Jim Harbaugh discusses irregular heartbeat history

49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh met with the media on Friday, a day after missing practice due to a cardioversion procedure for his heart. He addressed his health situation and was quite forthcoming with the details. I was half expecting him to drop a "I'm working through something", but he gave some details.

According to Coach Harbaugh, he felt something on Wednesday, and after some tests that evening, the doctors told him he needed to have the procedure. There was no doubt about getting the procedure done as Coach Harbaugh said he was not going to be stubborn as a mule. He did go by practice afterward but went home and started to get caught up on things. Apparently the players joked today that he was going to owe some fans for missing practice.

Coach Harbaugh did indicate this was not the first time this kind of issue had arisen. Back when he was quarterback with the Chargers (1999-2000), the issue came up during training camp. He had a procedure done then as well and was back after only missing one or two practices. Following Thursday's procedure, he said he was operating under no limits from a stress perspective. The doctors indicated he needed to cut back on the caffeine and work on his diet a bit. He seems like the kind of guy who plows through a case of soda every day, so this is not the most surprising thing.

At this point, it seems likely that he will be good to go to coach the team on Monday against the Bears. He has some medication to take, but as he said, stress would not appear to be an issue moving forward, at least with regards to this condition at this point. It'd be nice if he was a little less stressed out with the referees, but I suppose that's part of what drives him. You gotta take the bad with the good.