Ablation accomplished

Well, I'm not going to say that was fun! But I am home, unfortunately in and out of afib. I guess that is to be expected a while at least that's what they are telling me. I hope because of the irritation and all the activity now that is a sign he was in the right area??
I'm very similar to smackman according to Shannon's report of him. Four veins ablated terminating afib but had some left over blimps going on which I was told just could be from procedure irritation I was given a 15percent chance they might cause future prob. I think that is good?? With my age and challenge of finding he decided not to attempt.
In my right atrium he could trigger nothing! My past flutter, tachy not there. (I did have three right ablations for that stuff, so assume they finally terminated)

Ok last week I reported no flec, doing low sod v8 ,lots of water and I couldn't trigger afib doing lots of chores. He said he like to never trigger during procedure?? Had to get me to 190 to trigger. Weird...... You don't think flec has a role in triggering my afib??
I know on flec I get lbbb at 120. It moves up to 180 in procedure while off flec so I do get that side effect on the drug.

This afib in and out for hours is scary to me as I am very sensitive to it but I guess I have no choice but to ride it out. Wishing the very best for all of you.

Is this ok for my post ablation treatment: 1/4 teaspoon Celtic sea salt, 2 - 8 oz low sod v8, 64 oz water, dermal mag, 500 mg tAurine, 50mg b6. Any help on this is appreciated and comments. Just having you folks is a great relief and I hope also that I can help others

I knew you were going in for an ablation, glad you're on the other end. Welcome back. So, 85% chance the leftover blimps won't cause future problems. Not bad odds. Hope your afib calms soon. As you know, having it now doesn't affect predictions for long-term success. - Randy

Hi tsco Fwiw I had a rough first month post ablation too. Pericarditis, some Af, lots of flutter and two cardioversions. I was quite discouraged. Shannon's explanation of what was going on inside my heart really helped. Due to inflammation and an uneven healing process because The heart is thicker is some places than others it is not uncommon to have some electrical leakage from the areas taking longer to heal. This leakage can cause post procedure Af/flutter. After my last cardioversion things settled down and I was had steady nsr. Somewhere in the resources section is Hans antiinflammatory recommendation. Now is the time for you to address inflammation. Hang in there it will get better. Dennis

Hi Tsco,

As someone who hopes to have an ablation before the end of the year (hopefully in the summer or fall), I've been reading everyone's stories with great interest, as well as anxiety of my own. Thanks for your detailed account, and I hope your recovery goes well. (I wish I could join in giving you advice, but, at this point, I can't. Only good wishes.)


Phil

Tsco,

Sorry to hear that you are suffering from afib. Will continue to pray for a complete healing and NSR to return.

I got home yesterday after my ablation with Dr. Hongo. All went well. Will post soon.

Many blessings to you,
Nancy M

Dear Tsco,

Glad to hear that you are on the other side of the procedure. It is unnerving to have any kind of rhythm disturbance after an ablation, but it is very much a part of the aftermath, especially if you have and an extensive ablation. I do think your attitude of acceptance and also remembering that this is part of the healing process is the best way to go. It will get better and it is likely to get better pretty quickly, but don't worry about it, especially in the first six weeks when things are so inflamed.

With best wishes,

Rob

Thanks everyone, you help my mind! I'm just staying constant pac's and afib but I'm keeping the belief that this is an indication the correct area was irritated and in time will heal and scar and stop!! As always it's a total mind game but I guess we have to do it. Thanks so much

Hi Tsco,

I thought I had replied earlier but I just may have typed it on my iPhone in Austin and accidentally deleted the reply before posting it. Anyway, Im glad your procedure is over and you can let things heal up.

I did meet Gery Tomassoni who is your EP and had lunch with he and David Burkhardt, Natale, Salwa and Luigi Di Biase at the same table on Thursday. Dr Tomassoni is a very nice guy with a good sense of humor, as you are well aware I'm sure. He and Natale were laughing up a storm over some old stories they were reminiscing about when they were at Duke together and Tomassoni had just arrived there to work in Natale's lab at Duke at the time.

In any event, he obviously knows you well from all the time he has spent with you and is wishing you all the best with this latest ablation. He did not use your case though as the recorded example of FIRM that he presented to us at the conference, but rather he showed a recording of using FIRM to locate two rotors in a 71 year old women as part of a persistent AFIB ablation. That also was a brand new ablation on this women, so the long term results remain to be seen from that case.

In any event, he seems like a bright doc and very personable and one that would be comfortable to work with as your EP.

If you are still having constant AFIB do call him tomorrow and let him know. It may be that if it goes on a little longer he will want to do an ECV cardio-version to reset things a bit and see if that doesn't quiet things down while you are in this inflammation phase.

Of interest to your case too, its that Natale noted to the group at the conference that their research that is confirmed by Univ of Penn research as well, is that when ever anyone has a CTI flutter/SVT. It almost always eventually evolves into AFIB in spite of the CTI flutter/SVT ablation is done much earlier. Those right sided atrial tachycardias seem to be precursor signals of pending AFIB, even if the ablation might postpone AFIB's appearance for some period of years.

From that research, they are looking at recommending for people who present with CTI flutter to go ahead with a full PVAI as well at the same time as the CTI ablation to try to nip the whole process in the bud early and thus prevent all the gradual remodeling going on in the first place that leads to the onset of AFIB almost without fail without an early intervention in the left atrium as well.

Best wishes and hand in there Tsco,

Shannon



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/02/2014 04:51PM by Shannon.

Thanks Shannon, he is a really good guy. He told me to just ignore the afib it is to be expected for now! Hard for me to ignore tho. I think if I was car diverted it would just return right now. He prob knows that. Just don't want to stroke out!
It is odd you mention that study because I remember years ago he made a comment to the effect of my afib back when I never had afib showing. I always remembered that. He said back then they believed something on the left was triggering the svt and flutter.
He did tell me to pop a 25 metoprolol but I've tried and it does nothing so I'm not going to OD on those.
I guess the result of nothing triggering in the right atrium after the left PVA
may also support that the pulm vein ablation was successful??