at Generation One today.

I made sure my silly self was right there.

I even had questions for the good doctor.

Todd Senn, M.D., is with the cardiology department at Memorial Hospital.

Like Dr. Cobb, he is also an electrophysiologist, which apparently means a cardiologist who specializes in factors causing electrical problems with the heart.

Got it!

It was a pretty packed house.

Then again, as with college students, if you want elderly folks to come, provide free food.

No pizza for this age group, but everyone was guaranteed a chef salad or a sandwich, with cookie.

(smile!)

So, what were the highlights of his talk?

 

1) There are four classifications of atrial fibrillation.

     Paroxysmal: recurrent bouts that stop without medication in less than a week

     Persistent: recurrent bouts that last more than a week unless medicated

     Longstanding Persistent: recurrent bouts that more than a year unless medicated

     Permanent: accepted as total loss of sinus rhythm and requiring rate control

NOTE: I have been diagnosed as having Persistent A-Fib. That means that without medication (such as Sotalol), I will experience episodes of irregular heartbeat that would last for more than a week and potentially lead to stroke.

2) Atrial fibrillation may have begun as atrial flutter, which is a common abnormal heart rhythm that usually is found for folks with hypertension, diabetes, or coronary artery disease, but is also found in persons without those medical issues. In other words, once the flutter becomes fibrillation, action of some sort is needed.

NOTE: I have had hypertension, aka high blood pressure, since my mid-40's, as do all women on both sides of my family. I know obesity is listed as a factor that contributes to A-fib, but I am the only woman so far diagnosed with this heart malady and I am not the only obese woman on either the maternal or paternal sides of my family.

3) Atrial fibrillation is not curable.

Yeah, that's a real attention getter, isn't it?

I swear there were gasps when he said that.

For all I know, one of those gasps came from me.

But I really liked the analogy he used.

Let me see if I can remember it all.

He said, "Think of atrial fibrillation as a bear in a cave. So, the potential for it to become active is always there, but isn't an issue as long as the bear is asleep. You want to keep the bear asleep, to not allow it to wake up, because that's when trouble starts."

Those may not be the exact words, but the sentiment is there...

and I can completely relate to letting sleeping bears alone.

NOTE: I wish Dr. Cobb had told me about this part. I realize that most folks don't want to think about having something that can't be cured, but my take is this: if I know I will always have the condition, then I can accept it and incorporate it into my life.

After all, I've had hypothyroidism for at least 20 years. That isn't curable, either, but it's treatable and so I take a little synthroid pill every morning.

I've had an allergy to strawberries my entire life. That isn't curable, either, but I know to avoid unknown foodstuffs that are red and treat with mistrust anything labeled as "mixed berry", like with some chewable vitamins.

I have lactose intolerance, too, and have had it for 15 years. That isn't curable, either, but I stay away from foodstuffs that contain the milk sugar molecule or I make sure to take a lactaid pill - which has the lactase enzyme needed to break down lactose - if I'm determined to have flan or dairy ice cream.

In other words, I just accept those chemical changes to my body and incorporate the necessary restrictions or work-arounds into my life.

 

Now that I know that A-fib is not curable, I can stop waiting for it to go away. 

I can accept it as yet another chemical change that requires an adjustment on my part.

No more caffeine.

No more alcohol.

No more chocolate.

 

No problem.

It's another loss adjustment for me, that's all.

 

Just as I had to give up feta cheese and Brie and mozzarella when I became lactose intolerant, I can do this, too.

I've been drinking decaf coffee in the morning ever since I was diagnosed in February.

My brain accepts it as "real"; after all, the decaffeinate version smells like coffee, it looks like coffee, it tastes like coffee.

Looks like a duck, walks like a duck, is a duck, right?

Right.

As for alcohol, that was not an issue, really.

I was only having an alcoholic beverage twice a year, anyway: a glass of wine for my birthday, and another for a new year's eve toast.

It was the chocolate that gave me the most concern, but I needn't have worried.

If it isn't in the house, then I don't miss it... so, I haven't bought any.

 

As for my questions, he assured me that the drug dosage from one manufacturer to another would be correct.

If I had a concern about the lactose filler in the Sotalol TEVA USA, then I needed to let my doctor know and see what he recommended.

He also assured me that Sotalol was Sotalol, regardless of whether it had the letters "AF" on the label or not; the two were identical.

That was reassuring.

 

Questions from others led me to again raise my hand.

They were asking about monitors that would detect atrial fibrillation.

I told them about my OMRON blood pressure machine from CVS and that it not only read my heart rate but also could detect irregularities in it.

The doctor nodded his head in approval of that.

 

So... incurable, eh?

At least it's not fatal as long as take my chemical offsets.

(smile)

i thank You, God.