When living in Austria, sometimes special health screenings would come to the office. One day, they were doing EKG’s, so I decided to get one. The nurse performing the EKG was surprised by my low heart rate (that morning, it was 43 beats per minute). Since I had just woken up (the exam was conveniently in the same building that I lived in), she suggested my heart was still sleepy.
That EKG provided me a chance to learn a little more about myself. In high school, I found out that I had a heart arrhythmia. I had no clue what that meant, as I never felt it. As I went through many tests, the doctors had shown me my EKG and explained the physical reason why the abnormality happens, but I didn’t really understand. In particular, I had never had the chance to examine my own EKG with the aid of the internet.
With this exam in Austria, I was given the EKG printout. So, I started to compare it against other EKGs that I could find online. Looking at one beat, I can see what the doctors see (even though I still can’t feel it):
my EKG
The part highlighted in cyan is called the delta wave. It’s not present in a normal heart beat. The big peak should pretty much go straight up and down, but mine has a small slope at the very beginning.
Don’t worry though, doctors say my heart is nice and healthy! The arrhythmia is just part of what makes me unique.
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