4 weeks post ablation......

Sorry to spoil everyone’s weekend, but after giving it considerable thought, I decided to include a picture of my groin which was taken 3 days after my ablation. I know the extent of bruising for different folk varies enormously, but when you consider that the groin “only” deals with passing traffic, it makes you wonder what the inside of the heart must look like after 4 hours of prodding, poking, freezing or burning!

I couldn’t get today’s picture on the same post, but it follows and fortunately there is a significant improvement, but it has by no means disappeared. The reason for including these gruesome photos was to reinforce the need to give your heart a chance to recover properly before engaging in excessive exercise. If the bruising is still around after 4 weeks, then I expect it’s safe to assume the inside of the heart is significantly more fragile and will need to be treated with respect for a good while longer.

The good news is the recovery continues to be good, one day when I felt a bit iffy but as far as I know, not ablation related. There will be no more bulletins or photos unless the situation changes and my apologies, especially to the ladies! Apart from the next photo, it’s over and out!

[jeanjeannie50]

That is severe bruising Flapjack! I had some with my first and second ablation, but none with the third which made me wonder whether they'd actually done anything! What anticoagulants do you take and did you have to stop them before your ablation?

Jean

[Hidden in reply to jeanjeannie50]

Apixaban, missed the night and morning before

[Kaz747]

That’s a beauty! The bruising around my groin was relatively limited but my arms and hands were (and still are) a mess. I look like a kidnap victim whose hands have been tied together.

[AnneTS]

Thanks Flapjack for the picture and for the very helpful comments on the recovery of the heart after an ablation. If I had seen this picture and read your message I think I know I would have been much more sensible in what I did, exercise-wise and work-wise, after my initial ablations. Thank you so much. Anne

[cbsrbpm]

Wow John, I think your just showing of 😂 but seriously that is some bruise. I did have bruising but not so severe as that. The bruising on my wrists and arms were quite a sight though. Glad all is going well.

[Ashburton51]

Wow that is some bruise, but your comment about relating it to the recovery of the heart being invaded is one to really be aware of. I do hope your recovery continues to be a successful one.

[Hidden]

Hi Flapjack. I'm sorry you have such a huge terrible bruise. The good news is that the colors look like the bruise is on the mend and well on its way to being re absorbed. And I don't see any swelling that appears to be new bleeding. Treat yourself gently and I hope it continues to heal rapidly.

I once got a huge all around bruise that was entirely around my arm where a nurse took my blood pressure post op. It healed without incident but did take about 4 weeks to disappear. Reabsorption can be a slow process. Take care and thinking about you. xx irina

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Thank you irina, almost all back to normal now and fortunately no pain or other problems with the leg. I posted mainly to make people aware of what the inside of their heart was likely to be like and to encourage them to take easy after having an ablation.

Hope everything is good with you.....take care, John

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Hi Flapjack, you make a good point. People often judge how well their recovery is progressing by what they see on the outside and completely forget that inside healing needs time too and is possibly more important and more severe than what we can see.

Usually if we see our skin incisions, swelling, redness, whatever healing smoothly we forget our inside wounds need more TLC.

But it works the other way too. When the outside appearance of a surgical procedure is not healing smoothly it's usually a good indicator the inside needs even more care than usual.

Move slower, accept more help, and remember we do not have to get back to our former level of functioning too quickly.

Healing from any surgery does not have a time table. We all take different amounts of time to heal. It's good to remember that even if our surgeon has done his/her job effectively, the other part of the healing process-good post op care is our responsibility.

I have seen good surgery have bad results from lack of self care afterwards.

Lecture over, everybody. Sometimes I believe we feel pressure from our families, friends to do more quickly because we look so recovered on the outside. 🐱

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

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