On the morning of my 26th birthday, my boyfriend had just made a joke about how I was getting old and how I should start taking better care of my health.

But I just laughed it off because, at 26, I didn’t think I had to worry about my health. 

I was young, athletic, and had no previous medical conditions. He gifted me a smartwatch that had heart rate notifications, exercise tracking, and other cute features and the only reason I put it on was that I felt it was cute and sophisticated.

Otherwise, I was convinced I didn’t need it.

After we were done with dinner one night, I had just gotten out of the shower and was getting ready to go to bed when I heard a beep from my smart watch( yes I have it on every time).

I looked down to see a notification saying my heart rate was as low as 30 beats per minute. 

I thought the watch was wrong and I teased my boyfriend about getting me a cheap watch because I couldn’t feel my heart racing. I felt totally fine. But throughout that night, my heart rate kept dropping, and yet I couldn’t feel any symptoms.

The next morning, my boyfriend insisted I go to the hospital for a check-up which I did.I went in and saw a cardiologist who booked me for an MRI scan. 

Two months later, the results were out and I was referred for an ECG scan. That was when I knew that the whole situation was serious.

One day I noticed that I had missed 5 calls from the hospital and they were asking me to come back as a matter of urgency.

It turned out I was walking around with a heart block and was at risk of sudden cardiac death. I had to undergo surgery to fit a pacemaker( a device that keeps the heart beating in rhythm). And since then I have been feeling great and energetic. That was how my self-monitoring saved my life.

And the best part? You do not need to be a medic or understand the medical jargon to be able to self-monitor.

You can effortlessly do that using this…