PVCs During The Pandemic
By Gizette Edis
Premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) are surprisingly common and don’t usually cause problems unless they start happening too often.
My Diagnosis
A report published in December 2022 showed a prevalence rate of PVCs of up to 75% in the general population. And most people don’t even know they have them because they’re symptom-free and can live normal lives. But that’s not always how it goes.
I didn't go to my doctor thinking I had a heart problem. I went because it had been over a year since I delivered our second child, and I still felt nauseous. My doctor listened to my heart for a long time during a routine physical exam. When she lowered the stethoscope, she asked if I knew I had an irregular heartbeat.
“Yeah,” I said. “But I had an echo and Holter monitor a couple of years ago when I had symptoms, and they said I was fine.”
She decided to run a few more tests.
Over the next few months, I had numerous blood draws, a Holter monitor to evaluate my heart rhythm continuously for over 48 hours, and an echocardiogram to see how my heart was functioning. I also went for a stress test to watch my heart while I exercised. I was the youngest patient there by about 30 years and received a lot of questioning looks. And in May 2020, since this happened during the pandemic, I received my PVC diagnosis over the phone.
Naturally, my first question was, “What are PVCs?”
“They are extra heartbeats,” the doctor said. “Normally, your heartbeat is initiated in one of the upper chambers of your heart. But when you have PVCs, extra beats start in one of the lower chambers. A few extra beats here and there are common and usually aren’t a problem. But when you’re having a lot of extra beats, eventually the heart becomes strained.”
“Okay. So, what do we do about it?”
“We do a procedure called an ablation where we cauterize the part of your heart making the extra beats. With Covid regulations, it’s hard to say when that can happen, but we will put you on the list. In the meantime, we will start you on a medication that should minimize the PVCs and the workload on your heart.”
Immediate Effects of My Diagnosis
The results of my tests showed that my PVCs couldn’t pump as much blood as a normal 26-year-old heart because of my PVCs. So the doctor prescribed Bisoprolol, a commonly used beta-blocker to treat high blood pressure and common heart problems. It slows your heart rate so the muscle doesn’t work as hard.
The only problem with that medication was that I also have a blood condition called beta thalassemia that causes my red blood cells to be smaller than normal and causes chronic anemia. Between the Bisoprolol slowing my heart rate, the chronic anemia, and my two VERY energetic kids under four, I was absolutely exhausted.
Stress and Chaos
Since all of this was happening at the height of the pandemic, I wasn’t the only one going through a stressful time. My husband is a nurse, so instead of staying home like the rest of the world, he was at work helping everyone else battle Covid. The stress of my new diagnosis, my husband’s job, and my taking care of the kids on my own took a toll on me. To top it all off, I missed my period.
We had been planning to expand our family, but my doctors told me now wouldn’t be the best time with a newly diagnosed heart condition. My husband and I knew holding off on having a baby until I could receive permanent treatment for my PVCs was the right thing to do, but with Covid still running rampant, we had no idea when that would be. We were devastated and angry, and it seemed like the universe had taken that choice from us.
With mixed emotions, I took a pregnancy test. When it came back negative, I called my doctor. She told me my irregular cycle was probably due to stress. She told me to do something fun. So, we went to visit my in-laws in a neighboring province.
The Move
We were at my in-laws for about a week, taking the doctor’s orders and escaping the real-world stress. After we had been there for a few days, we began to see an opportunity.
Because of the pandemic, my husband could only work on one floor at one facility, cutting his hours and paycheck in half; we were trying to figure out how to make ends meet.
My in-laws had recently moved into a new home in a small city with a hospital nearby. We saw a way to be closer to family and pay our bills, so we asked them if we could move into the carriage house on their property. They said yes, and my husband applied for a job, got it, and two months later, we moved in. It’s probably the best thing we’ve ever done for our family.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t so great for my PVCs. I called every doctor's office in our area to see if they accepted new patients. Still, the regional health district requires everyone looking for a primary healthcare provider to be placed on a centralized waiting list.
That list is over two years long, and I knew my heart couldn’t wait that long.
So, I went to a walk-in clinic with extremely limited hours. The phone line was always busy. I called continuously for three days before speaking to a human being. When I finally talked with a doctor, I explained my situation and was referred to a cardiologist in town. It took over two weeks to hear from that doctor, but he was kind and understanding when I did. He switched my medication to Diltiazem, a calcium channel blocker that didn’t completely zap my energy like the Bisoprolol. He also referred me to a cardiac electrophysiologist in the next town over.
A few weeks later, I had an in-person appointment with the electrophysiologist, and he was great. He listened to everything, even about wanting to have another baby. He reordered a few tests and put me on the urgent list for an ablation procedure, just like my previous doctor had told me about. He told me I could expect the procedure in three to six months, and even though that may sound like a long time, the way healthcare is where we live, three to six months is pretty good.
Of course, there were more obstacles in the way. I had to get my medical records transferred from my old cardiologist’s office. Unfortunately, it wasn’t so easy.
First, they told me my doctor wasn’t at their clinic anymore.
“Okay. Well, you still have my records there, right?”
“Yes.”
“So, I still need you to transfer them to my new cardiologist.”
“Okay, well, the only person who can transfer them to you is away until next week. She will transfer them when she gets back.”
A few weeks later, I checked, and my records still weren’t transferred. So, I called back.
“Oh, well, she only comes in once a week,” they told me. “And she’s not here today, so we can’t transfer them today.”
At this point, it had been months since I first requested the records. So, I started calling every single day and a few days after I started doing that, my doctor said he got them.
Lead-up to the Procedure
Finally, in the fall of 2021–two years after that initial doctor’s visit for nausea–I was scheduled to have my procedure in early January 2022. I was so excited to put all of this behind me and never have to call the walk-in clinic for days just to get my prescription renewed. But, as luck would have it, my entire family contracted COVID-19 over Christmas.
We didn’t know it was COVID. Our oldest was in kindergarten, and we were sick once a month. But, when I lost my sense of smell, we knew.
Even though I was feeling better, the ablation was still scheduled 12 days from when I started having symptoms. Since the guidelines constantly changed, we didn’t know whether the hospital would let me undergo a procedure. Plus, I knew the PCR test I had to take would return positive. So, even though we were doubtful about them accepting me, we called the hospital clinic to find out.
“Am I still able to have my procedure?” I asked.
“We’re not sure. We will find out and call you back.”
That was the most stressful Christmas season of my life. They got back to me a couple of days later.
“Hi, we’re just calling to let you know that the recent change to hospital policy does allow you to have your procedure on your scheduled day. You will still need to take the PCR test, but we will put a note in your file explaining the positive result, and you will be good to go.”
Procedure Day
We had to be at the hospital before dawn, and it was about an hour away in the next town over. So, we arranged for my in-laws to watch the kids for a couple of days. We left home the day before and got a hotel room near the hospital. We went to the movies and had a restless night’s sleep. My husband dropped me off at the hospital entrance early the next morning.
As far as heart procedures go, an ablation is comparatively minor. And I’m not easily spooked or grossed out by blood or body parts, but having a heart procedure is freaky. The staff was amazing, and that helped, but I was still a little on edge.
I don’t remember much about the procedure itself. They inserted four catheters into the veins in my right leg, near the groin area. I remember feeling a catheter moving in my heart like a little worm.
At one point, I was awake enough to feel an uncomfortable warmth in my chest. I remember thinking I could tough it out and didn’t want to ask for more sedation. It turns out I couldn’t. But I also couldn’t get my mouth to form proper words, so I moaned a bit.
“Uugh.”
“Gizette, are you in pain?”
“Uuuuugh!”
“Okay, give her a little more.”
The next thing I knew, I was in recovery.
How It’s Going
The first week of recovery was rough. They told me if my incisions started bleeding, I needed to put a lot of pressure on them and call an ambulance immediately. That was enough to scare me into staying on the couch for several days. I couldn’t walk my daughter to school, which is one of my favorite things to do. And my other daughter resented me for coming home. She wanted to go back to Grandma’s.
Thankfully, my recovery was uneventful. When I had my follow-up to check my incisions–still at a walk-in clinic–the doctor was surprised at how well they had healed. After follow-up testing, my procedure was successful, and I haven’t seen my cardiologist since.
Now, I know that having PVCs is not the worst thing to happen to your heart. I know others suffered more than I did during those two years of global chaos. But health means something different to me now. And I don’t think I’ll take it for granted soon.
Still, avoid heart problems during a global pandemic if you can.
Gizette is a Canadian freelance content writer and self-help nerd, primarily working with femtech brands and women-owned businesses. She has written for everything from book publishers to ground-breaking startups and award-winning digital media outlets. Aside from her responsibilities as the family chauffeur, Gizette is also an amateur soapmaker and avid beachgoer.
