Pacemaker insertion & AV node ablation

Hello there,

Im Daryl, 38 year old chap from Brisbane Australia,

After a 15 year journey dealing with the issues related to AF, completing every conservative managment plan, taking every known anti-arrhymic medication in Australia and dealing with their associated side effects, enduring 4 PVI ablations and still reverting back in AF. I have unfortunately suffered both physically and mentally as a result.

I have been recommended by three cardiologists to have either a cox procedure or a pacemaker. The cox procedure was offered to me as a treatment option however in Australia, Ive been lead to believe it is not a common procedure to have done as a stand alone operation. So weighing up the risks v benefits I chose the pacemaker. I am booked into surgery to have a pacemaker inserted with an AV node ablation and this will be done in the next few weeks.

I will admit, even though I have been through alot with AF journey and Im at peace with my decision and looking forward to the benefits of not having to experience the symptoms of AF, Im quite worried and very anxious of the road ahead.

In theory the pacemaker will be the best permanent solution available to me. I understand the procedure very well, the theoretical timeline of surgery/recovery and I have been informed that I will feel the benefits immediately, however I have nil testimonial information available to me, that will give me the "lived experience" information I seek.

I was wondering if anybody could please give up a moment of their time to share their story, which will hopefully give me the reassurance Im after.

Some big changes ahead, most very exciting as I will be able to become active again and some changes which will be different as I muddle through this change of life.

Thank you for your time,

Regards,

Daryl



2 Comments

Av node ablation

by orangebowls - 2015-11-05 09:11:26

Hi Daryl I'm Norm 80 from Melbourne, had same problem as you meds not working for Af ,could hardly dress myself with out being exhausted could only walk a very short distance, my ef was 35 heart was not pumping good enough because of a fib , my ep decided that an av ablation would be the way to go , I had a st jude biventricular pm put in, 5 weeks later the ablation, like turning on a light switch , back playing lawn bowls again, unbelievable , I'm not gold again but so improved, its now 7 months since ablation, getting an echo done next week to see if ef has improved, overall it was a great decision for me to have it done, all the best for you, I am sure things will work out ok for you also, keep us informed on your progress

I love my pacer!

by Acubarry - 2015-11-07 05:11:01

G'Day Daryl
Sorry to hear of your troubles, you're a young bloke to be going through this stuff.
I had my pacer put in just over three years ago now at the RBWH - terrific team and really thorough. I was there for a checkup last week and all is well - in fact things appear to be getting better all the time. But it has been a bit of a journey and it did take a good 12 months to start to feel OK again after my initial heart problems, even though I was back at work after three weeks (that was a mistake). My story is here:
http://www.pacemakerclub.com/public/jpage/1/p/story/a/storypage/sid/24895/content.do
Hope that link works, if not click on my name and look under old posts. It's not the most reassuring story - there were complications - but that can happen. But overall things are great. I cycle to work across the city everyday and sort my parcels for AusPost. Life is just as it was except there's a lot less palpitations and dizzy spells now. Sure I still get the occasional palpitation, I'm not fully paced and the doctors reckon I'll need some ablation work at sometime in the future. But for now they are happy with the way things are and so am I. All the best. Barry

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