Alex Wright


Cardiac night

February 1, 2006

There's a Buddhist teaching that says you should always keep the moment of your own death close at hand. Well, I think I now have a tiny inkling of what that's about.

I was moving to a new apartment over the weekend, running too hard on not enough sleep, too much booze and too much caffeine. By Monday morning, I felt all out of sorts. Foolishly, I went to the gym. When I put my hands on the bike machine pulse sensor, it read: 188 (normal for me is about 72). I decided to get a second opinion. The next machine read: 200. No need for a third opinion; I took myself to the hospital.

By the time they checked me into the emergency room, my heart rate was fluctuating wildly and running as high as 210. The ER folks laid me down on the cot, patched me up to an EKG machine and stuck me with a bunch of different needles until something called Cardizem finally took. Six hours later, after my heart rate came down a bit, they admitted me to the cardiac ward, where I spent an eyes-open night in the company of folks who were likely worse off than me: having heart attacks, groaning, yelling. I believe at least one person may not have lasted the night.

I felt strangely calm.

It took almost twenty-four hours, but eventually my heart rate stabilized and everything now seems ok. I'm back at home now recuperating at my folks' place for at least a couple of days. The doctor put me on a strict regimen of no alcohol or caffeine (ouch) for at least 6 months, possibly permanently. I'm still a bit groggy and this hasn't really sunk in yet, but the good news is that it could have been much, much worse.

If only I had read my Chinese horoscope for Saturday: "Risks of cardiac palpitations; try to control your edginess. "


File under: Personal

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