The metaphor “my heart skips a beat” usually refers to shock, but for atrial fibrillation (AFib) patients, it’s a literal occurrence. AFib is a type of heart arrhythmia that affects more than three million people in the U.S; it’s a problem with the rate or rhythm of the heartbeat that causes the heart to beat quickly or irregularly. As an avid runner and relay racer, Michael (Mike) Newhouse knew something was wrong when he started feeling his heart out of rhythm in 2014.