HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — Imagine finally finding the love of your life only to face an unexcepted medical crisis that threatens to cut your love story short.
That's exactly what happened to a Henrico man who found himself battling to reclaim his heart's rhythm and his life.
CBS 6 photojournalist AJ Nwoko and Anchor GeNienne Samuels learned of Chris Rose's story and quickly realized that it was an inspiring transformation of turning an alarming diagnosis into a life now in full bloom.
His story began over chips and salsa at a restaurant in Midlothian.
“He had friends that were going out to dinner and I had friends that were going to the same place. We met at the old hacienda on Midlothian before it closed," Rose's wife, Alexis said.
The chance meeting blossomed into a true love story when Alexis became a Rose, two years ago in 2022.
It was a union that occurred later in their lives but proved to be worth the wait.
“We kind of had the life of luxury. Because my son was an adult already. We didn’t have any small children, We had no responsibilities other than going to work and doing what we wanted to do. So it was nice," Alexis said.
However, just a year into marriage bliss, while on vacation things quickly turned in the opposite direction.
"This was the day before he went to urgent care. We were shopping in Nags Head and he was holding everyone’s bags. He definitely does not look well. We just didn’t know it at the time,” Alexis said.
“I felt fine," Chris said. "The cough was irritating, but at that moment in time I was just done shopping.”
But because of a cough that would not go away, Alexis urged Chris to get it checked out again.
The persistent cough had already been misdiagnosed twice. But this time the message he received in urgent care was different.
When he walked out of the urgent care, Alexis told Chris to get in the car so they could pick up his prescriptions. Instead, he walked over to her window, on the driver's side of the car.
"He's like, so don't freak out, an ambulance is coming. I'm in AFib," Alexis said.
AFib or atrial fibrillation is a chaotic, disorganized heart rhythm, that can lead to blood clots in the heart. Warning signs include shortness of breath, fatigue, and lightheadedness.
But Chris had none of these symptoms.
“I was speechless because I never expected that. He goes to the doctor for checkups. Why wouldn't that have been found? It was completely unexpected for me, for him to come out and say the cough was because he had, he was in AFib," Alexis said. "He said his heart rate was in the 180s and I was like, Oh my gosh. Like, that's like running a marathon, 24/7 you know, I was very shocked. I never expected that."
A normal resting heart rate for an adult is between 60 and 100 beats per minute.
"It was pretty awful. I was a little selfish. I was like I finally found this person later in my life. and we connect on such a higher level. How is this fair? I finally find him? Am I going to lose him after these short 7 years," Alexis said.
"You hear heart failure, and you're like, oh, that means death, you know, like that," Chris said. "That's how I interpreted that is, here's your stamp, you're going to die."
"I agree. It felt like a death sentence had been placed," Alexis said.
The AFib diagnosis was a rude awakening that created so much uncertainty in their rose-colored world.
"What do I do at this point? Like, how do I what's happening? Am I going to die now? You know, just trying to come to terms, like, what, what's happening, what do I need to do is this, is this a quick, simple thing? Do I get to go home?" asked Chris.
"In Christopher's case, his ejection fraction had dropped to about 10% meaning that his heart was pumping the blood out at about 10% and that is reflective of a severely weakened heart muscle, and that occurred because of the electrical problem, the arrhythmia or heart rhythm problem, he had," said Dr. Guru Mohanty, a Cardiac Electrophysiologist, at Virginia Arrhythmia Consultants in Richmond.
But this wasn’t the only anomaly.
"It is unusual for patients at that age to develop a fib or congestive heart failure," Mohanty said.
Chris was only 36 when he was told his heart was no longer up to the task.
According to the American Heart Association, AFib incidence rates increase with age, most prevalent for senior citizens between 65 and 69.
The prevalence of AFib in the United States is estimated to increase from approximately 5.2 million in 2010 to 12.1 million in 2030, according to the American Heart Association’s 2024 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistical Update.
Additionally, a recent research abstractshows the population of adults over 65 with AFib will double from 12% in 2010 to 22% in 2040.
"There was a lot of fear because [my] dad died when he was 36 so I was like, this is gonna happen to me, too?" Chris said.
"In dealing with his passing at the same age that you currently were when all of this was happening to you. How did that amplify your emotions at that point?" GeNienne asked.
"I don't know if I know how to accurately describe that. To be honest, it was a lot of everything. So it was very raw emotions and trying to process those, and I process things very internally," Chris said.
After multiple tests, Chris had a cardioversion and echo that was only short-lived in correcting his irregular heartbeat.
"Okay, so the cardioversion and the echo happened, and then after they shocked my heart, I was out of AFib for like a day and a half. And then it happened again while I was sleeping - I woke up with my Apple Watch telling me I was in AFib. Yep, apparently the Apple Watch is really good at the AFib stuff," Chris said.
"What's going through your mind at that point?" asked GeNienne.
"I'm going to die like that's, really, am I going to live? I don't want to die. I had already made that choice. I don't want to die. So what's, is this actually going to kill me? Dark thoughts."
Chris is now back in the hospital. This time he underwent an invasive ablation with three cardioversions, resulting in a very real conversation with his doctor.
“When we met, that's essentially what I told him, is that you know, we have a path where we can get you better, or we have a path where you say you don't want to do these things and you will die,” said Dr. Mohanty.
Chris chose the former.
"It really boils down to, I want to be alive tomorrow. Like that's really what it is. It's I want to know that my chances of waking up tomorrow are greater than 90% or greater than whatever I think it was at the time. I don't know, but it was I want to wake up tomorrow. So in order to give me the best chance of doing that, I have to do these things, like, and that's, that's the brutal reality," Chris said.
After a three-day hospital stay, Chris returned home to rest and prepare for three months of cardiac rehab and reinvent his life.
To keep living, he’d have to let go of almost everything he’d loved about life.
"I used to eat bacon, lots of bacon," Chris said. "I had to give up the really good stuff, like, no, the stuff that's got the fat and all of the flavor and or all of the salt that enhances everything, you know, just the stuff packed with flavor."
"Changing food was the biggest and the most irritating of it, any food change is annoying because you still want what you want, even though it's not that great for you," Chris said. "I love chips. Unfortunately, I stay away from chips because salt is not a great friend anymore. So it's cutting chips out, trying to figure out what things don't have 900 grams of salt in them, and that's shockingly hard to do."
To keep living, Chris would also have to get moving.
"I didn't want to work out. I mean, like, it's one of those things, like nobody wants to work out. Unfortunately, that is now my reality. I have to like that part of my choice of staying alive is working out. That's the reality of that."
"For me, when I work out, I've never looked forward to the workout. But then after I just feel great. Is that the same for you?," GeNienne asked.
"No, it sucks," Chris said.
"The whole time?" GeNienne asked.
"The whole time. It sucks. There is nothing fun about working out for me, like, I don't like it. But I do it because I have to," Chris said.
The hard stuff, that’s the price of admission to life.
"In this last year, he has lost a little over 100 pounds," Alexis said. "He has worked out on a regular basis. He has completely changed his eating habits and the food that goes into his body. He's been able to come off all of the heart medications because he's done so well. He has worked so hard. It just shows what the human spirit can do when it wants to."
Life is worth fighting for, thorns and all.
"When you think about this expanse of the universe, you're here, you get these cool moments that are awesome, like life. Life really is worth living," Chris said.
Atrial fibrillation (AFib), an irregular heartbeat, affects at least 10.55 million American adults, or about 4.48% of the population.
In addition, one in five people under the age of 45 have suffered from a heart attack.
That is why GeNienne has joined Maggi Marshall's team to raise awareness about heart health.
You can help their cause by donating here.
CBS 6 is committed to sharing community voices on this important topic. Email your thoughts to the CBS 6 Newsroom.
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