A Strange Spot

Was the growing shadow in his chest making his heart race?

- Luc Rinaldi

AUGUST 2019 WAS especially damp and foggy in Aylsham, a picturesque town 15 minutes from England's eastern shores. But Nick Farrow, a semi-retired 65-year-old who works in branding and design, had sunshine on the mind. Along with his partner, her son and his adult daughter, Farrow was about to embark on a week-long vacation to Bali.

Not long before the trip, the family received a series of travel vaccines, including shots for typhoid and hepatitis A and B. Shortly after, Farrow began to experience flu-like symptoms: fatigue, breathing difficulties, aches all over. And at random, his heart would start beating harder and faster than ever, preventing him from falling asleep. I'd sit there at night, and it felt like there was a bird fluttering in my chest, he says. The rest of the family, who had received the same immunizations, felt no adverse effects.

Farrow had a history of atrial fibrillation-an irregular heartbeat-but these were new and alarming symptoms, so he arranged to see his GP. By the time the appointment rolled around, the flu symptoms were gone; the nurse he saw surmised that he coincidentally caught a bug around the same time he got the vaccinations. But the heart problems remained, so he was referred to a cardiologist and advised against going to Bali.

THIS THING WAS INSIDE ME, BUT WITH THE PANDEMIC, I COULDN'T GET INTO A HOSPITAL.

When Farrow visited the cardiologist, a number of tests, including a heart ultrasound, chest scan and electrocardiogram, revealed nothing unusual. But before the tests, when the doctor had listened to Farrow's heart and lungs through his stethoscope, he'd noticed a slight rasp in Farrow's breathing. He wasn't sure what that might indicate, so he redirected Farrow to a lung specialist.