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.

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lchandless 11/12/2012

Hello to all my support group friends...Chris's ablation on Friday went very well. The anticipation leading up to the procedure by far was the worst part. Oh, and having to watch my husband lay still for 8 hours post procedure. His EP said all looked great, he had a lot of electrical activity around his pulmonary veins that was ablated. He had a bit of chest discomfort, but that was minimal. He has been in NSR since the procedure and feels really good. He had a bit of a heart racing episode the first night home which woke him up panicked, but all was fine. No AFIB) I think the stress of the past few months may have caught up with him and finally exposed itself. We are keeping our fingers crossed that this is a 1 time deal, but are realistic that he may need to go back within the first 6 months for "touch up". Our EP has been very honest about the percentiles that end up for more work. Luckily the EP and practice we went with has done over 2000 ablations and over 10 per week are performed at the hospital that we went to. Keeping our fingers crossed. I'll keep everyone posted as to how Chris is doing. Hope all are doing well, and thanks for being here! Lisa

deleted_user 11/12/2012

I'm so happy to hear this! I have been praying like crazy for you guys! When you get a chance I would love to hear as detailed an account as you could give us. I'm in afib right now and am still waiting for a date. (sighhhhh) I hope is is one of the lucky ones that only needs one procedure!

Talk to you soon!!!!

Kelly

sautee 11/12/2012

So glad everything went well. I know the dreading of a procedure is mostly always worse than the procedure itself! NSR for all - forever!

bergeram 11/12/2012

Glad to hear everything went well and your safe and sound at home.
I agree. The anticipation is the worse. What hospital and who was the EP that performed the procedure. My guess would be Stanford ?
Thanks for posting.
Take care,
Annette

lchandless 11/12/2012

I hope you get a date soon too! Thank you for all the prayers. Thst'd the one thing that has helped us through this week. The anticipation before the surgery was the worst part by far. The nurses as well as doctor were most reassuring. At the hospital here the protocal was to keep patients for a night after surgery, more for the concern of developing a clot in the leg where they entered. We were told to expect some arrythmia/afib for up to 3 months. Hopes are though that it happens not at all or in the 1st month while the heart is healing then goes away completely. Chris has a heart monitor that looks like an ipod. He has to get 2-3 random readings a day or when he feels anything abnormal and it gets sent to the cardiologist daily for review. He will do this for 1 month. He also is on his BP diltiazem, prevacid for a month (due to the surgery protocal) and xarelto for 3 months. The EP really wants him off all meds in 3 months if possible. The Dilt keeps his HR in the 50's during day and 40's at night. Chris will go back to wk tomorrow and has to take it easy for only a week. Mainly no hard workouts or lifting anything over 5 lbs. The surgery wasn't as daunting as it seems. Now the worry to replace presurgery jitters is Did it work? Time will tell. You have nothing to worry about Kelly! I hope you go into NSR soon. I'm praying for you. Lisa

lchandless 11/12/2012

Thanks Sautee! I really appreciate the wishes. Lisa

Hi Annette, Chris had surgery at the Sequoia Hospital and Dr. Roger Winkle is his EP. He is wonderful. He works at Silicon Valley Cardiology. Yes, the anticipation definately was the worst part. I highly recommend Dr. Winkle should you ever need an EP. (hopefully not) Thanks for the positive thoughts! Lisa

PennyLane3389 11/12/2012

Thank God I am so glad it went well and that you took the time to let us all know how it went! I know everyone on this site was pulling for you and counting the days since we heard from you! Much Success!

DeeMR11 11/12/2012

Glad to hear that your husband is doing well. Thinking about the ablation was much worse than the actual procedure for me, too.
D.

deleted_user 11/12/2012

Yay, great news. So glad everything went well. Wishing your husband a speedy recovery and NSR for always. Heide