The week started last Wed with me flipping into fast AF and needing yet another DCCV( no 28) just 4 days before my rescheduled ablation.
I arrived at Sussex Cardiac Centre at 7.30am yesterday for the morning slot for Endo- Epicardial ablation . This involved going in through both groins ( endocardial) and through an incision under the breastbone( epicardial )Under GA.
All went well although limitations in how much ablating could be done in view of scar tissue from previous 4 ablations. Have to admit that I woke up in considerable pain in chest and was given morphine and colchicine to help with inflammation. Took me quite a while to get back in the land of the living but managed to avoid overnight stay.
I'm to return in a few weeks to have plug inserted in left atrial appendage so I will be able to say goodbye to Warfarin. This is the last chance saloon for me. If AF returns it will be pace/ablate.
I booked a Brighton taxi to take me home (14 miles) which was an adventure in itself. I was picked up by an Afghan driver and was treated to a history of Afghanistan, the Taliban, Ukraine, Putins Russia and of course the US!
He was very knowledgeable but obviously somewhat biased! I did manage to ask him how he felt about the treatment of women by the
Taliban though . We talked about our families and my hospital visit. The age subject came up and he thought I was in my 60s (specsavers...)....said you look so amazing at 79 you must have been even more so at 60😅
🤔 Admittedly this was not long before payment....Anyhow it cheered up this somewhat frazzled old girl.
Taking it easy this week.
Written by
Jalia
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Dear Jalia - your warmth and humour (not to mention hubby and stone deaf cat) will see you through! What an ordeal you have been through these past few weeks. I hope that you make a speedy recovery and this time round the ablation will hold for years to come.
I'm pleased to hear that all went well with your ablation. It will be interesting to hear how you get on with your next procedure.
I envy you always being offered cardioversions. I can't remember how many I've had but was quite a few, nowhere near what you've had, then I was told I wouldn't be offered anymore after having 2 in a year and then needing another.
Your post re the taxi driver made me laugh. I take it you're now our expert on the subjects he discussed. I always like to hear others opinions on any subject.
Thanks Jean. I was quite ill with AF , starting to black out, plummeting BP and AF in 160s. Had to call 999 ...paramedic practioner came out, noted my "blue lips"; felt my pulse and immediately called for ambulance. A&E Consultant had my EPs hotline so was able to get his ok for dcccv. Rate could not be brought down any other way.
I'm very grateful to have been offered all the procedures and repeated ablations. We've put off PPM but it might well come to it eventually.
Feeling much better today but must continue to take it easy. Good job I'm not allowed to drive!
Thank you Nan1. I'm feeling pretty good this morning, having had a solid run of 6 hours sleep helped.
Sorry to hear you're having problems with ectopics since your ablation. I do hope you can get sorted soon. I had trouble with them after my 4th ablation for the first time so know how debilitating they can be.
No, I didn't. I recorded them on my Kardia so I knew what was going on. Always felt I would be about to go into AF when I first had them. Always told that they are harmless but it doesn't feel like it when they are so persistent does it ?!
Best wishes for a speedy and above all lasting recovery. Enjoy those books! I'm lucky I don't get many ectopics but when I do get them they almost always lead to afib.
Thank you Auriculaire. I must say that the Colchicine prescribed for inflammation of the heart appears to have done wonders for my knees! I can now get up and out of my chair ( at husbands beck and call) without muttering under my breath and making old peoples groans!!
I think colchicine used to be used for gout before Allopurinol became more popular. I wonder if it would do anything for my rib pain which has got bad again. You should not be at husband's beck and call at the moment. A bit of sudden deafness maybe?
Yes it us primarily used for gout. I've just been reading about it's usefulness for knee arthritis though as I thought there must be a connection with my sudden easy pain-free movement.
Re ' beck and call'....its difficult with his Parkinson's. I'm frightened of him falling even though i try to keep a clear pathway and all rugs removed etc !
Ablation by it's very nature creates lesions through which rogue electrical signals cannot pass. Created in a very controlled manner, they are not considered to affect the function of the heart other than in the desired way. However after each Ablation the surface area available on which to create more is obviously reduced.
I'm not qualified to answer that definitively, but my understanding is that the lesions are not thought to be in any way detrimental to normal heart function. However a good percentage of those of us who've had an ablation will notice a rise in heart rate compared with their pre-AF norm. Mine is typically 66 at rest, a modest rise. I'm very happy with that as the price of being in NSR.
It’s a worry. Really hope you get it nailed this time. Any long term issues on the heath with numerous ablation? I’m listed for a third later this year.
I don't know anything about PFA I'm afraid! I'm being treated at a leading cardiac centre so I'm sure I would have been offered it if it was appropriate. The procedure I've just had where I had keyhole entry under the breastbone has, I understand, been pioneered at this centre.
Background with similar procedures to you. At 76 I had a Pace and Ablate and now wish I had gone there sooner. Better now than in the previous 20 years I lived with AF. P&A has worked very well for me.
That is really good to hear. So many people are saying the same thing. I just wasn't ready for it sooner and EP was always willing to ' give it another go'.
Sounds like quite an adventure!!!!Got everything crossed for you that this does the job. Really hope you can rest. Obviously not going to be too easy given your situation, but the intent is half the battle I think.
Gosh! Amazed at it all, especially that you managed to get to the hospital by 7:30am!! The NHS seems to be a great deal better in Sussex than where we live. At 80 I don’t think I could face an op of that kind but it has never been offered and now later today, I am to hear more about what was found in a recent scan and what might be done about it. It’s to be an afternoon appointment as I can never manage anything much in the mornings and fortunately, my husband will drive me to the hospital and be with me for support as suggested, so it might be bad news! All the best for your recovery and hope it will be fifth time lucky! Your conversation with the taxi driver was very interesting too. Thanks for that and best wishes for you and your heart for the future.
I actually got up at 5am ready for taxi at 6am. Roads were unusually clear and arrived at hospital 6.35am!! I've always gone to my appts by myself.....feel more relaxed.
In days of yore when I needed A&E with unrelenting fast AF, husband used to drop me off at the entrance to A&E and carry onto work.We often laugh about that! I'm very independent. Always have been.
I do hope that your appt this afternoon is nothing like as bad as you fear. Do let us know how you get on.
Reporting on my trip to Gloucester Royal Hospital yesterday where everyone was very nice and friendly. I was directed to area C to wait to be called and was quite good friends with the others waiting to be seen before I got a call on my mobile as it appears I was in the wrong place so I said goodbye to my new friends, found the nice woman who directed me to a loo I could use and retrieved my scarf when I dropped it! She took me to the place where another pleasant woman weighed me and I was pleased to find that she was pleased that 63 kilos was fine as it was with my clothes on!! She then took me to see the lovely doc and we chatted about previous operations and medical conditions I’d had but sadly it appeared that my surgery had failed to pass on the scans that we were there to discuss and the part of the hospital that does blood tests had closed at 4:30 and it was 4:40 so I’ll have to arrange to have them at my useless surgery. Presumably I’ll have to see him again later but it just occurred to me that as my husband had gone to post some things so was not with me, he was saving any bad news for another time and I learnt nothing more than I’d heard already!!
How very disappointing for you. However, do not let your imagination run riot! Still , a waste of a journey and getting all geared up for the results. Hope you get to the bottom of all this very soon.
Thanks - I’m still recovering from all the extra activity but have managed to arrange a blood test at the surgery for soon after the one my husband has on Tuesday with the results going to the nice chap I saw. And I’ve completed the questionnaire I received on my experience when I had the opportunity to mention the crazy closing of the blood testing part so early!!
I’m like you! My standard reply when offered a 9am appointment is a very firm ‘I’m not a morning person’, but of course that doesn’t wash if it’s an essential procedure.
Thank you. Yes the taxi ride was certainly a distraction. Not too sure why he wanted to take his wife and 4 kids back to visit Afghanistan with the Taliban in charge though.
A very entertaining story! On the serious side, I'm glad it went well and you're home recuperating. Take things easy, etc. etc., but you know all of that, don't you. Well done!
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