Modern Family star Julie Bowen thought she was ‘gonna die' after her health diagnosis at 29
The Modern Family star, 55, told Michael Rosenbaum on Tuesday's episode of his Inside of You podcast that she has sick sinus syndrome, a type of rhythm disorder that affects the heart's natural pacemaker, per the Mayo Clinic.
Bowen's condition is called hypervagotonia, which is increased activity in the vagus nerve, according to the National Institute of Health.
'I have a low resting heart rate,' she explained, noting that her pacemaker is 'set so that it can't go below 45.'
Before the pacemaker, Bowen's resting heart rate was in the 30s, when the 'normal' resting heart rate is between 60 to 100 beats per minute for women.
The Hysteria! star's sister diagnosed her condition while the two were on a getaway.
Bowen shared that her sibling, Annie Luetkemeyer, had just graduated from medical school and 'was at that time in her life when she, I guess, she always carried around a stethoscope. And we were on vacation, and she was like, 'I wanna listen to this.''
'She was like, 'That is not what they've been telling you, and it's not runner's heart or whatever. That means you need to go to a cardiologist,'' the Happy Gilmore star remembered.
'I was like, 'I'm fine,'' the actress shared, adding that her sister 'would not let it go.'
A month later, Bowen shot the pilot for the NBC series Ed alongside Tom Cavanagh. The comedy/drama ran from 2000 to 2004.
'I shot the pilot of Ed and immediately had to go get a pacemaker afterwards,' Bowen said. 'I was like, 'Oh my God. My life is over. This is so weird. I'm gonna die.' I don't know what I thought it was, because I was 29.'
'You're lucky you didn't die before that,' Rosenbaum, 52, responded.
'They said I wouldn't probably die of it, but I'd start passing out,' Bowen clarified. 'There was a vague feeling … whenever I was relaxed, really relaxed, I'd be, like, watching TV or movie.'
The Hubie Halloween star described it felt like she'd 'been holding my breath for a while, that feeling of, like, light-headedness. And they said, 'You're gonna be driving a car, and you're gonna pass out, and you're gonna kill somebody.' And I was like, 'Oh, well, then give me the Goddamn pacemaker.''
Bowen has had the batteries replaced three times; however, she admitted, 'I forget about it all the time.'
These days, the Boston Legal star hasn't let her condition slow her down one bit. In fact, she's starring in the upcoming sequel to the beloved 1996 sports comedy Happy Gilmore.
Bowen is reprising her role as Virginia Venit, the love interest of Adam Sandler's Happy Gilmore, but didn't know if she'd be asked back for round two.
'I thought, 'Well I won't be in it,'' Bowen told The Hollywood Reporter in June.
'And that was OK — it was like Virginia Venit, it's been 30 years, he's got a hottie. He's got some little bitty on the side, like a cart girl,' she continued. 'As a matter of fact my children told me, before I was even told officially that there was a Happy Gilmore sequel, my now 18-year-old said, 'Mum, I hear they're doing a sequel and he's with Sydney Sweeney as a cart girl.''
Bowen teased, 'I went, I'm hurt and I so respect that move. Of course, why wouldn't you? So when I got the call that I was actually in it, I was like, 'Are you sure? Come on.''
Although Sweeney, 27, isn't in the film, the sequel is set to have a slew of new faces, including Bad Bunny, Margaret Qualley, Benny Safdie, Travis Kelce, Kym Whitley and Eminem.
'Seeing Bad Bunny on set I was just like, 'Oh, I can't actually look you in the eye, I'm going to have to walk away,' and I did,' Bowen recalled.
'I think he was offended and I had to circle back and now I made it worse. I'm the kind of person who doesn't want to meet her heroes because I think I'm just going to be a jackass.'
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