You can’t take life for granted
Steve Baker was tired. He would run out of breath. Over Christmas 2013, he felt like he had the flu. On New Year’s Day, a doctor at a walk-in health provider checked his heart.
“She said, ‘Oh my, you’re in a-fib, and your heart’s racing,’” recalls Baker. That began the Dillsburg resident’s journey to recovery from atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat caused by electrical system abnormalities.
Medications didn’t restore rhythm. Shocks also failed because “the third time they tried, my heart decided it wasn’t going to beat anymore,” says Baker. “Things started to go to black.”
Searching for the cause, Dr. Michael G. Link, cardiologist with PinnacleHealth CardioVascular Institute, conducted an extended EKG (electrocardiogram) and had “that ah-ha moment,” says Baker. “The electrical signal on the outside of the heart was not going from point A to B. Inside was a mess, too, but most of the problem was on the outside.”
At age 59, Baker underwent a two-part procedure known as hybrid ablation. First, Dr. Mumbashir A. Mumtaz, of PinnacleHealth Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgery Associates, burned a maze on the heart’s exterior to keep the electrical signal on a path. Months later, Link performed catheterization to restore interior rhythm.
Now at near-normal, Baker calls himself “the poster child” for hybrid ablation. In Myrtle Beach recently, he and his girlfriend walked from a parking lot to a crafts show. When they arrived, he told her, “I just did that without having to stop.”
“I know,” she said. “Last year, you stopped three times.”
What caused Baker’s a-fib? No one’s sure. Youthful smoking and 38 years of stressful supervisory positions could have contributed. Today, with support from his girlfriend, he has moderated his eating habits and gets more exercise. He hopes to retire soon but plans to keep mind and body active.
The take-charge guy has learned to rely on others. Like him, people should be checked out, “and hopefully somebody can help them.”
“You can’t take life for granted, that’s for sure,” he says.
5 Steps to Up your Heart Health Game
You know all about eating in moderation, quitting smoking and exercising. To really step up your heart-health game, follow these five tips from Dr. Peter Alagona, Jr., cardiologist with the Penn State Hershey Heart and Vascular Institute:
1. Get help promptly. You know your body, like the way that tickle in the throat is a sure sign of a cold coming on. So when your breath becomes so short that you have to stop three times to make it up the stairs, get help immediately. The sooner you’re treated, the better. And because heart-problem symptoms are so varied, tell the doc every little thing, so he or she can launch a targeted investigation.
2. Get healthy now. Heart disease is a latent condition. The 30-year-old might not feel the effects of unhealthy habits, but they’ll come back to haunt the 50- or 60-year-old.
3. Change your genetic destiny. Fifty years ago, doctors could do little for people swimming in the family gene pool of high cholesterol or high blood pressure. Now, medications and treatments can help. “Even if it’s handed to you genetically, there’s something you can do,” says Alagona.
4. Set reasonable goals. Face it. You won’t do a 360 on your entire lifestyle just because the doctor utters the dreaded words “heart disease.” Instead, small changes add up. Turn a short daily stroll into a 30-minute walk. Strive to lose 10 pounds by that next doctor’s appointment. “It doesn’t have to be misery,” says Alagona. “Find something you can embrace over time.”
5. Consider the source. The internet has revolutionized access to information, but no one’s weeding out the myths from the facts. Find reliable heart health info at such credible sources as The Mayo Clinic, National Institutes of Health, American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology.
The good news: Treatment has advanced leaps and bounds. Alagona has patients who have lived for 40 years since a heart disease diagnosis, “and they’re driving their Winnebagos to Alaska.”
