Surgery today!

Hi all,

I will be checking in at noon today, Austin, TX time, for my fifth ablation. After meeting with the EP a few days ago he knows I want him to be as aggressive as possible and that will likely lead to a pacemaker. He does not want to put it in today for some reason, he wants to wait until tomorrow. He was not too keen on the idea of a pacer and is hoping that just the ablation will help... but I think we all know the pacer is inevitable.

I have not been on here that often but am sure I will be bugging you lovely people in a few days once the pacer is put in! Thanks for all the advice!

Bryna

10 Comments

hope it goes well

by Hot Heart - 2010-06-10 02:06:11

PM's arent so bad you know! Good luck!

HH

Prayers for you

by Max4pups - 2010-06-10 09:06:00

for a smooth recovery!

Our Thoughts To You ~ ~

by Carolyn65 - 2010-06-10 11:06:05

Welcome back to your PM Club. After looking at your 'profile', it does not tell us anything about you, except you were in Japan/APO? Do you live in the Central Texas, Austin areas? I live at Bee Cave.

What a great place to have an ablation/PM (?)! I am sure everything will go ok today. Not only does Austin, Texas have the Austin Heart Hospital, but several of the hospitals in Austin have converted a major portion of their hospitals into 'heart type' hospitals. I know the St. David's Hospitals have done this.

If you would like to share, I would sure like to know your Dr/hospital. My hospital is Austin Heart Hospital and the cardio/EP is Dr. Kessler on 38th and N. Lamar. I take Warfarin, so I have my INR check at the South Austin Heart Hospital offices on Western Trails.

Our prayers, thoughts and Bear Hugs to you today. Please let us hear from you soon.

Carolyn G. in TEXAS ~ Butterflies and Song Birds ~

(clap clap clap clap) deep in the heart of Texas!

by BrynaR - 2010-06-10 12:06:56

I actually live in Misawa, Japan (my husband is a civilian contractor working on an air force base) but I am from North Carolina where my family still lives. I had heard of Dr. Natale through various articles and studies I had read online and contacted his office to see if they would take me on as a patient. So I travel to Austin for my procedures with Dr. Natale at St. Davids Hospital.

I have been thrilled with Dr. Natale and I know I am in good hands. I think he realizes that an aggressive ablation will put me in a junction rhythm and I will need a PM, he just does not like having to resort to them. I told him that I just want to feel better! And if that means a PM then so be it.

Good luck

by ShadowWeaver - 2010-06-11 06:06:10

Hope everything goes or went well. Getting a PM, even when you know it is coming can still be a shock to the old mental system. Make sure to let us know how you are doing post-op and how you are feeling about having the PM if they put one in.

update

by BrynaR - 2010-06-11 08:06:07

Dr. Natale was able to ablate in the area of my sinus node that he avoided during my last ablation without sending me into a junction rhythm. I have not spoken to him yet, but the report he gave my mother was that he was able to slow down my rate... no mention of the PM. He did, however, say that there was some narrowing of my superior vena cava and that might be contributing to the symptoms i have been feeling. He did not say anything to her about if that was something that needed to be fixed or not... or how sever it is...

so I still have a ton of questions! My resting HR has been in the 90s throughout the night... lower than usual but not low enough in my opinion...

I am being pessimistic... this was my FIFTH ablation, I am so used to them not working and I just have this gut feeling if I leave here 'as is' I will be back in the same physical condition in a few weeks.

I will let you all know what the Dr. Natale says when I see him this AM!

Hope Everything Went Well ~ ~

by Carolyn65 - 2010-06-13 06:06:15

Have you found the answers to your 'ton of questions'? Please keep us informed on how you are doing.

I have not been online very much lately, but would like to keep up with how Dr. Natale and your progress are going. Also, I would like to know the answer Dr. Natale gave you on 'sitches' comment. Keep hydrated and take care ~

God Bless,
Carolyn G. in TEXAS ~ Bear Hugs to ALL ~

?

by golden_snitch - 2010-06-13 11:06:50

I really don't understand why Dr. Natale continues with a sinus node ablation when he has already found some narrowing of the superior vena cava and when he knows that the patient already has some SVCS symptoms...

Hope you were able to talk to him about this. Would love to hear what he said.

Keeping my fingers crossed that you won't need the pacer.

Best wishes
Inga

Back in NC

by BrynaR - 2010-06-14 01:06:34

Thank you all for the comments and support!

I will start off my update by saying I walked TWO miles this morning to and from breakfast... in Texas heat! My heart rate did not go over 100 bpm the entire time.

With that said, this last ablation was a pleasant surprise to me AND Dr. Natale. I went in fully expecting to get a pacemaker. Dr. Natale was fully expecting me to NEED a pacemaker. But, like I said in a previous post, when he went near the area of my sinus node he avoided last time because it sent me into a junction rhythm... I did not go into said junction rhythm. His words to me were "This was a very pleasant surprise."

Now... my SVC... he was able to perform the ablation, the narrowing was not so severe that he felt he needed to stop. He felt that if I was having any symptoms they were not clinically significant enough to stop the ablation; being successful with the ablation was more important.

He of course wants to keep an eye on it and therefore will do an echo in a few months, once all my swelling has gone down, to assess what degree my SVC is narrowed. I do not have any symptoms leading me to think it is severe.... of course if I start having any I will cross that bridge if we get to it. It is hard to say if the symptoms I was feeling before this ablation were from the IST or from the SVC... I am leading toward IST...

I will see my regular EP in a few weeks and see if he agrees with Natale's course of action. I have to say that I trust him completely, his approach was conservative and with my best interest in mind. I feel that he weighed the clinical significance of the narrowing SVC and felt it was safe to move forward. In fact he told me he would not have continued if he felt it were too narrow.

Of course, there is the chance that the IST can come back, and he knows that... he said that if that were the case he would do an epicardial (sp?) ablation.

I hope that helps answer some of your questions! Thanks so much for all the support throughout this month.

Bryna

good news

by golden_snitch - 2010-06-14 04:06:55

Good to hear you are still in a normal sinus rhythm!

Now, for the SVCS: you can't see the SVC in an echo, you need to have a CT with contrast dye or a venography with contrast dye to be on the safe side. My EP orders a venography after six months in all patients who underwent ablation in or near the sinus node area - he does that ever since I ended up with this really severe blockage. I was his first case of SVCS after sinus node ablations. Ask your EP about it.

Best wishes
Inga

You know you're wired when...

The mortgage on your device is more than your house.

Member Quotes

My eight year old son had a pacemaker since he was 6 months old. He does very well, plays soccer, baseball, and rides his bike. I am so glad he is not ashamed of his pacemaker. He will proudly show his "battery" to anyone.