Something that most of us take for granted is a properly functioning heart. We go about our day to day lives unsuspecting anything is off kilter until one day we might be unpleasantly surprised to be diagnosed with a condition called; Bradycardia: Slow Heart Rate.

Now this in itself isn’t a problem because people who are athletic may very well have a slower heartbeat’s rate rhythm and that can be perfectly normal for their heart’s functionality.

It is considered to be normal if your resting heart beat rate is between 60 and 100 beats per minute. Anything below or above this rate is a red flag for a cardiologist encouraging them to delve into why your heartbeat rate may or may not indicate other health issues.

I’ve always had a low resting heart beat typically between 53 and 55 beats per minute and never saw this as a problem. Actually, because I’ve always been athletic, I thought it to be an attribute or an indicator of being in good shape.

Unbeknownst to me simultaneously there was another condition going on that I was unaware of called; heart arrhythmia (uh-RITH-me-uh).

This is an irregular heartbeat. A heart arrhythmia occurs when the electrical signals that tell the heart to beat don’t work properly. The heart may beat too fast or too slow. Or the pattern of the heartbeat may be inconsistent and skip a beat or two. In some cases, it can simply stop beating all together for a second or two. Something like this can occur while you are sleeping and your low heartbeat is slowed even further. For example, my heart rate will drop down into the 40’s while sleeping and in the early hours of the morning while monitored it had even stop for a few seconds.

Now that was a shocking discovery to me although it did allow me to correlate something that does occur from time time. Sometimes (but not often) in the drifting off mode just before I fall asleep I’ll catch myself gasping for air. It’s like I’ve been startled and this feeling causes me to initiate the taking of an immediate urgently needed deep breath, awakening me. It seems to be purely like a reflex not a conscious decision but something that my body is sort of telling my brain that its time to breath again, like I might have forgotten to breath! Its kind of like when you are swimming underwater holding your breath and you begin to realize that you’re running out of oxygen. You realize that you need to get to the surface and take a deep breath of air. So it’s kind of like that but not exactly a conscious decision, its more like an involuntary reflex.

In any case, what the weekend long heart monitor discovered was that during the night in the early morning my heart just stop for a couple seconds. This condition is called a Conduction block. A block of the heart’s electrical pathways can cause the signals that trigger the heartbeats to slow down or stop. Some blocks may cause no symptoms. Others may cause skipped beats or slowed heartbeats.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Cardiac Arrhythmias; Just like the steady, consistent drumbeat of your favorite song, your heart relies on a regular rhythm to work most effectively. When your heart consistently beats out of rhythm (known as an arrhythmia), a number of health concerns can occur. While you may notice when your heart skips a beat or two while awake, you may be less likely to notice while you’re asleep. Researchers have connected a number of heart rhythm disorders with the condition sleep apnea, a sleep breathing disorder.

In any case, while waiting for an appointment with a cardiologist to elaborate further upon what may or may not be at issue with my heart, I decided to consider the what if syndrome. That being what if in the middle of a restful slumber at night I just never woke up again? I mean what would it be like to just fall asleep and go from the here and now to the world that can never fully be imagined, yet…hum?

We are all going to make that journey but, we typically aren’t faced with contemplating that ultimate appointment with the end of this journey called the living life.

So as I often do, I penned another one of my poems below that runs through the what if’s, the why’s and the faith based peacefulness that is awaiting us all on the other side of that thin veil.

OK…call me morbid or whatever! But try hearing about you having a possible condition that your heart might just be failing, and then tell me that you’d not be thinking a little more about what awaits us as our final destination…hum?

Brokenhearted…

In the time allotted from span of life ’tis not often that we’d think twice ’bout numbered days and time’s remain or steps we’d take to get more days…

As muscles contraction allows reaction the blood shall begin to flow, and pulse is heard without a word in numbers both high and low.

Subtracting the low from the numbered high shall expose the spell of health’s compels, yet truth be known ’tis balanced in flowing that shall keep one’s body alive.

Thy ticker’s impulse gets confused absent current circuit’s muse, it skips a beat’s refused repeats to keep in time with heartfelt’s feat.

Doctors words ’bout fragile heart can’t keep it ticking less pace bump’s start, thy lub-DUB flow that’s so profound won’t keep its time without control…

Diastole and systole are the lub-DUB sounds that’s so profound, yet absent tick’s relaxed contractions the beat of heart can’t take such action.

Oh my word it sounds absurd but truth be known thee heart can skip thy beat’s repeats and slow thy pace of blood’s decrease…

Who’d of thought the pump of life that moves the blood through veins of twice would come to slow without device and need a bump to help thy flow or heart could stop while on the go!

Nothing tells of woe of spell that’s cast upon a heart’s repels cus slow of heart had from the start defined duration for all sensations…

Could be clue of life’s defused that’s due to blues inside of you, ventricular fibrillation might be results of mind’s impatience…

Or from obscure in ways of thought that cause thy brain to come to rot from quivered shivers when raised to feet one’s heart may choose to stop repeats…

Maybe bradycardia assault’s result could have to do with past insults that interrupt circadian rhythm that shackled heart to sleepless prison.

Detoxify ‘n rejuvenate might just provide a route’s escape yet not for certain ’bout final curtain as reasons why that’s felt in sigh can’t ever know how one shall die…

Arrhythmia’s insignia of skipping beats can end up causing bittersweet, it can lead to heart’s defeat as rhythm succumbs too slow ‘n beats…

Tis numbered days from time allotted that always knew thy script ’twas plotted long before disguised surprise disclosed thy terms for being alive…

One might ask Lord woe why me and can’t yea let thy heart beat free but reasons why and time to die were always owned by God’s surprise…

As life’s not certain in gifted days, and time allotted shan’t verdict stay, as days are numbered and nights in slumber won’t add one more to aid encumbered…

When time is up ’tis no reason to fuss, ‘cus in moments alive we see with eyes, yet when passing through veil at end of our trail, we’ll see all of God’s plan for creation of man.

In span of a life, thou should never think twice, ’bout the roll of the dice nor sugar and spice. As the gift is the chance to partake in the dance and gaze circumstance, all came from the love of our God up above.

All souls are called home where we won’t be alone ‘cus the blood that’s on loan had come from the bones of the ones who had passed long before ye.

Thus tickers last flicker should never cause snickers ’bout span that was given to repent as the sinner and learn from the lessons in life.

As life was always uncertain ’bout time of last curtain and day that ones called to come home. We must all just keep working and carry our burdens being thankful for the blood that’s on loan!

Michael Chaffee

4-4-24