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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – When daytime TV icon Susan Lucci’s real-life husband Helmut Huber was diagnosed with an abnormal heart rhythm 10 years ago, it did not play out quite as dramatically as it would have had this occurred to Erica Kane, the character Lucci has played on ABC’s All My Children since 1970, and any one of her 13 husbands.
So just why was it so different? There are many reasons. For starters, Huber and Lucci have been married for 35-plus years. Taken together, all of Erica Kane’s marriages probably don’t amount to 35 years.
Lucci was also right by Huber’s side from the very beginning. “I am not sure Erica would have gone to the doctor with any of her husbands,” Lucci quips.
In soap operas, there are always symptoms: an ominous cough, a mysterious and hushed phone call to a doctor or a blinding headache that takes place as the actor careens down a narrow highway (on Friday’s cliffhanger episode, of course). There are also spoilers all over the internet about soap opera plot twists and turns, and actors and actresses who have been axed or are involved in intense contract negotiations.
Suffice it to say, there are few surprises in the world of soap operas, but Lucci and Huber were blindsided when he was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation (AF), an abnormal heart rhythm known that affects more than 2 million people in the US.
Huber had no symptoms. He was at doctors for some routine preoperative work before he had shoulder surgery. “There were no symptoms or warning signs,” Lucci recalls. “The doctor just said ‘uh-oh we have a problem, you have to go to a cardiologist’.”
What is AF?
During AF, the heart’s two upper chambers—the atria– contract fast and furiously. As a result, blood pools in the atria and isn’t pumped completely into the hearts two lower chambers (ventricles). The heart’s upper and lower chambers don’t sync as well as they should. AF is associated with an increased risk of stroke, heart failure and death.
Some people with AF like Huber have no symptoms, but others may experience:
Racing, irregular heartbeat
Fluttering in the chest
Heart palpitations
Dizziness
Shortness of breath
Chest pain
Weakness
Faintness
Fatigue when exercising
Sweating
Treating AF is aimed at reducing stroke risk. Some strokes or brain attack occur when a blood clot blocks blood flow in the artery leading to your brain. When you have AF, blood clots can form in your heart and move through your body to your brain. Your doctor may prescribe drugs to help reduce this including an anticoagulant or an antiplatelet agent. He or she will also focus on reducing other stroke risk factors such as high blood pressure and/or diabetes. This may include medications as well as lifestyle modifications such as losing weight, becoming more active and eating a healthy diet.
Today, Lucci is happy to report that her off-screen husband is doing well (certainly a lot better than many of her screen husbands). Now Huber sees his cardiologist once a year, and checks in even more regularly.
He is taking medication and has made some important changes to his lifestyle.
Adjusting her Austrian husband’s diet was no easy task. “We took the hotdogs and sausages away,” she says, adding that he does sneak one in every so often.
Lucci has replaced some of these processed foods with fresh fruit and vegetables. And his breakfast is typically oatmeal and blueberries, not the butter and jam on bread he favored for years. Huber would slather on so much butter that you could actually see his teeth marks in the spread, she recalls.
These changes were a family affair. “I can’t say it was overnight, but my daughter and I prevailed and my son was also on board.” Lucci and Huber have two children, a son Andreas and a daughter Liza Huber. The couple also has three grandchildren.
If you or someone you love is diagnosed with AF do your research, she says. “Gather a lot of information and ask the right questions,” she says. Ten years ago, there was no clearinghouse, but now there is facingAfib.com, a website aimed at increasing awareness of AF.
“We are very lucky and grateful,” Lucci says.
Now the family has even more time to spend together. All My Children ended its 41-year-long run in late September 2011. This doesn’t mean we won’t be seeing Erica Kane again though. An online company called Prospect Park is planning to pick up where ABC left off. “We are in negotiations… and I would love if they go forward, to be there,” she says. “I love playing her.” Stay tuned.
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