Ten Days Post Ablation

Hello All,
I had my ablation on monday Aug 25 at MGH Boston. All seemed well and when I finally woke up from the procedure I was in NSR, after two months of 24/7 a fib. Dr said it went well but I haven't received the final report yet.

Showed up at 6:30am and was prepped and back in my room by 3pm. I didn't feel too bad but after all the anesthesia wore off, my chest was sore and taking a deep breath was uncomfortable. I didn't sleep at all the first night and spiked a slight fever of 100 during the first night, which tylenol seemed to take care of. After 6 hours, the groin bandages were taken off and I was left with two clear adhesive bandages to be left on for another day.

The following day, my blood work showed low potassium and mag so I was given two 2g Mg Sulfate IV's and a fluid IV with two very large potassium tablets. Started to take ibuprofen for the chest discomfort titrating up from 200 mg to 800 mg with tylenol in between. Got some well needed sleep on the second night. They kept me an extra day because of the fever.

My HR was in low 80's after the procedure but has now returned to my usual resting rate of low 50's.

I had a 1.5 hour bout with some a fib yesterday morning that self resolved. However, I now have been having PAC's since the a fib episode. I'm almost sure that this is part of the healing process and to be somewhat expected during the blanking period.

All in all I would do it again if needed. However, the worst part is the foley cath and constipation from the opiates used during the procedure.

Dr Mansour was the EP who did the procedure.

I have been trying to stay hydrated with potassium drinks and K Gluconate, bananas, etc and also taking up to 800 mg Chelated Mg (bluebonnet brand).

Cheers for now.
Ralph L.

Great news Ralph! I'm surprised your heart rate returned to normal so quickly after your ablation. My resting heart rate was also in the lower 50's, but after my ablation it took almost a year to come down from the 70's. Take it easy for a while and let your heart heal before doing anything too strenuous. Best of luck.

Jim



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/04/2014 11:47AM by mailman52.

Will do Jim Thanks
PAC's are gone today.

Hi Ralph. Great to be through that ordeal isn't it. And the Foley was the worst part of the whole thing for me too.

Hi Ralph,
Congrats.
I wish you continued and forever NSR.
Thank you for sharing your story.
I'm scheduled to have the ablation with Dr. Natale on October 3rd. Getting a little nervous.

Duke

Hi Duke,
Nothing to worry about, You will be in good hands. I was so sick of having afib 24/7, that the procedure was welcomed. I'm actually feeling the best I've felt in a few years today. I boosted my potassium intake and all the pac's I had yesterday are gone. It just feels so good to be back in NSR. I find myself constantly taking my ECG with my AliveCor monitor and iPhone just to see what its supposed to look like.

I'm continuing my daily Xarelto and the Dr added a baby aspirin as well. Prilosec 40mg bid for first week then 40mg once a day for a few more weeks. No more flecainide, just my 25mg bid of atenolol for mild hypertension.

My procedure was done under general anesthesia with a nice shot of vallium before they put me under. Groin punctures were not sore at all and its been 10 days and feeling great.

If you have some anxiety about the procedure, ask for some ativan and it will calm you down a bit.

Here's hoping you are back in NSR on Oct 3.

Cheers,
RalphL