Heart to Heart

I got an email from Charlie Saturday stating that his heart palpitations had gotten more severe, and he took himself to the ER after his shift ended. Well, I guess I should back up.....

It started about six months ago. Charlie was having palpitations that he described as his heart skipping beats. We often joked that it happened when he saw me, and his heart was fluttering. Kind of cute stuff to keep the edge off the heart issue. His paternal grandfather suffered a fatal heart attack at 42, and his father has had three in his lifetime. Charlie has done almost everything he can up to this point to keep his heart healthy: he's never smoked, doesn't drink in excess, does cardio/weights, and tries to keep a healthy diet. (The latter could probably use some work.) He started taking Bayer and fish oil and a multi every day, and it started to get better. Then one day, he realized there was a correlation between caffeine and the flutters, so he tried to cut out as much as he could, and that helped a lot, too.

With his new shift on nights in Iraq, I think the lack of sleep, caffeine to keep him awake at night, plus 2-a-days workouts, his body was too fatigued. So the other night when he got off shift, he tried to go to bed, and he related that his whole body felt like it was shaking and he was having substernal pain. That alarmed him. So they did tests, EKGs, blood work, etc. They ended up flying him to Baghdad, which is the part that had me a little worried. They don't just fly soldiers around for testing for no reason. Doing so leaves the line where they work short-handed. So in order for them to fly him out meant they wanted to get him treated ASAP by the cardiologist. They did put him Atenolol (an anti-hypertensive) and he got a good night's rest (somehow.)

When he got to Baghdad and saw the cardiologist, he said the doc asked him if he ran marathons. The doc said he had a pretty textbook heart as far as health goes, so he is confused. He's thinking the medication and the rest probably got him back on track. They did still see the PVCs (premature ventricular contractions), but they seem to be par for his heartbeat. Charlie also notes a correlation between his vaccination for Anthrax and the palpitations. He said his last deployment his heart did the same thing. The doctor said it was a good theory and probably had some validity to it. So, they sent him back to Tallil with instructions to stay on the meds and try to rest. We'll see how it works out.

I told mom, dad, and my sister about it and asked them to pray at church yesterday. Or anytime. Although I don't actively go to church, I still have a personal relationship with God and still believe prayer is powerful. I know God has plans for everyone, and if heart problems are in the cards for us, then so be it, but I am hopeful that he can beat his family history and come out better on the other side. So although I haven't given it much thought, sometimes it gets to me that he is feeling vulnerable, and I am not there to help him through it. I know he is trying to be a tough guy, but even tough guys have their moments.

For now, he's healthy and doing well. Will post as I know more.