I was born with Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF), it is 4 x defects of the heart, and had an operation to correct my heart, this was back in 1976.
I went to the Kruger National Park (where you can see the big 5) and had to drink malaria prevention medication. My heart went out of rhythm.
I then went through a period of anxiety/panic attacks, at the age of 23 and did not have much hope. I overcame the anxiety with the help of doctors, meds, lifestyle, prayer and a good attitude.
Some of the stuff that helped me is mentioned here: www.myafibheart.com/afib-re...
Since then I have had 8 cardioversions and one ablation.
I write because I want to understand and prevent AFIB and anxiety/panic attacks.
View all posts by jpdv@webmail.co.za →
This was not the first time I went to the ER for my AFIB. I expected it to go as smooth as……., yes my ER visits usually go smooth. Doesn’t yours?
Ok let’s say my previous 2 ER visits went so smooth it almost felt like a drive-thru take away. You drive-in, you order and you drive off satisfied.
But…. Here in South Africa our drive-thru takeaways have been closed for the past 7 weeks. That should have given me a clue. I ignored the clue. I went for the drive-thru option at the ER. That was what I was hoping for!
Your thoughts are incredibly powerful. Choose yours wisely.
So you can choose what you think? What a liberating thought.
This sounds so easy and very simple to do. But why do we still submit ourselves to limiting, degrading, small, fearful, anxiety and panic thoughts? Because we do not choose our thoughts wisely?
Do you think thoughts just pop into your mind? Yes, I also think so, but what do you do with them?
AFIB wanted to invade my life again! Cardioversion was looming
The serenity prayer is wonderful, and it is used everywhere. I also believe in it. But sometimes I struggle with the first part.
“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” (Reinhold Niebuhr)
“To accept the things I cannot change.” Difficult.
What I find difficult to accept is the words of my cardiologist. He said: “Your right atrium is just too big; that is what puts you into AFIB.”
Invest in this and you will FEEL the rewards, here’s the deal.
www.myafibheart.com
“It is health that is the real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.” — Mahatma Gandhi
With a billion dollars you can buy almost anything, ok maybe everything you want. BUT.
You only have one life and one body.
There’s no renting or lending of a body. You only have that one you’re in now. So hang on to it!
“Men talk of killing time, while time quietly kills them.” Dion Boucicault
Unfortunately we sometimes only know our body is biodegradable if we go through some things. You may be one of the lucky ones and instinctively know you have to take care of your body.
When the chips are down, no one is reading your stories, your bank account cries for money, claps, and likes are few and far between, you feel down, or you receive horrible news from the doctor, you need some hope!
All of us have those days.
And that statement just helps nobody! You need some hope! If all of us have some of those days how do only some get through it?
Hope is not an empty word. It has some gravity
While I was chatting to a friend, he went straight to the point and asked. “I remember you also have a heart issue?”
I briefly told my story but not in detail, because I knew that there was some “heart questions “ coming on.
Heart stories are very interesting.
Sometimes you must deal with your physical heart. If the doctor says what’s wrong with your heart, you live with it every day, it’s difficult to change.
But what about your spirit and soul. If we say someone has a strong and courageous heart. Are we talking about their spirit and soul? Or may it also be that we are talking about their hearts and the hope that’s in their hearts?
I don’t want to lose you here, talking all fluffy airy-fairy stuff. But just take note of this.
One of the reasons surgeons were hesitant, long ago, to operate on the heart or transplant the heart is because of this heart-soul-spirit connection.
The heart has a “brain” with 40 000 neurons and can sense, feel, learn and remember. Your heart talks to your brain.
Dr. Paul Pearsall and Dr. Deborah Rozman have talked and wrote about this and how the heart communicates with the brain.
But maybe your heart cannot really think, but I believe it can feel.
What is the symbol for love?……
Why is it a heart?
Faith Hope and love are mentioned in the same sentence in the Bible. They are all these types of “fluffy” difficult to explain concepts. Can it be that hope to some extent is situated in your heart?
A few times I, and many other people have hoped in spite of hopelessness.
There was no clear solution, no guarantee, no escape or hope.
It’s the beat then the pause and then the HARD beat. Some of you know exactly what I mean. That forceful beat brings a lot of relief after that PAUSE!!
Here’s the deal.
You will agree with me that any “EXTRA” heartbeat that you can physically feel in your body or neck can upset you.
Your heartbeat is not out of rhythm, it’s just that it feels like there is an “extra” beat and most of the time it feels “hard”. Sometimes also described as a”flip” or “jolt” of the heart and you are hyper-aware of your heart.
Apple Watch Series 4 (GPS+Cellular,40mm) Gold AluminiumCase
I was watching the launch of the new Apple watch series 5 and with amazement wondered if this watch could really detect AFIB?The short answer is YES. The long answer will include which Apple series watch can do this. How accurate. What about the ECG?. Palpitations and other irregular heartbeats? Can it take your blood pressure?
Because I have heart rhythm issues I’ve wondered about this a lot, so what’s the answer?
According to available research YES. The stimulants, that include caffeine, increases heart rate and blood pressure. If you have a heart issue like atrial fibrillation or another arrhythmia the possibility to induce an arrhythmia is increased. Moderate use of energy drinks is difficult to measure because of the different amounts of stimulants found in different brands.
FACTS ABOUT ENERGY DRINKS
What’s in energy drinks and what do they do to your heart?Here’s the deal……
The short answer will be yes. The longer explanation will be about what type of coffee you are drinking, how regularly, and what your specific susceptibility is to the effects of caffeine on the factors that trigger arrhythmias. Studies suggest that caffeine intake of up to 300 mg/day may be safe for arrhythmia patients. So here’s the deal…
Questions to ask before pediatric open-heart surgery
Some of these questions may be: Why do you recommend this treatment? What about aftercare? Recovery time? What to expect when I see my baby after surgery? Support after surgery? Potential risks? Survival rate? Experience of the team? What can go wrong and how often do they? How are we included in the decision-making process? How long is the hospital stay? Do you share your results publicly? And a few other questions.
I have been seeing a cardiologist at least once a year for the past 20+ years. I still have questions.
Sometimes when I walk out of the consulting rooms I think “I should have asked …….” And then I feel so stupid. Although it’s long ago my mother has told me how many questions she had before and after my open-heart surgery. So what are some of the questions to ask before pediatric open-heart surgery?
With untreated or “uncorrected” patients only 3% survive past the age of 40. But as with all things, there are exceptions to this. If the condition is corrected early the patient has a normal life expectancy. Even with corrective operations later, life expectancy can be normal.
I was wondering what the life expectancy is of a Tetralogy of Fallot baby because I am one. My TOF was corrected with surgery in 1976 in Bloemfontein South Africa. Except for some problems with Atrial Fibrillation I have lived a normal and full life. My name is Janco Vorster and I am a Tetralogy of Fallot survivor. I blog about Tetralogy of Fallot, Atrial Fibrillation, Ectopic heartbeats, PAC, Anxiety, Panic attacks, and #thoughtarrest. What is Tetralogy of Fallot, how serious is it and what are some of the success stories?
Rooibos tea health benefits are truly amazing! This shrub called Aspalathus linearis has been used as a herbal beverage for many years in South Africa but also world wide now. It can be enjoyed hot or cold. What can it do for you?
IMPROVES HEART HEALTH
Rooibos tea is a natural angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor. This helps regulate blood pressure and as a bonus also boost heart health according to this study.
Another part of the Rooibos tea health benefits is that it contains Quercetin which is a powerful antioxidant. It cannot be produced by the human body so one way to get it in is with a cup of Rooibos tea.
IN THIS SHORT VIDEO I SHOW YOU HOW I MAKE MY CUP OF ROOIBOS TEA
It is totally CAFFEINE FREE, no it is not some sort of decaffeinated version of rooibos, the real “thing” is NATURALLY CAFFEINE FREE! This may be one of the most important health benefits of “redbush” tea.
For my afib heart, that is very good news. I know that the jury is still out about if too much coffee can trigger an afib attack, maybe or maybe not. With “Redbush” you are certain – there’s no caffeine. I drink coffee daily, but also enjoy the benefits of Rooibos tea also known as “red bush tea” a few times a day -STRESS AND CAFFEINE FREE. Are you worried about taking in too much caffeine? Try ROOIBOS TEA. That’s not all.
You know words are powerful. Spoken words, written words even words inside your head. Sometimes we forget it. Sometimes we think it’s only sounds coming out of our mouth. But it’s not. It’s all little creations coming out of our minds!
Thoughts like “I cannot” and “I can” are created in the same factory called your mind. We have all the tools to make either one them. For a few years I recited to myself “I cannot ride the Cape Town Cycle Tour, it’s too difficult” I did not even entertain the thought of doing it.
This went on until my thoughts and words began to change. Maybe I can do it? I started using other thoughts and words. Now it was “how do people prepare for this race/tour?” and “It just may be possible for me to do it”
I have mentioned ectopic heartbeats in a few of my previous posts, and have spent many hours researching it and watching videos about it. The main reason is because I experience it from time to time. But whenever it strikes it gets personal.
It is one thing to read and write about it, but feeling it in your chest is something else. Then you get a real sense of this thing, this monster and the thoughts he brings with him.
MOST RECENT “ATTACK”
We were driving home, from Cape Town, two days after I did the Cape Town Cycle Tour, which I plan to write about when I felt something in my chest. Yes, it was my heart but the thing was I could feel it. For me, with my AFIB history, that usually is not a very good thing.
For now, I do not think that there is a link between my “possible” ectopic heartbeats and the 4:46 hour time of my 109 km Cape Town Cycle Tour.
I was born with Tetralogy of Fallot. I’m 48 now. I work in Law Enforcement and have been in many scary situations. I’ve had open heart surgery, one ablation, 8 cardioversions. A few car accidents and a motorbike accident. Then there also was that near-drowning incident and a few cycle falls, blood stitches and all. Sorry, Mom that I make you stress so much.
After my Mom read my blog she decided to write about her experience with me as a “blue baby” who had Tetralogy of Fallot. She had to go through a lot to raise me. Here is her letter:
My Mother’s perspective
Janco was born in a nursing home in Sasolburg South Africa in January 1971. My pregnancy was normal and my GP was satisfied with my progress. It was a normal birth.
But when Janco was born his whole body was blue. I was concerned but my GP said that some babies are blue at birth. At home, Janco was a calm baby. My second concern was that Janco only drank a little milk, then stopped as if it was a big effort to drink the milk, he was then tired and fell asleep. My third concern was that his nails and lips were blue.
Sleeping after cardioversion for my atrial fibrillation
AFIB STRIKES AGAIN!
Cardioversion for my Atrial Fibrillation, not a great way to start the year. OK I was very happy that the cardioversion put my heartbeat back in place, but realising that I’m in AFIB on Thursday night was BAD!
To say the least, I’m disappointed in my heart’s behavior. I did my part. No stimulants, no cough medicine, no alcohol, no dehydration, no excessive use of caffeine, no smoking(I, never in any case)
Every time my heart goes into AFIB I go on a sort of “fact-finding mission” What did I eat, drink or do? What should I not have done? Could I have prevented it?
Is there something like the best exercise for an AFIB heart?
This post will talk about people that have had AFIB but who are in “rhythm” now and who want to exercise. I know there are many people in permanent AFIB who still go on with their exercise, but I’m not going to discuss it in this article.
“Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.” Jim Rohn
Now that you have AFIB are you going to neglect your heart and body?
Ectopic heartbeat anxiety can paralyze you and may attack you at any time. So what is this skipped, extra or sometimes experienced as “hard” beats? What must you do and how serious is it? Here are some TIPS to manage your Ectopic heartbeats now.
I don’t want to say relax but R E L A X, because in most cases it is harmless. What must you know about Ectopic heartbeat anxiety? Here’s the deal.
Atrial Fibrillation treatment and diagnosis – New horizons?
Atrial Fibrillation treatment and diagnosis is getting better.
Why? Because we have an aging population, technology is getting better, we are learning more about atrial fibrillation, afibbers are increasing in number and therefore there is more data available and the segment of adult CHD(congenital heart defect) survivors is also getting bigger.
Do you know anything about: SK Channels, Biomarkers, Multi-electrode RF Balloon, CardioInsight Noninvasive 3D Mapping System, Your GP?, Genome-wide association study(GWAS), Smartwatch, Wireless, At-home patch?
