Atrial Fibrillation (AFib) Support Group
Atrial fibrillation (AF or afib) is an abnormal heart rhythm (cardiac arrhythmia) which involves the two small, upper heart chambers (the atria). Heart beats in a normal heart begin after electricity generated in the atria by the sinoatrial node spread through the heart and cause contraction of the heart muscle and pumping of blood.
I get so angry when the media portrays complex medical procedures as a piece of cake.
There is a TV Show on ABC Family aimed at teens called "Make It or Break It." It's a fictional show about a group of female gymnasts who are training for the Olympics.
One of the young women, "Lauren".. has been passing out. It turns out she has an arrhthymia. In last night's episode, she has what seems to be an ablation. The doctor tells her she can leave the hospital that day, and that all his patients "return to normal" in three days.
Of course, since she's a professional athlete, he doesn't recommend resuming training "right away," but she talks him into it as long as she wears a heart monitor and someone is watching the monitor as she trains.
From what I've read from people who have had ablations on this forum, they would be in NO SHAPE to do much of anything for a number of weeks.
Here's the episode.. it's kind of cheesy, but anyway.. for those who can get through it (or fast foward through it) I'd be interested in your thoughts.
http://abcfamily.go.com/watch/make-it-break-it/SH5547473/VD55198948/truth-be-told
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There is a TV Show on ABC Family aimed at teens called "Make It or Break It." It's a fictional show about a group of female gymnasts who are training for the Olympics.
One of the young women, "Lauren".. has been passing out. It turns out she has an arrhthymia. In last night's episode, she has what seems to be an ablation. The doctor tells her she can leave the hospital that day, and that all his patients "return to normal" in three days.
Of course, since she's a professional athlete, he doesn't recommend resuming training "right away," but she talks him into it as long as she wears a heart monitor and someone is watching the monitor as she trains.
From what I've read from people who have had ablations on this forum, they would be in NO SHAPE to do much of anything for a number of weeks.
Here's the episode.. it's kind of cheesy, but anyway.. for those who can get through it (or fast foward through it) I'd be interested in your thoughts.
http://abcfamily.go.com/watch/make-it-break-it/SH5547473/VD55198948/truth-be-told
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Of course this is a bright and sunny teen show. It would be too much of a downer if the character had to take valuable time to actually recover like the rest of us.
When I saw the cardiologist for afib, he handed me a pamphlet that was quite insulting, I thought. It was like a comic book on afib. It made it sound like it would cure the problem, and that it was as simple as having a tooth pulled.
Shows like "Make it or Break it" perpetuate the myth. I wonder if everyone who has gone in for ablation didn't realize that it's not a walk in the park until the procedure was over.
While confident, he in no way sugar-coated the information. This really helped me make an informed decision. I think I had a pretty good idea going in what to expect.