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.
Arrived at the hospital at 10:00 for prep. I opted for the French Wax instead of Bill's Brazilian, so Bill I still want to borrow your thong -g-.
The transesophageal echo was at noon. Pretty much under for that. I had to swallow this thick gel to lubricate and desensitize my esophagus. The results were negative, no clots in my heart. The ablation team ran over on their first procedure of the day, so they didn't start on me until 2:45. This was a concern for me since I didn't have catheter (my choice) and was wondering if I could last. Anyhow, what I didn't expect was two groin punctures, one of each side. I latter heard this was standard practice, If they needed the second one it would be needed right away, so they put everything in place.
The EP zapped a few spots and then I went into AFIB, so she went to the other side and zapped the offending area. The AFIB stopped immediately, continues on with her task So I guess going into AFIB on the table is a good thing.
In the recovery area about 6:30, I was pretty much out of it, cold and shivering. They gave me heated blankets. They had my legs in some sort of harness so I couldn't move them and upset the punctures. I was flat on my back and not allowed to sit up even a little bit. My back was killing me. I got up to the room a little after 8:00 pm. I had to stay in the harness flat on my back till midnight. Peeing in the urinal while flat on my back was just not working. By 10:00 pm I'm counting the minutes until I could get out of the harness and go pee (and relieve my aching back). At midnight off came the harness. I tried peeing in the urinal while sitting on the edge of the bed, that didn't work so the nurse and I tried to make it to the bathroom. I got about 5 feet before I passed out. Luckily, that 140 lb nurse was able to guide 240 lb Paul to the ground gently. Then I was able to pee while sitting on the edge of the bed AHHHH. They gave me a IV to bring my fluid up, by that point my BP was really low. Once the IV was in I felt better almost immediately.
I was able to get two 1 hour sleep session that night. I had a little pain on the left side of my heart, but that's gone now. When they took off the dressing a sizable portion of leg skin came off with the bandage. ouch!
I AM IN NSR! No driving till Friday, no gym for 10 days. They didn't give me a heart monitor that talks via the cell phone. They provided a ROZINN Event Recorder that can record up to 20 events per day, either on its own, or by me pressing a button. It has two leads. I don't know how it defines an event. I have had it for 3 hours and it has recorded 6 events. Each night I have to call in and transmit the data to the service. It uses an old style acoustic modem type transmission (ancient technology). I have to wear the event recorder for 30 days.
I feel good, I little weak, but the heart seems stable. Now for a nice massage. And I'm hungry.
The transesophageal echo was at noon. Pretty much under for that. I had to swallow this thick gel to lubricate and desensitize my esophagus. The results were negative, no clots in my heart. The ablation team ran over on their first procedure of the day, so they didn't start on me until 2:45. This was a concern for me since I didn't have catheter (my choice) and was wondering if I could last. Anyhow, what I didn't expect was two groin punctures, one of each side. I latter heard this was standard practice, If they needed the second one it would be needed right away, so they put everything in place.
The EP zapped a few spots and then I went into AFIB, so she went to the other side and zapped the offending area. The AFIB stopped immediately, continues on with her task So I guess going into AFIB on the table is a good thing.
In the recovery area about 6:30, I was pretty much out of it, cold and shivering. They gave me heated blankets. They had my legs in some sort of harness so I couldn't move them and upset the punctures. I was flat on my back and not allowed to sit up even a little bit. My back was killing me. I got up to the room a little after 8:00 pm. I had to stay in the harness flat on my back till midnight. Peeing in the urinal while flat on my back was just not working. By 10:00 pm I'm counting the minutes until I could get out of the harness and go pee (and relieve my aching back). At midnight off came the harness. I tried peeing in the urinal while sitting on the edge of the bed, that didn't work so the nurse and I tried to make it to the bathroom. I got about 5 feet before I passed out. Luckily, that 140 lb nurse was able to guide 240 lb Paul to the ground gently. Then I was able to pee while sitting on the edge of the bed AHHHH. They gave me a IV to bring my fluid up, by that point my BP was really low. Once the IV was in I felt better almost immediately.
I was able to get two 1 hour sleep session that night. I had a little pain on the left side of my heart, but that's gone now. When they took off the dressing a sizable portion of leg skin came off with the bandage. ouch!
I AM IN NSR! No driving till Friday, no gym for 10 days. They didn't give me a heart monitor that talks via the cell phone. They provided a ROZINN Event Recorder that can record up to 20 events per day, either on its own, or by me pressing a button. It has two leads. I don't know how it defines an event. I have had it for 3 hours and it has recorded 6 events. Each night I have to call in and transmit the data to the service. It uses an old style acoustic modem type transmission (ancient technology). I have to wear the event recorder for 30 days.
I feel good, I little weak, but the heart seems stable. Now for a nice massage. And I'm hungry.
It's been 2 weeks since my ablation and yesterday I met with my cardiologist and everything looks great and he does not need to see me for 6 months.
opsyn
So happy for you:) You have written wonderful reports and keeping us updated is great. You sound like you have a lot of energy and are progressing so well. I am sure it feels great:) I (fingers crosses) haven't had any more A-fib attack, but still get skipped/paused heart beats but not all day long. Who knows where I will end up with this?
We are moving to Florida on the 25th (actually I am going on the 21st) and Carl is coming on the 25th, my daughter wants me out of the stress we have with the packing, sorting, etc. I have got so much done but it has been tiring. We are having an estate sale on the 16th and 17th - it is a company specializing in this and so had to sort what stays and what goes. For the final clean up, I will be gone. Most all documents have been done online - how things have changed. We sold our house and the lady wants in here by the 25th, kind of rushed, plus we had to come down off the price. Today the inspector came, radon sensor was put in place Sat. and they picked it up today. Also, they sent a Rotor Rooter guy to check the sewer and make sure no tree roots interferring . Pray the results will be favorable, never had anything but inspector before when we sold a house. It took him 4 hours. I was a wreck and of course they can't give you the results.
Take care of yourself and hope things continue to do so well AND EVERYONE ELSE WHO HAS HAD AN ABLATION AND FOR YOGACAT TO HAVE A GREAT OUTCOME!!!
Hugs,
Christine
so glad things are going well. Keep it up! Thanks for the detailed update. YOu mentioned your chest has to heal from the electrodes. Are you referring to the circular red,, itchy spots left after they take off the electrodes? I had the same problem. The first few times in the hospital were ok, but after that, I had an allergic reaction to them. ONe thing I found helped was getting the pediatric pads when I was in the Cleveland Clinic. For some reason they are a lot more hypoallergenic. They didn't stay on as well, but I would much rather put them back on then suffer from the itchiness. Also I would ask for hypoallergenic pads. SOme people had them, some did not, but worth a try. The other thing they told me was to constantly move them around to allow the skin to recover each time. Just my two cents.
Orchard, you are going thru a lot. Good luck!
Well, its been two months since my ablation and 5 months since my stroke. I must say that I feel very good. My heart is beating very steady at around 60 BPM, and I have no AFIB. I still have several PAC runs per day, they tend to last less than 15 minutes. When they occur, I check them out on my Oximeter, and my rate is steady. I hope they eventually go away. I dont think I have any leftover effects from the stroke.
Im back in the gym 3x per week. My floor exercises are back to the level from before the stroke, and Im doing 90 minutes of cardio also as before the stroke. Im doing all my weight work all sets and reps, with about a 20% reduction in the amount of weight. No use screwing anything up. On the 4 days per week that I dont go to the gym Im walking 3 miles. Im down to 230 lbs. (at 62). Id like to lose a bit more.
On the tooth that had given me such a problem right after my heart surgery (delaying my recovery), my dentist sent me to a periodontist. The perio guy says he can fix the problem (the problem was never the tooth, it was an infected pocket next to the tooth that probably got aggravated by the sleep apnea oral appliance). He says I have a similar problem on another tooth. So on June 19, we are doing a little oral surgery to fix both. At $1100.00 per tooth (no dental insurance), I feel its a bargain. An extraction and bridge would have been a lot more grief and money. I need to get my Coumadin level down to the low end of the therapeutic range for this procedure.
I saw my EP on May 6. She says Im doing great. Ive moved my medication management from my cardiologist to my PCP. The plan is to consider reducing my Lipitor down from the current 40 mg and moving from Coumadin to Eliquis when I see him in October for my Welcome to Medicare visit (yes I got my new Medicare card last week guess Im getting older). Given my history, Im in the anticoagulant for life category.
I dont want to change my anticoagulant until we get back from our trip to Venice in September. I guess this trip will be our honeymoon g-.
Oh yes, and the cat had his knee surgery, and is doing well, only a little limp, and no jumping.
Seems so many of us have had ablations in the last few months, with a few more coming up. Hope we all continue to do well and remain in NSR!