I've an alien inside my chest. I've always had it since I was young. It's normally dormant, but at certain times it stirs and flip-flops. It used to stay asleep until I had demanding exercise, such as sprinting. These days, especially since I stopped tramping two years ago and my overall fitness diminished, it can wake up any time. Still it usually behaves and goes back to sleep after some time. …

Last weekend it misbehaved for the first time, right middle of the Rugby Test! It kept flip-flopping, about every ten heartbeats. Because it is inside my chest, when it flip-flops, my heartbeat halts. Of course my heart, being a heart, starts beating automatically soon after, only missing one heartbeat. But if that happened at every ten beats, you'd be missing ten percent of your blood flow your heart was supposed to produce. I was quite sure the alien would go back to sleep eventually. But last weekend, I was with a friend, who became concerned enough to call an ambulance for me.

Sure enough, the alien went back to sleep halfway to the hospital. But it was still active when the paramedics arrived, and their portable ECG was able to capture its activities. After rather lengthy wait at the Emergency Department, I was seen by a doctor. He assured me the alien would not rip my chest open, or do any other serious harm to my life. But he also advised me if the alien becomes restless too often, I should consult my GP, before sending me back home. My poor friend was a way more distressed by the whole thing than I was.

Now my alien has a name. PVC or premature ventricular contractions. It's a quite common arrhythmia (heart rhythm disturbance) among healthy adults and can be triggered by exercise, lack of sleep, anxiety, excess caffeine or alcohol, smoking, lack of potassium or magnesium, or dehydration. However lack of exercise and fitness could also predispose you to more frequent episodes. It is normally non life-threatening and should resolve itself, just like the young ED doctor said. On the other hand, various sources advised the patient should seek medical attention if it occurs more frequent than five times a minute. It was happening about ten times a minute last weekend, so I'm really grateful for my friend for calling ambulance.

Anyway, nothing has really changed for me. I still have the alien in my chest. But now I know this alien is not supposed to be dangerous. I also know what I should avoid to keep it calm. Still it is unsettling to feel the alien stir inside my chest.

[Update Sunday 20 June]
My poor friend didn't invite me over for rugby last night, which is OK. She might have had other engagement, or simply wanted to have a quiet rugby night (a bit of oxymoron) by herself.

I did watch the test, a delayed coverage, and enjoyed it. The Welsh were strong, uncompromising and disciplined, They made the All Blacks work hard in the first half. But sadly their fitness level betrayed them in the second half, when they allowed a couple of soft tries by AB backs. ABs had a few lucky moments, which let them get away with the 42-9 scoreline. Could have been a bit closer otherwise. Excellent game.