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 did it! My catheter radiofrequency ablation was performed by an outstanding team of health care professionals on July 14th at OSU's Ross Heart Hospital. Procedure time was well under 4 hours, and ablation was largely limited to the traditional circumferential PV lesion set. My left sided inferior vena cava posed little problem for right atrial access and transseptal puncture to the left atrium.
About 7 hours after the procedure, I had about 30 seconds of flutter, and a nice little panic attack, but otherwise, it's been all normal sinus rhythm the past 2 1/2 days.
The most painful part of the whole procedure day for me was actually the morphine injection just before removal of the femoral sheaths. The morphine was pushed in much too fast and it really rattled my body. Needless to say, I didn't feel a thing when the sheaths were removed. At this particular center, protamine is not often used, in which case the femoral sheaths can be removed when the patient is still under general anesthesia on the cath lab table. In my case, heparin was allowed to clear naturally until ACT dropped below 200, which took about two hours, and then the sheaths were removed.
I also had some chest pain, mix of burning and pressure, perhaps more than most, but this was easily treated with IV toradol and then high dose ibuprofen upon discharge.
I'll be on warfarin for at least the next 3 months, but I get to bridge from sotalol to metoprolol in 30 days. Post ablation care also includes daily protonix for a month to keep the esophagus clear of reflux. Interestingly, my ejection fraction was just 40% following the procedure, so I am also on low dose lisinopril to help allow the ejection fraction to recover. It is unclear to me whether the low EF is from chronic paroxysmal a-fib or from acute effects of the ablation. If the former, it is a good thing I got this ablation done early in life. Either way, hopefully I'm back up to 60-65% ejection fraction in 3 months. Thoughts?
One final comment: my gut must not tolerate general anesthesia well. Bloating, dystension, belching. Gut motility is just barely starting again.
In sum, despite some of the details above, I'm pretty excited about today and looking forward to a clean bill of health in 3 months. Fingers crossed!! Modern medicine and its practitioners are pretty spectacular.
Sean
About 7 hours after the procedure, I had about 30 seconds of flutter, and a nice little panic attack, but otherwise, it's been all normal sinus rhythm the past 2 1/2 days.
The most painful part of the whole procedure day for me was actually the morphine injection just before removal of the femoral sheaths. The morphine was pushed in much too fast and it really rattled my body. Needless to say, I didn't feel a thing when the sheaths were removed. At this particular center, protamine is not often used, in which case the femoral sheaths can be removed when the patient is still under general anesthesia on the cath lab table. In my case, heparin was allowed to clear naturally until ACT dropped below 200, which took about two hours, and then the sheaths were removed.
I also had some chest pain, mix of burning and pressure, perhaps more than most, but this was easily treated with IV toradol and then high dose ibuprofen upon discharge.
I'll be on warfarin for at least the next 3 months, but I get to bridge from sotalol to metoprolol in 30 days. Post ablation care also includes daily protonix for a month to keep the esophagus clear of reflux. Interestingly, my ejection fraction was just 40% following the procedure, so I am also on low dose lisinopril to help allow the ejection fraction to recover. It is unclear to me whether the low EF is from chronic paroxysmal a-fib or from acute effects of the ablation. If the former, it is a good thing I got this ablation done early in life. Either way, hopefully I'm back up to 60-65% ejection fraction in 3 months. Thoughts?
One final comment: my gut must not tolerate general anesthesia well. Bloating, dystension, belching. Gut motility is just barely starting again.
In sum, despite some of the details above, I'm pretty excited about today and looking forward to a clean bill of health in 3 months. Fingers crossed!! Modern medicine and its practitioners are pretty spectacular.
Sean
Got my fingers crossed for you!
Take care and enjoy your NSR!
atp
Wishing you continued NSR. You might want to get rid of the coffee, at least during the blanking period. A month after my first ablation, I started drinking alcohol again, a decision I later regretted when my afib came back.
Please keep us updated on how you're doing.
Try White Tea (Green tea might have a lot of caffeine). White eta are very low in caffeine.
You were very brave with your decision to take this route...and I am proud to know that you persisted. No more 2nd guessing!!
I am sure your results will give you the Good life!!
One day at a time....and keep us posted please.
petey
some people are riding their bikes a week after an ablation; I guess everyone has to find their own recovery pace. I'm definitely with the go slow group...and I went into this as an exercise junky.
Like everyone here, I'm wishing you the best of luck; the odds are in your favor...hey, that's a lyric in Cripple Creek by the Band, a good luck song if there ever was one!