Hello fellow travellers on this forum . You might remember me pondering long and hard on having an ablation. It’s done and I am back home, all in a day. It was done in Hammersmith and took a bit of organising travel wise.
The hospital offers convenient but very basic Housing Association Studio Flats at reasonable cost and I stayed overnight. The hardest part of the arrangements is having to be there at 8am and not knowing when you are released until the very last minute, mine was 8pm.
As usual I proved to be a challenge for finding viable veins for cannulas and the whole gamut of medical ranks from the ward nurse to the consultant had a go until it was decided to knock me out and do it at their leisure. I had GA and knew nothing of the next 3hrs. Coming to I believed to be an astronaut taking off, so that can now be ticked off my bucket list.
All the staff were helpful and kind, but seem to be under a lot of pressure and most were very recent recruits, desperately trying to find supplies and of course beds for overnight stays.
I so envy you men for the ease of use of bed pans, mine was a bit of a disaster, but at least it provided some warmth for a short period. Once I was able to shuffle to the loo myself I found that the toilet seat was very loose, which added a certain element of jeopardy to that mile stone.
After a bit of translation on the release papers, I believe I had pulmonary vein ablation, cardio version and two transesophogeal echocardiograms and two later scans for small pericardial effusion, but was fit to go home. I suspect partly because the cardio ward was full and there were couple others walking wounded calling for transport as they were being “kicked out”. That was their words, not mine.
Feeling a bit sore and running a slight temperature, but not too bad. Taking it very easy for now.
Its a strange feeling having at least ten people in the room looking after you during the operation and then being closely monitored for hours to be turned out to your nearest and dearest tender care. Feels a bit like having a baby, you definitely think you will never do it again and at loss what to do with your newly tender heart.
On the whole, a good job, good care, although a bit rushed and here’s to new better life hopefully,
Thank you for all your support to get me this far.
Written by
aFibber55
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I have a new prescription for you, read this twice per day for two weeks to remind you not to overdo things even if you feel fine api.heartrhythmalliance.org...
Thank you Buzby, Bob and Meedfoot. Absolutely read it and my husband too and keeps telling me to be patient. Strange how the hospital post op instructions are a lot more cavalier. I am old enough not to hurry and I have a very strict prison guard.
Bless you. Well done. Wishing you a speedy recovery and successful op. Lots of rest and TLC. and by Christmas (or before) you will be able to enjoy all the fun.
My main advice is to listen to your body above all, and not feel any external pressure to get back to "normal" living.
This pressure can come from your doctor, friends, well meaning posters on the Internet and even loved ones, although in your case, it sounds like your husband understands.
I've read about some going mountain biking on day three. For me it was three months before I felt I could start doing the things I did before.
I don’t think so. I have a mental block regarding using a bottle in a hospital.
I always try to negotiate a visit to the toilet but as all my ablations have been longer than 6 hours plus the two hours laying still on awaking I always struggled.
Yes I certainly didn't have a catheter out of choice and had all sorts of trouble with a UTI. Now. 7 years later I am not sure that my 'plumbing' problems I now experience are not a result of having that option.
On the bright side numerous ablations finally settled my heart down and now my QOL is significantly better than the previous 25 years.
All ablations? How many? I've had three cardioversions eack lasting less than the previous. One Cryo ablation lasted 6mths. Now in permanent AF. They now offer a further Cardio Version. I'm thinking Pacemaker next.
I was a difficult case and not typical. Many have a significant improvement in their quality of life after 1 or 2 ablations.
I also had many cardioversions which often gave me many months of relief but were never a long term solution.
Pacemakers do not stop AF. They do do a procedure called pace and ablate where the ablate the AV node and then the heart is controlled by the pacemaker and that has to be relied on. However, I understand that sometimes people still have rhythm issues but not of the same magnitude.
Dealing with AF is also a state of mind. Many can just ride with it but sadly I was not one of those and AF played mind games with me.
I have now been virtually AF free for over 2 years with a significant improvement after 2017 when I had my last ablation.
Talk to your EP about the way forward they should guide you.
I have mine booked for 2 weeks time, so reading this post, and replies, has been very positive! Hope your recovery continues, and the procedure has the desired effect.I'm an active 68 year old man, who's extremely hacked off that his heart's doing a good impression of the troublesome trucks from Thomas the Tank Engine stories.
I want to get back on my bike as soon as I can afterwards, and I think I'm reading that, barring any unexpected issues, it's a case of waiting for the groin area to heal, and then easing back in.
There's no definite "no-no's", unless your body tells you to please don't do that.
I am the same age and keen cyclist too. I had my ablation last March after taking several years to pluck up the courage to do so. So far so good. Am off the meds except for Lixiana once a day.I would recommend taking it easy with the cycling for a while anyway.
I started in week 3 on an exercise bike when the groin was fairly well healed. When I felt confident that nothing was going to tear I got back up on the normal bike and went for short cycles. Didn't try a major hill till just before my 3 month review, though. Was afraid of putting too much pressure on the healing heart but still wanted to be able to tell EP how I got on.
All the best with the upcoming op.
Advice to ladies. Buy boxer shorts for afterwards.
The groin wound tends to be right on the knicker line.
Well done ! Appreciate the humour and I had wondered how I would be managing to have a wee when required to lie flat for 4 hours !
It must indeed be a shock and engender feelings of insecurity going from the high tech hospital environment to flying solo
Still no idea when my ablation will happen but all you kind people posting accounts of procedure and recovery SO helpful, thank you . Hope your recovery is smooth and rapid please keep us posted
A great read, thank you and congratulations! I had my ablation just over a year ago and feeling great, stronger than in ages. But I won’t say it was a “first” ablation as that would imply there’ll be a second one! Great advice above, it’s good to keep a journal too and note the milestones.
Thanks for this information. I'm having an ablation in 12 days so it's very useful. I'm reluctantly paying for a private procedure as the NHS waiting list here is 18 months and at 74, I'm not prepared to hang around with a deteriorating condition.
I had mine in private hospital, room like a cupboard. Very much like a conveyor belt. Didn’t feel I got any better care, just got it sooner. Was on NHS list since before last Christmas and episodes got worse and longer.
Hopefully yours and my ablation will last a long time 🤞🏻
I was lucky when I had my ablation in September last year. There was a Doctors strike on the day I was supposed to be having it and in the morning, a couple of days before, I got a phone call saying it was cancelled, then in the afternoon, they rang again and said the EP doing my ablation, had decided not to strike and so my ablation was going ahead. When I went in to have it done, there was hardly anyone in the wards, and I got lots of attention. Couldn’t complain about any of the care I got. I think I was lucky. The EP said it went very well, so 🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞the awful AFib stays away. Hope yours does too.
Well done, you made me laugh so much reading your post 😂😂.. I had the same done but, with not so much hilarity... I also had a horrendous experience with a paper bed pan that was no way equipped to hold my weight especially when it was wet 😩😩and like you say the warmth was welcoming ....I live in the very far north of Scotland so it was a plane trip there and back.. the poor airport staff had to physically push me by the bottom up the steps as both my groins were used and heavily packed.. oh how we laughed.... NOT I was mortified....I'm waiting for a defib or pacemaker to be fitted after several visits to resus by blues and twos... Pulse way up at 253 Hope you are feeling better now 🥰
😂😂😂. You’re clearly in great form - wishing you the very best recovery and the delights of being AFib free - take it easy - sometimes it takes a while - mine had a few blips for several weeks before I would again breathe the air and middle-finger the last few years of wasted life - onwards and upwards 👍👍🙏🙏☘️☘️
Well done. I wish you the very best. Let’s hope that going forward now you are healthier and happier. Thanks for sharing… my twin is having the same next week.
A lovely and, as an English teacher if I might say so, beautifully written account!
Best wishes. I am waiting for my second ablation on an NHS waiting list buried somewhere within the binary digits and code of Leicester Glenfield Hospital's computer!
Am so pleased with your comment as I am not a native English speaker. I came to England 1974 as an au pair from Finland, met my future husband and the rest is history.
I can tell a reasonable yarn, but make the silliest mistakes, so thank you. Cheered me up no end.
Good luck with your second one, you are a better man than I ganga din.
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