Holiday Hearts

For some of us the term "Holiday Hearts" may bring visions of Salvation Army bell ringers, Toys for Tots and Community Meals for the homeless. For the ER nurse it means a crowded waiting room of upper respiratory infections peppered with the flurry of new onset Atrial Fibrillation.

Ahhh, "Holiday Heart." The susceptible heart carried by the 50ish age group of heavy drinkers gets pushed into an AFib rhythm by a week of drinking "holiday" quantities of booze and chain smoking. They show up in the already crammed full ER waiting room with family in tow or are brought in by EMS complaining of "feeling weak, poorly, not myself", or "my hearts just not right". Poor Souls" as my Irish Mother would say. It may be their first brush with their mortality. The first tangible message that they have been "rode hard and put away wet" one too many times.

They'll be OK, but are now the proud owner of a Coumadin regime including lab draws for bleeding times over and over, safety considerations for falls and accidents, and a lifestyle that requires following strict instructions...... here on out. Not every Atrial Fib patient is the result of hard living, just the ones who spent years standing naked in the snow singing Ted Nugent.
You know who you are...........