Irregular heartbeat
Woke up the other day with an awareness that I had an irregular heartbeat, with my heart occasionally skipping or adding extra beats. While I've had the sensation of my heart 'skipping a beat' before, usually during a moment or excitement or surprise, this was a lot more frequent, and hence more concerning. To make sure I wasn't imagagining things, I had Jacinta take my pulse, and after a positive confirmation I headed off to the doctor.
Like a heisenbug in software development, the syptoms completely failed to present in front of the doctor, although they reoccured both before and after my visit. I was given a referral to a cardio lab that would fit me with a Holter monitor, which is essentially a portable ECG machine. Blood was also taken for testing.
Fitting the Holter monitor came with a few surprises, the largest one went like this:
Technician: We're going to fit these electrodes to you.
Me: Sure. What do you need me to do?
Technician: Just hold still. This may scratch a little.
Me: Scratch? Why would it scratch? ... Is that steel wool?
Sure enough, in order to "get a good connection" I was rubbed down with steel wool, had alcohol poured onto the chafed skin, and then had the electrodes fitted. Not what I'd normally choose to do on the weekend for fun.
I should get back the results of my bloodwork today, with the results of the Holter monitor later in the week after it's been reviewed by the cardiologist.
