Checking in with an Update

Most know my a bit rough march 21 to march 22. 2 ablations for atypical flutter 2 cardioversions a watchman 2 ct scans 3 trips to Austin and covid! Dr Natale did my anlation 2 8/6/21 including the LAA. I had covid early January. Dr Natale placed my watchman on 2-16-22 my TEE was 3/31 in Charlotte. Since ablation 2 ive done great. My Watchman was perfect no leaks. During the Watchman placement Dr Natale touched up one spot in the CS. He also enlightened me on a few things: after an LAA isolation its 10-20% that itll be functioning in his opinion and that after covid hes seen alot of autonomic nervous system dysfunction (which ive had some) albiet waaay better. A few headaches ear ringing numb feet and a few sinus tachs of 15-30 seconds. In the old days it was called a nervous breakdown. Fear worry stress anxiety ptsd - so i had it all. The heart stuff then a rather rough covid 10 days. All in all Dr Natale had saved my ass in more than one way
Couple of side notes:
Susan: yes our Susan D: long story short. She is a tremendous artist. Pottery especially. Incredible abstract stuff. She also is a one person construction company! I know she d never reveal it here but just know : shes special and talented
Jay: yes JayBros. He and i had lunch couple weeks ago. He lives near me! He got his Natale watchman a day before me. A Marine! Yes hes tougher than me
We had a wonderful time telling our war stories. One problem: his were real lol
God Bless all of you. No matter you are not alone
Tom

Nice update Tom. Keep at it....

Bob

Thanks for the kind words. Happy you are doing great.

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Poppino
after covid hes seen alot of autonomic nervous system dysfunction (which ive had some) albiet waaay better.

Could you say more on this? I am going into an ablation with Dr. Natale with fairly severe autonomic dysfunction (began after another virus, not Covid), and am hoping that he will be able to improve my autonomic nervous system function by ablating the autonomic ganglia. Did your discussions with Dr. Natale touch on this or did him ablating your autonomic ganglia help heal your autonomic nervous system?

Great point Daisy. Ablating ganglia ??? Ive read this but when i talked to Dr Natale he said nothing could be done , my resting HR had zoomed to 78-82 for 3-4 weeks. He said when he put the watchman in i went to 90 but that it was sinus. The next morning Shannon his nurse whispered in my ear: go home relax get in the sun exercise listen to music and laugh. Thats the moment i began to get better. My RHR now is 63-67. I use 20 mg propananol twice a day. Natale laughed at that. Called it a child dose! The ANS is not a thing its our unconscious system of HR BP digestion bladder kidneys breathing etc. we dont think about it. I delve into learning as much as i can then come to MY conclusions. The ANS dysfunction is a result of a trauma or ptsd or stress or worry not physical damage. Healing it? Making it function better? Is becoming happy Care free. Not thinking of fear etc. easier said than done i know I work at it everyday. I workout i listen to music. I well try….lol to have sex when uh well….. not a joke though. Ill sit in the sun. I plant flowers. I have bird feeders. Jackie has helped me alot: earthing grounding tapping. Weird? Yes. But NO
Afib flutter is traumatic it hurts our concious and unconscious mind creating fear worry. Yep it does
You ll be ok! Natale is a special human being not just a graat EP. I wish you the best. Put YOU no 1 its ok to be selfish

Thanks @Poppino! I believe that Dr. Natale will be ablating the autonomic ganglia in my case. My problem is not tachycardia but BP dropping when I am standing—I have about 1 - 5 minutes before I start to pass out. Here is an interesting article about another EP:

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Dr. Peem Lorvidhaya has pioneered a new program at Mary Washington Healthcare, using cardioneuroablation to treat patients with vasovagal syncope, sick sinus syndrome, functional AV block, and other types of dysautonomia such as POTS. This new form of treatment began in the US last year, and we are proud to currently have the largest program in the country.

[www.fredcardio.com]

Since I also have sick sinus syndrome, it seems that I fit the patient profile. As I understand it, cardioneuroablation is ablating the autonomic ganglia in the heart, though there may be a special technique. I am trying to find out more. I have had this problem for 16 years and was treated (with medications) by an autonomic specialist, so I am fascinated that there might be a lasting treatment.

Daisy that sounds very similar to: POTS. But as I understand it : a low BP with tachycardia upon standing. POTS occurrs in ANS dysfunction. Will be very interested in your treatment and outcome

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Poppino
Daisy that sounds very similar to: POTS. But as I understand it : a low BP with tachycardia upon standing. POTS occurrs in ANS dysfunction. Will be very interested in your treatment and outcome

Yes, similar to POTS except for the lack of tachycardia. My diagnosis was Neurally mediated hypotension. Here is another article that came out in May in Cardiac Rhythm News:

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https://cardiacrhythmnews.com/hrs-2022-cardioneural-ablation-registry/
Findings of the US multicentre cardioneural ablation (CNA) registry were presented during a late-breaking clinical trial session at the Heart Rhythm Society’s 2022 annual meeting (HRS 2022, 29 April–1 May, San Francisco, USA), showing that ablation can be a safe solution to address vasovagal syncope, according to investigators.