A Medical Pitstop in the Race of Life

 

A Medical Pitstop in the Race of Life

Todd Swank's Diary Entry for July 23, 2023

We spent a couple days at Mayo Clinic this week.  Avery was due for his first cardiology checkup in three years.  I'm pleased to say that his visit went really well and his heart looks about as good as it could.  We learned he may need some work on a leaky valve in 20-30 years, but for the most part his heart is as healthy as any other 24 year old.  Which we love to hear!  It was really good to see Dr. Johnson's face for the first time in about 4 years since Mayo finally dropped their mask requirements.  His smile looks just as nice as I remembered it.

Unfortunately the news wasn't quite as good for me.  Since my sons were both born with congenital heart defects, I've always meant to get an eval on my own ticker.  I just never made the time to do it.  Over the past few months, I've been experiencing a lack of stamina & shortness of breath while exercising so thought it was time.  I scheduled an appointment with the Mayo cardiology team and went in for some tests.  They discovered I have an irregular heartbeat called an Atrial Flutter which means that the upper chambers of my heart are currently running at about 250bpm while the lower chambers are at about 90bpm.  That ain't good.  I need to go back to Mayo in a few weeks to have a procedure called Cardioversion. Basically they will put me to sleep, connect me to some battery cables, and jump start my heart back to normal.  I also need to make some lifestyle changes which ought to be a bunch of fun.  I'll keep you all posted on my progress.  

On Thursday I celebrated my 53rd birthday with my family.  I really like these people so was happy they agreed to join me for the fun.

We laid low this weekend and pretty much only left the house for a couple walks at the dog park.  We like to stay busy so I look forward to getting my health back in line so we can start getting wild and crazy again real soon.  Have a great week, everyone!