PFA Ablation this morning

[OzRob]

Sitting up in my hospital bed after a Pulsed Field Ablation. It is about 90 minutes since leaving the theatre surgery. Only discomforts are slight sensation at entry point in groin and a mild sore throat.

Will give an update once I have had a discussion with the surgeon later today.

Feel great otherwise!

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Surgeon visited, it is now 4 hours post surgery. Ablated all 4 pulmonary veins in the left atrium. Ablation took 1 hour and 15 minutes, surgeon says it was an easy one.

I am to keep taking my low dose of meds for 1 month then stop, 50 mg Flecainide and 50mg of Diltiazem morning and night. The Eliquis blood thinner for 2 months.

I will occasionally use my 24 hour Vellue monitor post surgery ,as well as when I wean off the meds to record any blips.

For anyone thinking about a Pulsed Field ablation is was a overall a good experience, I think researching and watching videos of how PFA is done beforehand makes it almost pleasurable on the day.

I could have stayed on medication rather than have a PFA, I agreed with my EP that AF should be ablated as early as possible for the best long term results.

Thank you to everyone who contributes on this forum, it has been a terrific resource during my AF journey.

P.S, Hospital food is crap!

[mjames1]

Great start! Here's to a speedy recovery and many afib free days.! PS just take it easy for awhile

Jim

[OzRob in reply to mjames1]

Thanks Jim.

[Petaca]

nice!

[Responsable]

Best wishes for the quick recovery!

[KiwiBlake]

Taking it easy during the recovery period is the key to success. Cheers Blake

[meadfoot]

Excellent news.

[wilsond]

Great news,take it steady now 👍

[Goosebumps]

Best of luck. Glad to hear that you have taken the plunge.

[jeanjeannie50]

Good news. I'll be interested to hear how you get on.

[Cavalierrubie]

Please give us a running commentary on your recovery. Your experience will help lots of us who may have to follow you. Wishing you well with lots of TLC and rest.

[mjames1]

Did they use GA or sedation? I like the fact that they did it in an hour and 15 minutes..A few Cryo guys can match that, but most will take longer. One RF guy I spoke to said 4-6 hours. I said no thank you! Ended up finding a Cryo guy because no PFA at the time.

Jim

[OzRob in reply to mjames1]

GA and overnight in the hospital. The overnight is really for keeping an eye on the entry wounds, of which I had two each side of my groin. I had a sore throat from being intubated, I then coughed about 5 hours post ablation and the right groin entry point split and I started to bleed out a bit. They put pressure on it for 5 minutes, redressed it and all is now good. So don't cough or sneeze after an ablation!

[mjames1 in reply to OzRob]

I tried to stay away from GA, but at only 1.5 hours under, probably less side effects than the extra time many of us spend under heavy sedation with propofol. Bleeding at the groin is pretty common, happened to me. Got real ugly looking for a while, but it completely heals pretty soon.

Jim

[mav7]

Congratulations and thanks for the excellent summary. Keep us updated.