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My ablation with Dr.Natale and Dr. Di Biase
Posted by newyorker
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My ablation with Dr.Natale and Dr. Di Biase March 16, 2018 03:29PM |
I want to post this while everything is fresh on my mind. Before ablation, I was obsessing over EXACTLY how things are going to go. I googled every story I can find that described the process. Here is my ablation story. Step by step. I hope it helps you.
I arrived to the hospital at 11am in great spirits, nervous and hopeful. There was no looking back. I had a great team (Dr. Natale and Dr. Di Biase) and I knew I was In good hands. At about 11:15 I was checked into a small examination room, changed into a gown with all my possessions placed in a big bag. A little vulnerable but all is good. š First nurse took all the vitals and then asked tons of questions about my medical history. We cracked jokes to ease up the tension and one of the nurses kept singing next door. She had a beautiful voice and it was truly soothing although her colleagues said she does it all day long and it gets to be āa lotā. š I was also there with two of my closest friends who kept coming in the room and giving me love. I am blessed. Shortly after, I had to give urine to test for pregnancy and they also wanted to take my blood because I am anemic and the levels needed to be confirmed. To my surprise, Dr. Natale and Dr. Di Biase stopped by. They were sweet and caring. I cannot tell you how much seeing them helped me psychologically. Overall, it was busy in my room for about an hour and then we waited. For a while. About 4.5 hours. From what I understood I was the second surgery and the first one was more complicated than anticipated plus they were still waiting on my blood results. I was thankful to wait. I was thankful that they were giving needed attention to someone else and I knew they would do the same for me. Finally, around 5, anesthesiologist came. We discussed my history. He had dry sense of humor and we immediately bonded over drug cocktail jokes. He was so reassuring. I asked him if he would be the closest standing to me. And he said āyes, I will be by your head the whole timeā. You see, my daughter gave me a tiny soft mouse with a lucky penny inside to hold in my hand when I am nervous. I asked him if he will take care of it while I am being operated on. He said that it will be right next to me the whole time and we had one of those vulnerable human moments that is you know...beautiful. Then, a different awesome nurse came and it was time to roll down āthe hallā. I envisioned that moment so many times prior to the ablation and it was as emotional as I thought it would be. I kissed my husband. From what I heard from my friends, he broke down a little bit later. Sweet man. The nurse started rolling me down the hall. I had tears in my eyes and I kept saying a mantra that I had prepared in my mind. It was a mantra of thanks. Honestly, I was an emotional reck. š In the hall about 15 feet from the operating door, Dr. Natale and Dr. Di Biase stood on each side of the wall, greeting me. Dr. Natale brushes his hand on my head with reassurance. It was a gesture you would see done to a kid and it was super sweet. It calmed me. When we got to the door, the operating room wasnāt ready yet. As if she was reading my mind, the nurse, in a calm, soothing voice started telling me all the details of what is inside. I was quietly crying, so she changed the topic to cats and we even managed to laugh once about cats being assholes before the doors open. š The room was not as big or scary as I anticipated. It had a lot of equipment but I was prepared to see that. Then I felt like I was a car at NASCAR race. I was placed on the table and tons of caring hands started to work on prepping me for the surgery. That lasted maybe 5 minutes max. Everyone was so sweet to me and one of the nurses was Russian so she spoke to me in my native tongue which made me feel for a second that my parents were there too. My daughterās mouse went to Jeremy, the anesthesiologist. He carefully placed it next to me and said āYour cocktail is being preppedā. Oxygen mask went over my face, I closed my eyes.....5 seconds later (it seems like) I was woken up by a nurse. I was a little out of it. She said everything went great. I briefly saw smiling Dr. Nataleās face... and rolled out in a waiting room while they were prepping my room. My husband and friends were instantly by my side. They were in good spirits and cracking jokes (they were at a bar close by for a while
) but it was all kind of a blur to me. 4 hours of my surgery went by in a flash. I also remember nurse being impressed with my oxygen levels which made me feel good. And then...I felt my heart. It was metronome kind of feeling of super steady strong beat that us afibbers rarely feel. It was obviously āput in its placeā and I remember listening to it in a sheer amazement. Finally, I was rolled in my room, moved to a bed and tried to get comfortable. It was late and my husband and me decided to watch some TV and just rest. He finally doze off and eventually my anesthesia wore off leaving me in pain every time I took a breath. It was sharp, short lived pain but nothing I couldnāt handle. Maybe 5-6 on 10 scale. Nurse confirmed it was perfectly normal and I just tried to stay calm and thankful and zen. Unfortunately, I didnāt sleep at all. I was too excited that procedure was over and a little discomfort in the chest didnāt let me get comfortable to fall asleep so I passed the time by watching TV and playing on my phone. All night I was taken care of nurses that checked on me what seems like hourly. In the morning, Dr. Natale and Dr. Di Biase stopped by. They confirmed that procedure went perfect and that the pain I feel is totally normal and will go away in 2-3 days. I hugged them both and couldnāt stop thanking them. I was told there will be a follow up at 1 and 3 months and that at 3 months, they expect me to be off all medications. After they left, I got all the prescriptions explained to me and eventually after a little bit more wait...we were discharged. Overall, the whole experience was much easier and pleasant than I anticipated. I was constantly surrounded by attention, care and love. Either from my family and friends or the staff of the hospital. I am not going to lie, the date after the surgery was tough. I felt some pain every time I took a breath but I knew it was normal and I knew it will be over soon. And today, itās 100% better. Also, you will not be even be able to see my incision points unless I pointed them out to you. I think Dr. Natale just sprinkled some fairy dust there or something....you simply canāt see them. š So, that is my story. I hope it helps you and if you are thinking of doing an ablation, I will answer any questions that you have. Thank you for being here for me for so long....
I arrived to the hospital at 11am in great spirits, nervous and hopeful. There was no looking back. I had a great team (Dr. Natale and Dr. Di Biase) and I knew I was In good hands. At about 11:15 I was checked into a small examination room, changed into a gown with all my possessions placed in a big bag. A little vulnerable but all is good. š First nurse took all the vitals and then asked tons of questions about my medical history. We cracked jokes to ease up the tension and one of the nurses kept singing next door. She had a beautiful voice and it was truly soothing although her colleagues said she does it all day long and it gets to be āa lotā. š I was also there with two of my closest friends who kept coming in the room and giving me love. I am blessed. Shortly after, I had to give urine to test for pregnancy and they also wanted to take my blood because I am anemic and the levels needed to be confirmed. To my surprise, Dr. Natale and Dr. Di Biase stopped by. They were sweet and caring. I cannot tell you how much seeing them helped me psychologically. Overall, it was busy in my room for about an hour and then we waited. For a while. About 4.5 hours. From what I understood I was the second surgery and the first one was more complicated than anticipated plus they were still waiting on my blood results. I was thankful to wait. I was thankful that they were giving needed attention to someone else and I knew they would do the same for me. Finally, around 5, anesthesiologist came. We discussed my history. He had dry sense of humor and we immediately bonded over drug cocktail jokes. He was so reassuring. I asked him if he would be the closest standing to me. And he said āyes, I will be by your head the whole timeā. You see, my daughter gave me a tiny soft mouse with a lucky penny inside to hold in my hand when I am nervous. I asked him if he will take care of it while I am being operated on. He said that it will be right next to me the whole time and we had one of those vulnerable human moments that is you know...beautiful. Then, a different awesome nurse came and it was time to roll down āthe hallā. I envisioned that moment so many times prior to the ablation and it was as emotional as I thought it would be. I kissed my husband. From what I heard from my friends, he broke down a little bit later. Sweet man. The nurse started rolling me down the hall. I had tears in my eyes and I kept saying a mantra that I had prepared in my mind. It was a mantra of thanks. Honestly, I was an emotional reck. š In the hall about 15 feet from the operating door, Dr. Natale and Dr. Di Biase stood on each side of the wall, greeting me. Dr. Natale brushes his hand on my head with reassurance. It was a gesture you would see done to a kid and it was super sweet. It calmed me. When we got to the door, the operating room wasnāt ready yet. As if she was reading my mind, the nurse, in a calm, soothing voice started telling me all the details of what is inside. I was quietly crying, so she changed the topic to cats and we even managed to laugh once about cats being assholes before the doors open. š The room was not as big or scary as I anticipated. It had a lot of equipment but I was prepared to see that. Then I felt like I was a car at NASCAR race. I was placed on the table and tons of caring hands started to work on prepping me for the surgery. That lasted maybe 5 minutes max. Everyone was so sweet to me and one of the nurses was Russian so she spoke to me in my native tongue which made me feel for a second that my parents were there too. My daughterās mouse went to Jeremy, the anesthesiologist. He carefully placed it next to me and said āYour cocktail is being preppedā. Oxygen mask went over my face, I closed my eyes.....5 seconds later (it seems like) I was woken up by a nurse. I was a little out of it. She said everything went great. I briefly saw smiling Dr. Nataleās face... and rolled out in a waiting room while they were prepping my room. My husband and friends were instantly by my side. They were in good spirits and cracking jokes (they were at a bar close by for a while
) but it was all kind of a blur to me. 4 hours of my surgery went by in a flash. I also remember nurse being impressed with my oxygen levels which made me feel good. And then...I felt my heart. It was metronome kind of feeling of super steady strong beat that us afibbers rarely feel. It was obviously āput in its placeā and I remember listening to it in a sheer amazement. Finally, I was rolled in my room, moved to a bed and tried to get comfortable. It was late and my husband and me decided to watch some TV and just rest. He finally doze off and eventually my anesthesia wore off leaving me in pain every time I took a breath. It was sharp, short lived pain but nothing I couldnāt handle. Maybe 5-6 on 10 scale. Nurse confirmed it was perfectly normal and I just tried to stay calm and thankful and zen. Unfortunately, I didnāt sleep at all. I was too excited that procedure was over and a little discomfort in the chest didnāt let me get comfortable to fall asleep so I passed the time by watching TV and playing on my phone. All night I was taken care of nurses that checked on me what seems like hourly. In the morning, Dr. Natale and Dr. Di Biase stopped by. They confirmed that procedure went perfect and that the pain I feel is totally normal and will go away in 2-3 days. I hugged them both and couldnāt stop thanking them. I was told there will be a follow up at 1 and 3 months and that at 3 months, they expect me to be off all medications. After they left, I got all the prescriptions explained to me and eventually after a little bit more wait...we were discharged. Overall, the whole experience was much easier and pleasant than I anticipated. I was constantly surrounded by attention, care and love. Either from my family and friends or the staff of the hospital. I am not going to lie, the date after the surgery was tough. I felt some pain every time I took a breath but I knew it was normal and I knew it will be over soon. And today, itās 100% better. Also, you will not be even be able to see my incision points unless I pointed them out to you. I think Dr. Natale just sprinkled some fairy dust there or something....you simply canāt see them. š So, that is my story. I hope it helps you and if you are thinking of doing an ablation, I will answer any questions that you have. Thank you for being here for me for so long....
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