The Heart Of The Matter

I was at dinner with my family a while ago when my heart started beating rapidly. No, it wasn't because we were having meat loaf for dinner. It turned out that I was experiencing an episode of atrial fibrillation, which, according to the American Heart Association, occurs when “the heart's two small upper chambers (the atria) quiver instead of beating effectively.” Atrial fibrillation, or "afib", is more likely to occur in the elderly, or in patients whose heart has been compromised by illness or surgery. I don't fit any of the regular profiles, and as my cardiologist said, other than the afib, I have the heart of an eighteen-year-old. The bad news is he wants it back!

Since that initial episode, I have taken a variety of medications in an attempt to control my afib episodes and I have undergone two cardiac ablations. Flexible tubes introduced through a vein in the thigh are snaked to the heart to deliver bursts of radio frequency energy to reroute nerve impulses in the heart muscle and eliminate the path to fibrillation.However, the AHA warns that “radio frequency ablation may be effective in some patients when medications don't work.” After my second ablation failed to completely curtail my heart's fibrillation, my perplexed cardiologist suggested that I have a "mutant" heart. I'm waiting for the super powers. As these two "non-invasive" procedures have only been partly successful, I remain on beta blockers and blood thinners to control the worst of the symptoms.

I relate this information, not to solicit sympathy (although I am accepting any and all donations), but rather to relate a revelation I had as a result of my heart problems. As I was lying on my back after my first ablation (you must remain still for eight hours after the procedure), I began to think about the heart as an organ which many of us take for granted. That didn't help me get to sleep, so I began to think about the heart as a metaphor. It occurred to me that the heart, as related in popular culture, performs functions other than the pumping of blood. The heart we read about in our literature, sing about in our songs and associate with feelings and deep insight is not a cardiovascular pump. This metaphoric heart is not about the circulation of blood or the regulation of physical health.

Article Author: Robert K. Blechman

An experienced information technology executive, I am currently Associate Director in the Office of Information Technology at a major medical school. As an adjunct professor at Fordham University, I have taught courses in communication theory, mass media and society and media industries. …

Visit Robert K. Blechman's author page — Robert K. Blechman's Blog