Home After Ablation with Dr. Hongo

Hi Everyone,

Thanks so much for your good wishes and prayers for my ablation surgery with Dr. Hongo on Thursday. All went fairly well and my husband and I were able to drive the 270 miles home yesterday, stopping every 1 1/2 hrs. to get out and walk. I have a sore throat from the tube down my throat, some congestion, and a bit of chest pain, though not much, so I'm taking 200mg of Ibuprofen every 4-6 hours for inflammation. I had a weird sensation as I was recovering in the hospital after surgery--it seemed like the entire bed was vibrating. Then I realized it was me that was shaking, not the bed. This went on for about 12 hours. And now my teeth are extremely sensitive and actually hurt when I brush them--very strange!! I also had a terrible time lying on my back for six hours while my groin wounds were sealing. I can't sleep on my back, and my shoulder blades and buttocks were in agony! Then the hospital monitor kept beeping every 15 minutes and the blood pressure machine activated, so there was no way to sleep. I was never so glad to get out of the hospital and be on my way home!! I think I may be getting some episodes of arrhythmia, but I'm not sure as it is much milder than in the past.

I have Dr. Hongo's report. He said the surgery was a success. It took 5 hours. He was able to eliminate the afib completely. He isolated the PVs and the SVC. In addition, "Recurrent APCs from the Mid CS were mapped. Ablation within the mid-CS resulted in supression of atrial ectopy from this site. The CS was not isolated." But, he was not able to completely eliminate the tachycardia. He said , "The APC is occuring from the vicinity of the high CT. The phrenic nerve, however, courses directly over this region and ablation was not performed." He told us that the phrenic nerve could cause some breathing issues over the next year if he tried to ablate that area, so he left that alone. I don't know if this means that I will continue to have tachycardia or not--something I need to ask at the followup appointment. He put me back on Metoprolol and I will continue Xarelto as well for several months while things heal.

My main concern right now is water retention. My instructions said to phone his office if I gain 5 or more pounds of water. I weighed 102.2 lbs when I checked in, was 105.5 when I left the hospital, and now weight 110 on my home scale. We are heading over to CVS Pharmacy to pick up a prescription and will weigh myself there as well. If I weigh 110 there too, I guess I should phone the office to see if I need more Lasix. Is this uncommon?

Shannon, I did ask Dr. Hongo for hydrocortisone during surgery and he agreed, but I don't see it on my list of meds he used during surgery. Maybe it has another name. Could it be called Adenocard (Adenosine)? The other meds were heparin, isupel, protamine sulfate, and lasix. He said I don't need a PPI, so I am grateful for that.

Nancy M

Hi Nancy, glad to hear Dr Hongo said it went well. Don't be concerned with any flippies that can occur right now while your heart is still inflammed like it had a branding iron all over the inside of the LA .. Cause it did! Its likely that what felt like AFIB but much lighter could well be runs of PACs ... Or what he called APCs (Atrial Premature contractions) in his ablation report.

The CT area he did not yet ablate to address a tachycardia in that region is the Crista Terminalis in the upper right atrium. Above the CS tract.

Anyway, just take it easy and don't worry and each day should get a bit better!

Cheers
Shannon



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/02/2014 03:46PM by Shannon.

Dear Nancy,

We all put on a few pounds after an ablation related to the water cooled catheter used in the procedure. I had at least 4-5 pounds extra for a couple of days. With Lasix your weight will probably return to close to normal soon -- at least this was my experience. As Shannon wrote, everything is inflamed right now and as disconcerting as the irregular rhythms are right after an ablation, again, this will settle down, and it is not predictive of the success of your ablation.

Take good care of yourself, especially for the next few weeks.

With best wishes,

Rob

Dear Nancy,

I'm so glad your ablation is over and you're in the recovering stage now. As I've said before on this site, I can't offer any advice because I haven't as yet had mine, but am sending you my best wishes anyway for a complete and great (and permanent) recovery!


Phil

Nancy, That was a huge step towards better quality of life for you and I am so happy for you seeing how you first appeared here super stressed about mixed (AF and VT) diagnosis. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Congratulations too, Nancy, glad the procedure is over for you!

Congratulations, Nancy. Good healing to you!

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Lone paroxysmal vagal atrial fibrillation. Age 62, female, no risk factors. Autonomic instability since severe Paxil withdrawal in 2004, including extreme sensitivity to neuro-active drugs, supplements, foods. Monthly tachycardia started 1/11, happened only at night, during sleep, or when waking, bouts of 5-15 hours. Changed to afib about a year ago, same pattern. Frequency increased over last 6 months, apparently with sensitivity to more triggers. Ablation 6/27/13 by Steven Hao.