Disaster on the tennis court

Wednesday is one of my usual days to play tennis. But this week, it was almost a disaster.

Everything started out okay, but half way through the second set, my heart went into Atrial Fibrillation. I have been having A-Fib episodes for eight years, ever since my quintuple by-pass operation in May of 2000. Then they were three or four times a year, and only lasted a few hours. But, as I’ve gotten older, they have come more frequently and last longer. But this is the only the third time they have come while I was playing tennis, or doing any kind of exercising. It went on until this afternoon, maybe two-three hours ago, when it finally stopped.

A-Fib is not, in and of itself, dangerous. But it raises the odds of having a stroke. That is why I take Coumadin, an anti-coagulant, to help prevent a stroke. But, the thing I hate the worst, is that it completely drains me of all energy. My legs suddenly feel like I ran the marathon. My eyes glaze over and I have trouble thinking. I couldn’t write this post until it all went away, because I could not concentrate enough to put down one word after the other. When the heart becomes irregular, as it does with A-Fib, the extremeties and the brain do not get enough blood, and their functions are reduced.

This is the reason I am going to have a cardiac ablation. It will be done September 4. I almost wish it was sooner, but the doctor doing the procedure wants to wait until after my trip to Europe later this month and after my trip to Michigan in August. I’ll talk about the procedure in my next post. Right now, it just couldn’t come too soon.

I’m scheduled to play tennis tomorrow. I am also thinking about skipping it. Yesterday’s episode certainly puts a new light on my tennis game. I love tennis. I will hate to have to give it up. More later.

Ciao,

Heldentenor