When I woke up this morning, I expected this to be like any other normal Tuesday. I expected to spend the day at work and the evening with Sandy – but considering the fact that I am writing this column from the Emergency Room at New York Methodist Hospital proves that this Tuesday is anything but normal.

For the fourth time in two-and-a-half years, chest palpitations and an irregular heartbeat has landed me in the hospital. First in December of 1997, then in July and September of 1998 – and now today.

The fact that I have a bad heart is no secret. I have what is called Loan Atrial Fibrillation, a heart ailment which causes my heart to beat irregularly and very fast. The main problem is that neither myself or the doctors know why this is happening. I have tried medicine, change of lifestyle – and even surgery to correct it, but no matter what I do. it just keeps happening and I keep winding up in the hospital.

The only good news is that this time, it is not nearly as bad as the last few times I have had this happen to me. The first two times in December of 1997 and July of 1998, my heart hit 200 beats a minute. When I went in for an Electrophysiology Study in September of 1998, my heart hit nearly 300 beats a minute and cost me two of my nine lives. Since those three hospitalizations, the doctors have been able to curb it with medicine, but that’s a solution – not a cure.

This time, my goal is to find out why this is happening. Why no matter what the doctors do and no matter what precautionary measures I take – they don’t solve the problem – they only prevent it.

The good news is that the doctor I have now is going the extra mile to try and figure out why this is happening. He is sending me for every test under the sun. From a sleep study to a stress test – he is determined to get to the heart of the problem – no pun intended. No one likes to be tested and prodded and poked over and over again, but during this stay in the hospital, I welcome anything he wants to do because if it brings me the answer I have been seeking for so long – then test, prod and poke away.

If my bad heart has taught me anything, it’s that you should really appreciate your body and treat it like the intricate machine that it is – and when it breaks down, don’t just treat the problem – fix it.