As the years went on, my healthy lifestyle continued with me paying very little attention to my heart condition. I was active and felt great for the most part. The only exceptions were my gallbladder and hernia operations in 2001 and 2004, respectively.

The first time that I can recall experiencing any unusual breathing and palpitation symptoms was during the summer of 2009. My girlfriend and I were on a three week vacation in Europe and after our weeklong Oktoberfest celebration in Munich, we decided to do a bit of site-seeing. One of the places we visited was the Neuschwanstein Castle — about two hours outside of Munich. Built by an eccentric king, the castle was located on top of a mountain that required a 30 minute hike up a gradual 20 degree incline road. It was during this trek that I first noticed something unusual about my cardiovascular condition. As we made our way up the hill with a steady, brisk pace, I began to experience shortness of breath, accompanied by pronounced heartbeats that I could literally feel in front of my neck and head. The palpitations seemed unusual, but because they subsided when we stopped for lunch at a restaurant half way up the hill, I simply attributed them to lack of exercise in the last few months.

Returning home, I continued with my regular activities, dismissing the occasional shortness of breath when exercising or lifting weights. It would be during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics that I would once again notice the unmistakable gasping for air and palpitations I previously experienced in Munich.