Part One of my 2025 health update may be found here.
At my December 5th, 2024 appointment with Dr. Brad Fritz, my family physician for the past 42 years, while addressing the issue of my prostate cancer diagnosis and the necessity for an immediate MRI following an alarming late November PSA — prostate-specific antigen — blood test, arrangements were made for a follow up bone scan to determine if the cancer had spread (as it has for former president Joe Biden), with a prostate biopsy to follow.
In addition to the prostate cancer, I told Dr. Fritz that throughout the autumn I had been passing out / falling a great deal, in the shower, when walking across my living room, and when leaving my apartment. The issue was that I was passing out for just a second before “coming to”, before getting my bearings.
Dr. Fritz told me that he thought that my passing out was related to my heart, and immediately made an appointment at UBC Hospital for me for an EKG (electrocardiogram), a test to check my heart for the aberrant electrical activity, such as an irregular heartbeat (arrhythmias), atrial fibrillation, heart attack, heart failure, blocked or narrowed heart arteries, and enlarged heart. The EKG was also to check for damage to my heart muscle, and assess the effectiveness of heart medications or devices like pacemakers, and investigate symptoms like chest pain, dizziness, or shortness of breath. An appointment for an EKG at UBC Hospital was set for Christmas Eve, at 4:30pm.
On December 24th, I entered the lobby of a near deserted UBC Hospital, taking the eleevator to the second floor, where I waited outside the office that had an EKG sign to the right of the door. I waited 15 minutes before the technician came out and invited me into the his clinic offer for the EKG, having me take of all of my top clothing, before have my lie down on a bed. Moving the EKG machine into place, electrodes attached, a thorough 20-minute electrocardiogram commenced. To say that the technician was alarmed at the result would be to understate the matter, as he asked me a series of questions, “Are you alright? Will you be able to stand? Do you think we should admit you to the hospital.” I assured him that I was fine, and would make my way home, after which I walked to the bus “loop” at UBC, and took the #9 Broadway bus home, settling in on my sofa to watch the news.
No sooner had I settled in than Dr. Fritz called me, sounding frantic (Brad is one of the most calm and centered persons I have ever met, so his “behaviour” I found to be unusual and out of character). Long story short, Dr. Fritz told me I was a candidate for a heart attack or stroke, that one of my arteries was clogged, that he’d left a message for my pharmacy to provide me with two medications he’d prescribed. Brad Fritz told me that if felt at all ill, I should call 911 and have an ambulance pick me up, and he’d meet me at Vancouver General Hospital. I told Brad I felt fine.
Turns out that in addition to the atrial fibrillation, I have a blockage in one of my arteries. Dr. Fritz told me that surgery is not an option, because if the blockage becomes unstuck, it could very well travel to my brain, and it’d be lights out for me. I tell ya, that kind of news sure makes for a happy Christmas season.
My pharmacy did not open until December 28th, the date I picked up my two prescribed medications. I already had a pulse oximeter, but purchased a Kardiamobile which records and analyzes a single-lead, medical-grade electrocardiogram (EKG) in 30 seconds employing my smartphone, allowing me to detect my heart arrhythmia (atrial fibrillation, AFib), as well as bradycardia (slow heart rate) and tachycardia (fast heart rate), all in the comfort of my home.
The Kardiamobile confirmed that I had atrial fibrillation (my heart rate would spike to 140 beats a minute), as well as (months later) bradycardia, which first came to my attention when my pulse oximeter indicated I had a pulse rate of 36 beats a minute, confirmed by my Kardiamobile.
I will note here that I felt fine then, and I feel fine now, despite my prostate cancer and two heart conditions. As I wrote yesterday, I feel fatigued throughout the day, am sleeping a great deal more than I usually do, and have some trouble performing basic households tasks, like making breakfast or dinner, making my bed, doing the wash, or vacuuming and washing my floors.
Throughout late January and February all proceeded as it should. My prostate cancer was under control, I was under the care of not only Dr. Fritz and Dr. Miles Mannas, my uro-oncologist, but a fine fellow by the name of Jonathan Ma, who is the Vancouver co-ordinator for the Guns Study — or genomic biomarker-selected umbrella neoadjuvant study for high risk localized prostate cancer trial — as well as the fine women in the prostate cancer supportive care centre.
Then all hell broke loose in early March, with hospitalization, five weeks of immense pain, a painful catheter throughout this entire period, surgery (not the kind that would knock me out), a flight to Cancún for dental surgery (again, I was not knocked out, I just fell asleep during the procedure), a loss of balance (thank you neuropathy), Type 2 diabetes, a tremendous weight loss, a new computer so I can post to VanRamblings (my old computer died) again, hives, and …
Come back tomorrow for the thrilling, heart wrenching, hopeful conclusion of Raymond’s 2025 Health Update. See you back here then.
