Middle Georgia man shares journey with AFIB

September is National Atrial Fibrillation Awareness Month. The condition, known as 'AFIB,' is one doctors in Macon say is far too common.

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — September is National Atrial Fibrillation Awareness Month.

The condition, known as ‘AFIB,’ is one doctors in Macon say is far too common.

For Jarred Mimbs, AFIB could have cost him his life.

“They saved my life,” he said. “I mean I could have had a stroke. I could have had a heart attack.”

Just nine months ago, Mimbs was undergoing a procedure known as ablation, which would ultimately help him survive AFIB, a condition that causes the heart to beat irregularly.

“I didn’t know anything that I was going through, and when you don’t know anything, you’re just lost,” he said.

He realized he had AFIB in his mid-30s when his heart would skip a beat.

According to doctors at Piedmont, that’s just one of the symptoms. Others include shortness of breath, sweating and fatigue.

Carmine Oddis, an electrophysiologist with Piedmont Macon, says there’s no way to prevent AFIB from happening, because it’s passed down genetically. Although it’s a serious condition, it is not deadly.

Oddis says he sees about three to four AFIB patients a day.

“It’s a big problem,” he said. “And it’s only getting bigger as the population ages.”

Generally, patients who have AFIB go through medication therapy first, but if that doesn’t work, doctors have to perform the ablation procedure.

“The goal is to make everybody feel better and actually get rid of the AFIB if we can,” Oddis said.

“Now that I know what’s going on, I want to share my story with other people so it will help them,” Mimbs said.

If you experience any symptoms of the aforementioned symptoms, you should call your doctor right away.