Had my ablation yesterday and things didn't go too bad. It took 3 hours and my EP said it was a straight forward enough procedure. He ringed the pulmanory veins and found a couple of areas he identified as possible issues. I did feel a little discomfort in my chest whilst the procedure was being carried out. I got a bit of a telling off, because at one point my chest felt that tight I tried to sit up. Needless to say he pumped more morphene into me and the pain subsided a little. My chest is still quite tight, but he said this is not an uncommon side effect.
I did feel very groggy after the procedure, as he said I had quite a bit of pain relief, so much for thinking I was some sort of tough guy As I say I have a little chest discomfort and I'm out of breath fairly easy, but my heart rate is pretty much as it was in the late 50's and more importantly in NSR.
My EP is more concerned about both sides of my groin at the moment, but informs me I can more or less return to normal day to day life once they have healed. I did ask about building things up slowly with my heart still healing, but he felt confident I would be fine. However, even so I don't see me returning to the ring anytime soon. I'm staying on my current meds until I have my review with him which I'm more than happy to do.
I think it was MickN who before his ablation wanted a list of items to take into hospital whilst recovering from the procedure. If I go in again and there is every chance I will, number 1 on my list is ear plugs!!! Boy could some of the guys on my ward snore
Jason
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Jason1971
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Great news, it's all over!! I was exactly the same with my third ablation, in that I had a fair bit of Morphine during the procedure because of the discomfort in my chest, I was very sick after but had no other problems.
Give yourself plenty of time to recover and try to take it easy for a while.
I wish you all the best and hope that you're rid of AF for good.
Thank you Kimmie. I'm glad it's over, but there are worse procedures out there. Yup, it's a waiting game I reckon now, so I'll just have to wait and see. Hope your AF is under control too.
Hi Jason I'm glad it is over for you. Sorry you had some pain though. Now rest! It is 2 weeks after my procedure and I am feeling good but my leg was really painful until yesterday. It was massively bruised. So don't be surprised if you have some pain. Hope the heart stays quiet. X
I am really disappointed to see so many references to groin pain and bruising. I had an ablation in Liverpool last August by Dr Richard Snowdon. They have developed an ultra sound method of locating the pulmanory veins. The 3 holes in my groin looked like ear ring piercings. No bruising and no pain whatsoever.
Hi. The actual holes in my groin did look as you say and I had no swelling or pain from that site. It was the large muscle on my thigh that developed massive bruising and was so painful and as the bruise moved down my leg so did the pain. I was in constant communication with my arrhythmia nurse who said it could be deep bruising coming out and although it is now much better New bruises are still appearing down my leg ! Some people have no problems at all with this so something must be different. My E.P. likes to do the ablation whilst still on warfarin and I have wondered if that was the cause of the extra bruising. What do you think. I hope all is well with you Jenny. X
I'm fine, thank you and I've followed your progress with interest.
I had to stay on warfarin right up to the ablation. As the NRI was only 1.8 I had to have a heparin injection and was put on to Pradaxa the next day.
I'm to stay on Pradaxa for life along with 2.5 Bisoprolol. I am aware that there may well be new AF pathways opening in the future so this is something that we are going to have to live with.
Hi Jenny, the worst thing about my groin so far was the ripping off of the dressings! So far no bruising, just three little holes and not much discomfort.
Very much a waiting now for us on the ablation being a success, find myself apprehensive on when to actually start doing anything, been pretty much sat on my deriere in between my re-admission to hospital after my little scare.
Take your time, don't rush into doing things. Had my ablation Dec '14 and like you needed plenty of sedation. if you get some flutters and ectopics don't worry it takes a good while for things to settle. As the AF nurse said to me 'just because you don't have a zip up your chest don't think what you've had is minor. Your heart had had a good kicking, so show it some respect' Good advice I think. Hope NSR continues for a long time. x
Thank you all for your advice and words of encouragement. I feel great at the moment, the chest discomfort is going and I have no severe bruising or after effects. I'm in no rush to get back into things knowing there is possibilities of repercussions.
I wasn't really having many issues for two months prior to the procedure and even going to the Cath Lab my EP and I were discussing whether I still wanted to go ahead with it. Maybe if we had the conversation at my Pre Op I may have opted out, but I had come this far and was looking forward to week off work My only slight and it is very minor criticism was I didn't get any real definitive answers to some of my questions. My EP knew I had quite a good understanding of my AF and let me kind of answer my questions myself. If that makes any sense.
Thank you all again, to everybody who contributes on this forum, as I honestly don't think I would have gone through with it without your pricesless advice and experiences x x
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As I say I have a little chest discomfort and I'm out of breath fairly easy, but my heart rate is pretty much as it was in the late 50's and more importantly in NSR. 
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