PODCAST - How My PFO Changed the Way I Live My Life
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[00:00:00] Welcome to the Athlete with Asthma Show. I'm your host Johnny Ha, an ultra runner endurance athlete, and yes, a guy who's had an inhaler prescribed since birth. Despite doctors telling me I could never play soccer nor run a marathon, let alone a hundred K ultra. I prove them all wrong. This show is where I share everything I've learned from breathing techniques to mindset shifts to help you become the athlete and the person you truly want to be.
So if you're ready to achieve your goals, despite limitations, let's get started.
Today on the show, I'm gonna share ~with you ~how finding out that I have a hole in my heart, ~also known as ~a PFO, ~has ~changed the way I [00:01:00] live my life. It all started a little over a year ago. After losing vision in my right eye, I was about 45 minutes into one of my favorite workout classes when all of a sudden.
I couldn't see anything outta my right eye. It was completely dark. I was very scared. I had no idea what was going on. So what did I do? I left the class, ~I ~drank some water, and ~I ultimately took an Uber to my, and I ultimately took an Uber to my. And I ultimately took a lift to my eye doctor and I ultimately ~took a lift to my eye doctor.
~Long story short, I was told that I had something called A-C-R-V-O happened in my right eye. ~Long story short, ~within a few days I was diagnosed with A-C-R-V-O in my right eye.~
~Within a few days, I, within a few days, ~I was ~ultimately ~diagnosed with A-C-R-V-O in my right eye, also known as a central retinal vein occlusion. what this is is basically a blood clot in my right eye affecting the center part of my vision, and ultimately for three or four months clouding the majority of [00:02:00] my eye.
~To this day, I don't have a hundred percent back. VI ~to this day. I don't have my vision a hundred percent back in my right eye, but I'm about 99% of the way there, ~which is unheard of because typically, ~which is unheard of for people that have this happen to them. ~So over the, uh, over, so ~over the next few months, I did ~tons and ~tons of tests.
I was training for my first a hundred K Ultra. I had done many 50 Ks. I had ran a 50 mile race, but I was training for a hundred K Ultra throughout all this. So I was being very careful about my workouts, ~and I'm gonna share with you a lot of the things that this really caused in my life. Well, during all this testing, I found out that I also have, well, ~during all this testing, I ~also found out that I also have, well, throughout all this testing, I also ~found out that I have something called A PFO. Patent. For a men ovalle, this basically means is that I have a hole in my heart and the hole in my heart is bigger than typical. PFOS are actually pretty common.
About 20 or 25% of people are born with a [00:03:00] PFO, and really what happens is from birth, when we start breathing oxygen into our lungs, it automatically closes off specific holes in our heart. ~Well, for 20%, well, ~for 20 to 25% of us, this doesn't fully happen.
And that's how we end up with. A PFO. ~Well, I found, well, ~I found this out because my doctor thought that potentially having a hole in my heart, if I did have one, would cause my CRVO. when we found out I had a PFO ~for a week or two, ~I thought.
~That ~there was no way I was gonna be racing in September. I thought there was a possibility that I would never race again. I thought there was a possibility I would never run again. But after talking to some of the best doctors in the United States, in cardiology, ophthalmology, and my general practitioner.
We discovered ~that ~the PFO did not cause my CRVL.
~I talk about this in other videos on my channel, but~
~okay, not now. ~It ~doesn't mean that this couldn't, okay. Now, that ~doesn't mean that the PFO doesn't have its [00:04:00] own risks, but we're pretty sure ~that ~it didn't cause, ~in my case, ~my CRVO. ~Now, ~remember, I'm not a healthcare professional. ~I'm not a doctor. I'm not any of these things. And ~if you have a PFO, if you have A-C-R-V-O, please talk to them.
I'm sharing with you my experience with all of this and ~my ~biggest takeaways ~and how I've changed my life ~since finding out ~that ~I have a PFO ~You. Need to talk to your doctor. You need to ~talk to your doctor. And that's why I have disclaimer in the show notes and in the description if you're watching this on YouTube. Now my PFO is looked at to be much larger than other people, but not large enough to prevent me from running and to have to actually get it closed.
'cause this is one thing that a lot of people have to do is if it's large enough, ~then ~you actually have to get it closed. Now that doesn't mean that I won't have to get it closed sometime in my life, but that's why one of the things that this has really changed in my life, the first thing is. Every year I track
important health markers, and I even track some of these markers daily, like my [00:05:00] HRV heart rate variability. This is daily, so there are multiple things that I track yearly. I do a full blood panel ~looking at a bunch of different things, ~and ~I~ do an ultrasound on my heart every year. And I do the ultrasound on my heart to really track how big my PFO is.
And as long as it's not getting bigger, then I don't need to make any changes in my life. If you are an elite athlete, it's probably a good idea to have your heart checked out and whatever else is important to, and your doctor ~as well.~
Doing this testing could literally save your life, so I highly recommend that you check with your healthcare professional
Hey, friend, I wanted to take a moment to ask you a quick question. Are you struggling to lose weight due to your asthma? If so, I get it. I used to run marathons and still kept gaining weight. [00:06:00] It wasn't until I learned about the three pillars of healthy living that everything changed,
so I put together a healthy living guide that you can access absolutely free by clicking the link in the description. This guide shares these amazing three pillars of healthy living that you can easily integrate into your life. To start losing weight and live healthier today. Click the link in the description or go to athlete with asthma.com/healthy-living-guide to grab your free copy.
Now let's get back to the rest of the [00:07:00] show.
number two, I wear a smartwatch. Whenever I workout alone and during most workouts in general,~ as long as I remember it, ~I wear it. ~Because okay, I wear a smartwatch ~to not only track my heart rate. It also will warn my fiance and I have it set up to automatically call 9 1 1 if I end up falling or passing out. While working out. Now I'm not necessarily gonna count on it doing that, but this is added security for me so I can keep track of my heart rate while working out.
'cause I have been told that since I have a PFO that I need to keep my heart rate within specific zones for me to be careful with nothing bad happening. So that's why I keep track of my heart rate. It keeps track of my HRV. And it has [00:08:00] fall protection. So if I go unconscious, in theory it's supposed to call 9 1 1. Number three, I got really serious about rest and stress.
Stress is one of the biggest killers out there. ~And it's because when you're stressed, it literally ha and it's because when you're stressed, it literally has, okay.~
~And it's because ~when you feel stressed, your system is stressed, your body is stressed, so the last stress you have in your life. The healthier it is for your system. And one way to do this is by making sure that you're getting enough rest. You get enough rest, you're gonna be less stressed. So ~this means that ~I try ~and go ~to ~bed earlier.~
~The, so this means that I ~go to bed earlier. ~This means that ~I make sure I'm treating my body well with what I'm ingesting. This means that I work a little less. I make sure to manage my stress while working. I ~make sure to ~do things in my life that alleviate stress, like working out, working out creates [00:09:00] endorphins, which gets rid of stress. Literally bust stress out of your life. So I take rest and. Alleviating stress ~very ~seriously because I wanna have the most powerful cardiovascular system as possible.
And if you have a PFO or not, you should too.
Number four,
I quit alcohol.
I quit drinking. I didn't drink for 14 months, ~and then I drank. Then I drank a couple times and then I drank, and ~then I drank a couple times, ~and ~now it's almost been two months since I've drank last. I've only drank three or four times in the past 16 months, and the amount ~that ~I drank ~when I drink is very.~
~It ~is very small, ~but ~in general, I just don't believe in drinking anymore. Drinking is ~so ~hard on your body in ~so ~many ways. I have ~multiple ~videos and podcast episodes talking about how hard drinking is on your body. When I found out ~that ~I had CRVO in my eye and A PFO in my heart, I told myself I need a cheat code [00:10:00] to feeling better. ~I need a cheat code to health and ~cutting. Drinking out of your life is a cheat code ~I have, and I share this and I share the exact metrics that I have tracked before and after drinking, ~and I share the exact metrics ~that ~I ~have ~tracked before and after drinking and how powerful it is.
Cutting alcohol out of your life. I still really like beer and that's why I drink NA beer because I can be at my best, stay extremely healthy, and still enjoy the taste of a good beer.
And number five, I am inspired to serve you.
Back in June, 2024, I got out of finishing all these tests on my heart. And for one of the tests I had ~to take some ~anesthesia, went under for a bit, and when I got out, the cardiologist, as I was still a little groggy, was telling me, there's no way you're gonna be running in September. It's like less than eight weeks from when I did this exam.
And I'm like, oh yeah, why? Why? And he's like, well, you have a hole in your heart. You're [00:11:00] probably not gonna be running ever again. While I was still ~pretty ~loopy, I was upset ~and even thinking about it right now. It sucked. ~It sucked hearing that ~it, ~but ~it was ~that day ~that ~I ~really ~started thinking, ~okay, ~I love working out.
I love inspiring people. ~I love doing things and ~overcoming perceived limitations that we have's What I've been doing since I was four years old with asthma, well, a couple weeks later, and a lot of back and forth with ~multiple ~doctors and I was cleared to be able to race. It is the highlight of my athletic career to this point.
Other than creating this channel athlete with asthma and being able to serve you, I am inspired to serve you in becoming the athlete and the person that you truly want to be. I'll see you in the next episode.
Thanks for tuning in to the Athlete with Asthma Show. I hope today's episode inspired you to overcome any perceived limitations you may have. Remember, your health and wellness journey [00:12:00] isn't about perfection. It is about progress. So I invite you to take a small step right now towards your goals, and if you found something helpful here, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share the podcast with others on a similar path.
Until next time, keep challenging yourself and redefining what's possible.
