Hello all, I wanted to share my recent experience of having a Catheter Ablation. Hopefully this will help some people make their own decision about having one done and also help to put any anxious minds to rest for the ones who are waiting for the procedure to take place. As some of you may have read from my posts earlier this week you will know I went into Wythenshawe Hospital to have the procedure done on Wednesday, it was a RF (Heat) ablation to isolate the pulmonary veins. I am an otherwise healthy 36 year old guy who was diagnosed with PAF 18 months ago, it has become more frequent and troublesome in the last 6 months hence my decision to get the ablation done.
I must admit that I was apprehensive in the days running up to the procedure, even to the point I kept thinking I may be the one who won't come out of the hospital alive! I kept thinking was I doing the right thing? Is my Afib that bad that I need to do this? I almost talked myself out of it at the 11th hour. I did come to my senses though and decided I could not spend the rest of my life taking drugs and hoping that the AF doesn't rear its ugly head too often. I knew the ablation may not work and I may need it again at some point, but I knew it was my best shot of getting rid.
Many people on this forum had given me the reassurance that having an ablation was not a scary experience but until you lay down on that table you don't know how you are going to take it. But I have to say they were right, the experience was not scary in the slightest and if anything it was just a very interesting day!
I was booked in for the afternoon so did not have to be at the hospital until 11am. As soon as I got to the ward and spoke with the first nurse I started to relax, I had my blood pressure taken, answered a few questions on a form and had a cannula fitted (that hurts more than the actual ablation). At about 12.30 they came to take me through. I was greeted outside the lab by some of the team, one of the Doctors came over to have a chat and ask how I was feeling. By now all my nerves had gone and I felt totally at ease. Once I got to the Catheter Lab I was amazed by all the screens and equipment, and also the amount of people in there for me! Dr Brown my EP came over and asked how I was feeling, his confident and calm demeanour really helped to make me feel at ease. He gathered the 6 nurses, 2 radiographers and other Doctor around the bed and they all one by one introduced themselves to me and told me who they were and what they did, this was a really nice touch. The team had a brief from Dr Brown and then they got started, he explained to me that they would be doing some exploration and testing with the catheter before they would start ablating.
I was given some sedative at the start of the procedure, this made me feel a bit sleepy but didn't really seem to make much difference. They gave me a local anaesthetic in my groin area and inserted the catheter tubes, I didn't feel this at all. Throughout the procedure I didn't feel any pain, it was a little uncomfortable at some points, once when I could feel my heart pounding away when they triggered the arrhythmia and a few times when they were ablating a felt a stinging sensation but it was far from unbearable. I was given sedative by the nurse on a few more occasions but its didn't really touch the sides, I felt myself drift off for a few minutes once or twice.
Then next thing I was told they had finished, they kept the monitors in place for a while whilst they did some testing to make sure it had worked. After about half an hour I was then wheeled out and put in a recovery area just outside the lab, one of the nurses came over and said I had done really well and she couldn't believe I hadn't been knocked out with the amount of sedative I had, she said it was enough to knock out a donkey! They then applied a plastic pressurised clamp to the entry point in my groin to make sure it didn't bleed. Dr Brown then came over and said it had been a success and that they had identified and isolated the problem areas, and all being well the outlook was promising.
Following the produce I was wheeled back to the ward, I had to stay lay down for a few hours to minimise the chance of bleeding and to prevent any bruising. I didn't have any pain other than a bit of a dull chest ache. At about 4am I woke with some sharp chest pain, it was worse when lying down so I sat in my chair next to the bed. The nurse gave me some paracetamol and explained that the protective sack around the heart called the Pericardium would likely be irritated and causing the discomfort.
The next morning I was given an ECG and sent on my way at 9am, I still had chest discomfort into the afternoon and to the point where I was wondering about going back to the hospital. I started Googling and scared myself reading about Pericaditis and delayed onset Cardiac Tamponade! But then by about 6pm the pain had resided and I was able to lay down without the chest pain.
Today I feel great, I walked two minutes down the road to the post box to stretch my legs and then spent the rest of the day with my feet up. It's nice to have an excuse not to do anything and be looked after! I've not had any noticeable arrhythmia since the procedure but am fully expecting a few blimps as my heart recovers. My pulse rate was around 90bpm after the ablation, it then dropped to around 80bpm yesterday and 70bpm today, i'm normally around 55 to 60 and guess it will take a few weeks of recovery before it gets back to normal.
I can hand on heart say that having an ablation is no where near as scary as you may think. I know everyones experience will be different and personal to them but if you decide to have one done try not to worry and just go with the flow. Put your faith in the EP and their team, they have trained for years to do what they do and put their skills into practice day in and day out. But most of all try and focus on how your life will be changed for the better if the procedure is successful, and if it's not the first time then the next time you have one done it will be a walk in the park!
I'm eternally grateful for the treatment and care I have received at Wythenshawe hospital so far, and I cannot give enough praise to Dr Brown and his team, they are an absolute asset to the NHS.
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