Hey everyone. Travis here from my hospital room at St. Davids in Austin, TX. My ablation was completed around 10:40 a.m. this morning. My family just left for the night so I thought I would post an update.

The fact that I'm sitting here providing an update should give you an indication of how things went...they went very very well! I don't have any details on the ablation itself other than I had a "standard PVAI ablation." I don't believe there was anything extra done as I was a pretty straight forward case. I overheard the nurse tell my wife that Dr. Natale was ablating for almost a full hour so "there was a lot of work he had to do." I have no idea what that means but at the end of the day I was only in the EP lab for 2 hours total.

As I lie here typing just 11 hours after leaving the EP lab, I haven't experienced ANY pain and I haven't had a single heart palpitation either. I'm almost worried Dr. Natale didn't do anything...lol. The only thing I've felt so far is slight tightness in my chest and an annoying dry, scratchy throat from the oxygen tube they put down your throat during the procedure. Other than that it's been great so far (knock on wood)!

Some interesting tid bits...

The EP lab was the most interesting experience. I was imagining this large room with tons of staff and all kinds of computer screens and the like. When I was rolled into the room there was just one giant monitor and I only saw a couple people. It was very understated compared to what my mind had imagined. What was the most interesting was how fast they put you out! Within 5 minutes of being in the lab they put an oxygen mask on me. Then a few minutes after that they said they were going to be putting me to sleep. The next thing I knew I was waking up in the recovery room! To say they were efficient is an understatement!

When I woke up in the recovery room I felt totally fine other than being tired, obviously. After I woke up in the recovery room they wheeled me to my room where I had to be on bed rest for 6 hours. I have to be honest, I was freaking out about this prior to my ablation. It sounded awful. It turns out that I was worrying about nothing. The only restriction I had was that I couldn't move my legs. I could still sit up, move my arms, etc. In fact, the bed rest was rather enjoyable because I was so tired. Even if I could have moved or walked around I wouldn't have wanted to. I could have lied there all day long (which I basically did other than getting up to walk around a couple times). The 6 hours flew by.

The other thing I was really freaking out about was the urinary catheter. I was more worried about that than the ablation itself...lol. Shannon had to talk me off the ledge over that concern during one of our phone calls. He said it was no big deal and there probably wouldn't be ANY pain whatsoever. That calmed my fears so I went in totally ready for it. Well for whatever reason, Dr. Natale decided not to use a catheter! When I was wheeled into my room one of the first things I did was feel around for a tube coming from my private parts (sorry ladies) and there was nothing there. I asked the nurse where was my catheter? She laughed and said Dr. Natale didn't think it was necessary. That made my entire day as stupid as that sounds.

Other than that I have spent the whole day just watching TV and dosing in and out of sleep. The staff here is nothing short of amazing!! I don't have a single complaint for anyone or anything. The food is even fantastic here. The staff and facilities are top notch all around. All hospitals and clinics (and businesses for that matter) should be run like this place. It's a well-oiled machine where customer service is their #1 priority. I wish this hospital was in my backyard!

And of course my update wouldn't be complete without talking about Dr. Natale. If angels exist, he's certainly one of them! I was able to spend some time with him yesterday when I came in for all my pre-op lab work. He was the nicest guy and made me feel very good about the ablation. Then when he came in to check on me this afternoon he was so gracious, nice and geniunely concerned about how I was doing. He told me that while there are no guarantees, he felt confident that I will not need a second procedure. To be honest, I'm not even worried about it. If I do need a touch up, I'll be back here to see Dr. Natale in a New York minute but it was so awesome to hear him say I may be a "one and done" candidate!

I have so much more to say but I'll leave all my "deep thoughts" for my blog as I'll be posting all kinds of information and photos about this experience. Sufficed to say, in hindsight I wish I would have done this earlier. If I had to do it all over again I would have pulled the trigger on this 5+ years ago - only with Dr. Natale of course I can't believe I waited almost 9 years to get this done. Oh well, better late than never as they say

Travis

P.S. I also want to thank Shannon and everyone else here for sharing their experiences with Dr. Natale! Had it not been for your openess and enthusiasm for Dr. Natale I probably would have held out even longer and I certainly would have "settled" for some local EP to do my ablation. You guys practically saved my life!! Thanks!

P.S.S. If you are reading this and you're on the fence about having an ablation, go for it! It's not a big deal. And of course if it's possible, go to St. Davids and have Dr. Natale do the procedure!! You won't regret it.

P.S.S.S. My apologies for any spelling or grammar errors. It's been a long day and I'm a little tired.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/06/2015 04:04AM by tvanslooten.

Travis,

Excellent news! Great report.

Continued NSR to you!!!!

George

Travis,
I am so thrilled to hear you describe your experience. CONGRATULATIONS

This community of folks is such a great support system. I am proud to be part of it.

JohnB

Hi Travis - so pleased to read your very positive experience and that your procedure was short and uncomplicated.
I totally agree with you about the Natale/St. David's experience.

Now, just be kind to your heart during the recovery period.

Best to you,
Jackie

Great report Travis!

You get an A plus for in-depth coverage while in the middle of the fray ... sound a lot like me during my adventures :-) ... welcome to the party! Now take it easy as you well know and enjoy the fresh outdoors a bit today when you are sprung from St Davids,

Isn't that a great hospital, crew and Doc?! And the food is right at gourmet restaurant grade for sure the best by far of any hospital experience I have had.

Cheers!
Shannon

Congrats, Travis.

I'm glad it went well for you. Sounds like you got the same Natale/St. David's treatment I did---superb!

Take it easy for the next few days before escaping from Austin.....no hurry to do anything.

Glad you have NSR......keep it going!

Ken

Ken & Travis,

My buddy, Wayne, was #2 on the block yesterday. He texted me last night, "Wow that's amazing. This whole crew is absolutely amazing." Also, "No pain or side effects of any sort."

His report is consistent with those of yours!

George



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/06/2015 07:39PM by GeorgeN.

Congratulations Travis! I was there last summer and had the same kind of experience - they are all wonderful. I will be seeing Dr. Natale tomorrow (Sat) at an EP conference, and will let him know how great you thought it all went (if that's OK with you).

Off to bed...up early for the conference....

Happy NSR - welcome to the club ~ Barb

Thanks everyone!

Barb - it's probably too late now for you to get this but by all means let Dr. Natale know what a wonderful experience I had!

I hope that the people at St. David's are aware of all the positive things we all have to say about them. It would be a shame if they aren't aware of how we think of them. I tried to tell every nurse I came into contact with how grateful I was and that they were doing a superb job.

I want everyone to know over there from their administrators to their everyday nurses that they have something special going on over there and they need to keep it up!

Travis

P.S. I'm two days post my ablation and things are going really well. I had a rough patch the night after my ablation (lots of chest discomfort and fluid build up) but after loading up on Motrin and taking Lasix, I'm feeling 100 times better. I'm spending the day today just chilling out in our rented town home but will start exploring the city of Austin with my family tomorrow. I'll keep you all posted.

Hey Travis,
Glad you're on the other side, now all that worrying for nothing.
We were with Dr Natale today or was it yesterday now at the conference, what an amazing doctor to give us his undivided attention.
He spent about 10-15 minutes talking with us, Barb and Dennis and myself.

Simply the Best,

McHale

I was on that table a few hours after you on Thursday. Things did go a bit quickly once in the EP lab! They wheeled me in probably around 2:30 or so. The first person I saw was Dr. Natale and he gave me a smile and a wave. I met Tammy and she and Shannon (a different Shannon than the one from this site) got to work sticking stuff on my back (like big stickers). I don't remember the order from there but some things I remember: they laid me back, stuck some more big stickers on my front, put my arms in some foam cushions for support, pushed something into my IV and ... I woke up in the recovery room. I don't exactly recall the time but I think I finally got to my room around 18:30.

No urinary catheter for me either (phew!). Bed rest was tolerable but I was quite happy when it was over and could walk around. I luckily never had issues with fluid retention. I initially did have tightness in the chest and could not take a deep breath. That was much better by late in the day Friday and no problem at all now. My throat was a bit sore from the breathing tube but that subsided quickly and there is no lingering problems with that either.

The only real visual evidence that something happened are are some circles on the left side of my torso ... I think adhesive from some of those "stickers" just irritated my skin. Oddly the ones on the back didn't irritate my skin at all.

The other visual evidence is the Reveal Linq monitor implant site -- it is pretty clearly visible with a bit of bruising and tenderness still but it really isn't bad at all.

Dr. Natale did work on both the left Atrium for A-Fib and also on the right for flutter/SVT. I was actually glad to hear that he was able to map/ablate on the right side as well as I think many of my more problematic episodes were SVT/Flutter with a very high HR. In my mind the fact that he did work on both sides increases the odds of "one-and-done" for me.

I was checked out by 10:30 Friday morning.

Everyone was absolutely terrific at St. Davids!

For what it was, it was a great experience but one I hope I never have to do again.

Grady



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/09/2015 08:16PM by ghbyram.

Good news Grady,

You were the clean up batter on 'Afibbers Thursday' last week at St David's and Dr Natale was still pitching strikes :-) All that you report is general textbook stuff including the temporary tightness and discomfort at the bottom of a depth breath.. It kind of reminds me of someone pressing into my chest right in the center with the end of a hard eraser on a #2 pencil. For some reason that analogy springs to mind for the catch you feel for the first day or so once the effects of the anesthesia have worn off but it's not really any big deal. Maybe if it's a persons first time at the medical rodeo it might be something, but for those who have had real surgery, its considered quite mild to moderate and generally tolerable and temporary,

That pain is just a bit of pericardial inflammation pain from the catheter lesions going transmural through from the inner endothelial tissue of the left/right atrium walls to the outer edge of the atria walls such that a little of the inflammation spreads into the pericardial space and fluid there between the outside of the heart and the pericardial sack itself. That inflammation tends to subside pretty quickly and some solid doses of Motrin ( 400-600mg per dose two to three times a day) helps a lot in those first few days if one can tolerate ibuprofen.

Hopefully, as you noted, you wont have to put that into practice again, but even if a touch up is required, take great heart in knowing that with this EP it will certainly only be a true touch up and that you have now already taken care of the VAST majority of all that will be required to put your AFIB genie back in the bottle for the long haul! And you may well be one and done as you say.

Cheers!
Shannon