I am back - need cardiac ablation

Ablation

by Lady blue - 2017-02-08 23:47:56

Hello cajin girl,, I'm new to the club, seen your post and wanted to tell you that my husband had the ablation about 4 years ago,due to a-fib! He had a 4way bypass,,he had the widow maker! They go in and burn little holes causing scar tissue to seal the holes! They told him,it's like sealing little volcano's,these holes cause irregular rhythm! He said it really helped him and the recovery was mainly rest, he never tells me about his pain, so there I can't comment!         Nice to meet you!

Ablation

by Hamsquatch - 2017-02-09 03:21:37

I had an ablation 9/15/2016 for HCM, my surgery was highly successful according to my EP. Recovery was pretty rough for me,

Great when it works !

by IAN MC - 2017-02-09 06:49:35

For me having an ablation was like winning the lottery .  The feeling of having  normal rhythm restored was fantastic !

My recovery was immediate and I had no problems whatsoever. I came off blood thinners which was like winning the lottery twice !

A successful ablation can CURE an irregular heart rate permanently. Mine which I had 6 years ago seems to have done just that.

But success rates vary according to the complexity of the  irregularity and , very importantly, vary according to the skill of the EP

Has your EP told you what success rates he gets for conditions like yours ?

Best of luck

Ian

Specialty

by Cajun Girl - 2017-02-09 07:34:58

He said that was his specialty.  He know where the problem is.  To quote him (I know the zip code, just need to get to the exact street address.

Why were you on blood thinners?! Did you have A-fib?

Ham squash - why

by Cajun Girl - 2017-02-09 07:37:29

why did you have a rough recovery?

Did your heart do better after recovery?

Cajun Girl

by IAN MC - 2017-02-09 09:35:28

I was diagnosed with "atrial flutter" which responds very well to ablation. My EP claimed cure-rates of over 95 per cent.  My decision to have an ablation was one of the best decisions I haver ever made.

Hope it works for you too

Ian

P.S.

by IAN MC - 2017-02-09 09:49:55

I was on warfarin because atrial flutter,like all arrhythmias, carries an increased risk of stroke,

As I was recovering from the anaesthetic I was told " You can come off the warfarin now " .    It was music to my ears !

Ian

Prior Post Regarding My Ablation

by Artist - 2017-02-09 10:15:10

I had an ablation on May 27th, 2016. The procedure usually involves running several instruments through catheters up to your heart via the femoral artery in your groin.  One of the instruments is for detecting and mapping the location of the areas in your heart that are sending the errant signals causing arrythmias.  After the mapping is complete, depending on the procedure your doctor uses, they will either carefully make small burns or freeze the many different areas in an attempt to create scar tissue that will block the faulty signals.  The length of time for the ablation varies depending on the actual location of the tissues that need treatment.  In my case the signals were mostly located around the entry of the veins in my left atrium.  They performed what is called a pulmonary vein isolation.  My procedure took 4.5 hours.  Time is needed to carefully insert the instruments, map, ablate and then carefully withdraw the instruments.  They did not ablate my AV node and I am not sure how they have concluded that you need an AV node ablation without actually going through the procedure they use to first map the heart. AV node ablation is the quickest procedure since the AV node is easier to reach.  For my PVI they had to puncture the septal wall of my heart so they could access the left atrium from the entry point in the right atrium.  At no point was I afraid.  The surgical suite was filled with wall to wall monitor screens, technicians and doctors.  They had to give me a general anesthetic and that later on, that caused a slight sore throat.  Also because of the blood thinners administered they couldn't remove the catheters in my groin until frequent blood samples showed a healthy blood clotting factor. That did hurt.  At no time did I feel any discomfort in my heart.  My procedure was done at the U of Alabama Hospital in Birmingham, AL and the entire staff gave superior care, especially the post op nursing. I was released around noon the next day.  I elected to have the ablation because the medications to control my arrythmias were not that effective and the side effects made me have periods of weakness etc.  The ablation seems to have lessened my arrythmias and I am still waiting for the follow up appointment with my EP to see if my medications can be adjusted. There are a lot of videos on line showing ablations. I don't know how to reassure you.  Most ablations are trouble free but the degree of success varies.  Some people need more than one procedure.  I am comfortable with my decision to have an ablation.  In the case of  AV node ablation, I was told that other areas of the heart back up the AV node and can take over that function.  PMS are very reliable, so try not to worry.

Update as of Feb. 2017  

I still have some afib, but not nearly as frequent or long in duration.  I wanted to have the ablation partially in hopes that I could stop taking medications.  For now that is not an option.  My EP even refused to consider changing my medications and trying something different than Sotalol.  So I am glad that I had the ablation and feel very fortunate to have the quality of life that I do have.  This club helps to ground me and keep a positive attitude, especially after reading the messages posted by other members describing the health challenges they face and their determination to live their lives in the fullest possible way for them.  

Recovery

by Hamsquatch - 2017-02-10 01:05:22

Hi again, so I was under a general anesthetic for around 3-4 hours, when I came to in the recovery bed I was told (prior to surgery as well) to remain completely still for 4 hours. My mouth and throat were so dry I started coughing which caused me to start bleeding (gushing!) from my femoral artery and the nurses had to apply pressure for what seemed like 45 mins, I'm not sure if I was drifting in and out of consciousness but it hurt like hell. When I got home I didn't do much for about 3 days and eased back into walking so things didn't tighten up too much, my groin and upper leg were majorly bruised for at least a month. 

To this day I still get a sporadic pain (doesn't last long) at the catheter site but had a follow up back in December and the EP said it looks good. I can't say I feel any better as I'm still on my arrhythmia medications but if all goes well I will be taken off of them in late 2017. I haven't had any arrhythmias detected by my pacemaker/ICD since and had one instance where my heart rate felt pretty high but didn't reach 150bpm which is the magic number for me.