A-fib survivor treks into the Alps for awareness
Until about 18 months ago, Michele Straube had suffered from a condition known as atrial fibrillation (A-fib) for over 30 years. Then she underwent a procedure known as an ablation performed by Dr. Nassir Marrouche of the Carma at the University of Utah.
To celebrate the successful outcome of the surgery, Michele along with her husband and coach Bob Adler will be hiking “Into the Heart of the Alps” to raise awareness about A-fib and its possible consequences. They will leave on June 26, 2011 to go to Monaco where the Via Alpina ends. Hiking the trail in reverse of its design, they plan to finish 22 stages this year and continue hiking the other stages over the next three years.
Michele is looking at this first trip as training. Other A-fib survivors, friends and family may join them in the following years.
A-fib may be constant or it may come and go. Many people don’t even know that they have, and they may be misdiagnosed as having had a panic attack. Those who experience A-fib “have a five times greater risk of stroke” and are twice as likely to die from it, said Michele. She went on to say that “after living with this for 30 years and figuring this is how life has to be, this is not how life has to be – I’m going to shout it from the tree tops!”
People wishing to support A-fib awareness and research at the Carma Center in recognition of Michele’s trip, may do so here. She suggests that you “calculate it by the mile.” This year’s journey will be 220 miles and Michele is sharing here experience here. The Via Alpina itself is 1500 miles.
This article was originally published at examiner.com.
To celebrate the successful outcome of the surgery, Michele along with her husband and coach Bob Adler will be hiking “Into the Heart of the Alps” to raise awareness about A-fib and its possible consequences. They will leave on June 26, 2011 to go to Monaco where the Via Alpina ends. Hiking the trail in reverse of its design, they plan to finish 22 stages this year and continue hiking the other stages over the next three years.
Michele is looking at this first trip as training. Other A-fib survivors, friends and family may join them in the following years.
A-fib may be constant or it may come and go. Many people don’t even know that they have, and they may be misdiagnosed as having had a panic attack. Those who experience A-fib “have a five times greater risk of stroke” and are twice as likely to die from it, said Michele. She went on to say that “after living with this for 30 years and figuring this is how life has to be, this is not how life has to be – I’m going to shout it from the tree tops!”
People wishing to support A-fib awareness and research at the Carma Center in recognition of Michele’s trip, may do so here. She suggests that you “calculate it by the mile.” This year’s journey will be 220 miles and Michele is sharing here experience here. The Via Alpina itself is 1500 miles.
This article was originally published at examiner.com.