Learning Patience – Part 4 of Series on Journey to see what is up with my Heart/Health

After about 5 week I had my initial visit with a cardiologist, last week, and as I expected would not get any specifics as more testing needs to be done to determine the source of the issue.  As I have mentioned before the main thing to figure out is if the issue is: Electrical, Valve related or something else.  The treatment/s change depending on the nature of the issue.  

 

The cardiologists's initial thought was that it was not an electrical issue but may be linked to something else, maybe lipid related.  As my Total Cholesterol is considered high and my CAC (Coronary Artery Calcium) score was 103 ( LAD 70, Cx 30 ), over 99 they tend to look in that direction, so leaning towards other than being electrical was where he went and sort of expected that.  The good point in that while he mentioned statins he did say they may not be good for me being athletic – that was good to hear.  He did mention some new drugs out that currently that show no side effects – too new to know long term – but they take jumping through hoops if you need them to get insurance to pay for them but it can be done.  All that said he stressed, again, we needed to figure out the issue before any plan is put in place – good to hear that.   The next step right now is a CT-Angiogram as they can get a 3D model of my heart and arteries so see what is there and then maybe an FRR which is a flow diagram made from the scan.  

 

In watching a video on the scan it looks to be very accurate in showing any physical issues.  Also, in reading up on it, and in the video, it is a scan that while a great tool to deal with issues early is not often paid for by insurance unless you are deemed to already have issues so may be why the doctor also went the direction he did since if he went the electrical way it may not have been as easy to get the scan.  The frustrating part is I had my appointment on July 8th and can’t get in for the scan till August 10th.  Seems like a long wait but am guessing the doctor is not worried so that is a good sign.  

 

In reference to my episodes where my heart has gone to rates that are not normal for the effort and even for a hard effort gone higher than is anywhere near close to where it should be he said it is called Exercise Induced Tachycardia (EIT).  Now in one sense this is normal as when one works out the HR goes up.  The issue with mine it went up abnormally high and stayed there longer than normal.  So it may be more and indeed may still be AFIB but will have to see.  I can say while most all my rides have been easy I have done a few harder efforts and also rowed and not seen an increase like before since but just have to watch it.  He did say we need to see why it does not go down quickly as normal but again the hard part is figuring out the issue to provide the correct action.

 

While I wait for the scan, and am sure there will be other tests, what am I doing?  Well, I am keeping my workouts mostly in Zone 1-2 but do put in a few harder efforts just to see how things go but not too push it too much.  For now I am sticking to riding my indoor trainer so I can stop if my HR gets too high.  I am not just watching for the super high numbers like 198 and 206 I saw a month ago but also just watching for an abnormal number for the effort as I saw a month ago when I was on a ride where I was at 100-130 watts and HR was at 135 and not going down, so stopped as that was far from normal.  It is frustrating as I I like to ride hard but just not smart right now.  I also have to realize depending on how things go this may be the way it is from now on.  While I would like to race if it is not to be so be it.  In reading The Haywire Heart Lennard Zinn talks about how he had to realize while he could ride the days of going for PRs and such were gone but just found enjoyment in riding for riding sake.  For me I will have to adjust but will work to see how this works for running as well as for me it is much easier to control things riding than it is for running.

 

In all of this I am learning patience as while I have more patience than I once did I do struggle with wanting answers and wanting them now.  What I need to focus on is as James speaks to in 1:3-4 and trust in God for His timing:

 

“knowing that the testing of your faith brings about perseverance. And let perseverance have its perfect work, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

 

It is in times like these, where you do not have all the answers or in some ways any answers, that I have to rely on the gift of faith given by God.  A faith when tested brings about perseverance which is key to growing in Christ.  We live in a world where everyone has an answer – even if wrong – and with all the sources of information we expect those answers right away.  Part of the issue here is learning to live with a medical system that often does not make sense.  Like how does it take a month to get into have a CT-Angiogram unless there are hundreds of people getting them.  Then even more absurd was when I was asked about making another appointment, I had not seen the doctors notes yet, they said it was in November and I was WOW but then I heard her say November 2027 – yes 2027.  That said she said if things come up on the tests then they would get me in – that’s nice.  Then when I got home I saw that the Doctor said to have a follow up in 6 months so I put in a request for that since he was the one that said it but have not heard back yet.  While I do not want to just sit back I do have to realize this is the system we have and my God is greater than the system so things will go as HE plans.  Thus, I have two places teaching me to trust in God – Finding out what is wrong and also dealing with what might be a change in what I do.  

 

My main goal in this series is to first of all Glorify God and then to share my journey so others than avoid the errors I have made.  Not to void doing hard things but doing them with wisdom and looking to how it all fits in with the future.  It seems people tend to swing to one extreme or the other but I also don’t want to promote mediocrity.  But, instead learn from mine, and others mistakes, and work to be the best you can be.  If you are a Christian my encouragement is to live out your faith such that in all things God gets the Glory.

 

More to come after my test in early August – well unless things change before them.

 

Past Posts in Series

• Part 1 – Plans Change: Be Ready for Them  
• Part 1B – What I Meant to Add to Part 1  
• Part 2 – All Means All  
• Part 3 – Sleep, Helmets and Anxiety

  Click on images for more information and if you want more info on OFM check out this post: 

• What is OFM (Optimized Fat Metabolism)

To order Vespa you can go here and use coupon code - tkonvalin15 -   for 15% off.

Sleep, Helmets and Anxiety: Part 3 of Journey to Discover what is up with my Heart/Health

Nothing to report doctor wise as my appointment is not till July 8^th but did have a week or so I would have rather avoided.  

 

About 2 weeks ago I came down with a cold and initially it was just a slight head cold and as was not riding much so decided to just not ride and let the cold get better sooner.  Well, that did not happen as the cold just seemed to get worse to the point where I had to take a couple days off of work.  Then the fun and why I titled the post to include Sleep and Helmets.  As some quick background – when I get sick I do have a tendency to get light headed and have had issues passing out quite a few times over the years.  A few times I have taken some bad falls in trying to get to bed and moving too fast and losing it.  This past Saturday was one of those days as with the cold and lack of sleep I was feeling a little dizzy when I got up in the night.  I thought I was doing fine but then knew it was not good and instead of my usual race to the bed I got down on all fours so did not fall.  But when I got there my head suddenly felt like it weighted 100lbs and it banged to the floor – fortunately was only from being on all fours and not standing.  The strange part was while I laid there I tried to lift my head and it felt like it was stuck to the floor and could not lift it.  It felt like a while but am sure it was not but finally crawled to bed and all was good.  I did get a bump and bruise on the noggin and a little sore but all good.  So maybe I need to wear my helmet to bed when I am sick – or at least when I get up

 

As it would happen I was wearing my Frontier X Plus HRM for a 24 hour period so I could see what the ECG showed when I fell.  However, from what I can tell the HRM did not show anything out of the ordinary but for a slight elevation from 45 to 80 BPM for my HR but nothing else but will have it for the Doctor if he wants to see it.  

 

Now a week later I am still dealing with the sinus/congestion from the cold but for me that is sort of normal so slowly getting back to normal.  I finally got in a Zwift ride Friday  for an hour and just rode so as to keep HR in check and had no issues.  My HR averaged 110 with a max of 137 on a climb but unlike when had issues a couple weeks ago it went right down and for an effort on a climb the HR was good and ECG looked normal.  Then the next day I did an easy 2 hour Zwift ride with some sprints to see how it went.  The ride was a banded one – as long as you pedal you stay in group but also more watts only does so much as it also keeps you back – as they are good to control effort and ride in a group.  The banded part of the ride was 1:20 long so the last 40 minutes was mostly in a group with normal drafting and dynamic.  During the banded ride I did 8 sprints but not all out – 576w max – and my max HR was only 138 and went down right away and the average for the 2 hours was 103 and my ECG also did not show anything abnormal.  I did take my blood pressure after the ride – as usually mine is a little on the higher side – and contrary to what I thought it would be as they often tell you to relax before a BP test – it was 116/79 w/HR of 60.  In looking it up it is quite normal and called “post-exercise hypotension” where during exercise your muscles need more blood, so blood vessels widen (vasodilation) and don't immediately return to normal size when you stop exercising, which lowers resistance to blood flow and can reduce blood pressure – did not know that. 

From Satruday's 2 HR Ride

Also, did a rowing workout today (7/5/26) to see how that felt.  Kew it would be hard as still congested and tired, let alone having not rowed for maybe 2 weeks.  During the 20 minute warmup wondred even if I could go under 2:00/500m average but figured give it a go as not sure what will be up after my Cardiologist vist Wednesday.  I did go into it with the mndset if my HR goes up to 155-160 or I get the breathless feeling when my heart wacks out I would stop.  Not the fastest I can do but HR did not go up past 152 and was farily consistent and while tired got it done.  Was also hot even with the AC on as blew a fuse halfway through so was off for half the workout.   Info on workout below:

In the last few weeks I have been reading up on heart issues as AFIB was just my doctors, and some other I know with AFIB, first thought.  What is interesting is so many of the symptoms of various heart issues – tiredness, increased heart rate, feeling off and others – are often the same for any number of issues.  With some being valve issues and others electrical – like AFIB.  For right now I do not know what is going on and may be a bit before I do as will take some tests and that often takes time.  Not having had any issues in the last weeks with high HR it may be I have caught AFIB early or it is entirely something else.

 

This all fits one of those weeks where the saying “When it rains it pours” fits.  Not enough that I have the heart/health issues that I have no idea what it is but now having to deal with a cold that wiped me out for a few days.  It is one of those times when it I easy to get frustrated with all else going on and frustration often leads to being anxious just for it all to be done.  It can be easy to get down and get into the “oh who is me” mindset.  What I have to remember is that as believers it says in Philippians 4:6 we are called to not be anxious for ANYTHING:

 

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

 

This is not meant to be a pollyannish platitude where one just puts on a happy face and ignore the realities around one.  No, life is real and fake smiles do nothing.  The call is to take our frustration, anxiety and concern to God and in prayer and thanksgiving.  Not because otherwise He does not know them but it is to change us to what we are relying on.  Also, here we need to remember that to rely on God does not mean we do nothing.   God is a God of means and He uses our, and others actions, to accomplish His plan.  The result of this is we do what we need to do but realize it is all in God’s hands.  Confusion, pain and discomfort may continue – or it may not – but our peace comes in knowing we are relying on God.  It is also not a fatalistic look at life as fatalism results from no hope.  But is a look at life that has hope that to be in the center of God’s plan is always the best – I did not say most comfortable or easy, no matter what the hucksters of fake Christianity sell.  This is what I have to lean on as I am one likes answers and right now there are none.

 

More to come after my appointment at the cardiologist this week – even though I realize it may bring up more questions than answers in only one visit.  I also pray the doctor is open to looking at non-pharmaceutical answers when at all possible – so many are not.

Previous Post in Series:

• Part 1
• Part 1B
• Part 2

  Click on images for more information and if you want more info on OFM check out this post: 

• What is OFM (Optimized Fat Metabolism)

To order Vespa you can go here and use coupon code - tkonvalin15 -   for 15% off.