All Geared up for Catheter Ablation....

[Sparkleshimmer]

Hi everyone,

I had an appointment to attend to have the Catheter Ablation Procedure on Friday, as stated on letter, I arrived promptly at 11am. Signed consents and waited, waited and waited a bit more - to be told (at 4:30pm) that a machine had broken down in one of the cath labs so three of us have to be cancelled!!! at 4:30!!! five and a half hours later!! I know I can't be mad as it was unavoidable but I geared myself up and was absolutely dreading it - Friday was a long day! So I'm back there in two weeks - fingers crossed all goes to plan!! Has anyone else had the ablation and has it been successful??

Thanks

Mrs Law

[Duncan]

Dear Mrs. Law, I had a catheter ablation almost four weeks ago and I too was dreading it. Mainly because reading the posts in sites like this, whilst very informative and helpful are mostly highlighting problems, issues, concerns or things going wrong, so you become very aware of the risks. As someone pointed out to me, if it all goes well you probably won’t think about posting anything. My ablation went very well. The worst part of the experience was undoubtedly the almost two weeks from being given the date until being wheeled into the lab. Apart from that they stopped the sedative as my snoring was so bad, so I came to very early on and could feel and hear everything. At times it was uncomfortable and the adrenalin injections weren’t very pleasant but also not so bad. I spoke to the EP and the Radiographer and one of the nurses throughout the procedure, which made it interesting and when I was taken out to the recovery room, after only two hours, I felt very confident and sure it had gone well. I am left in awe and admiration for all the staff involved and the science is just fantastic. I took the ‘take-it-easy’ advice literally and had a few days of feeling fragile but went back to work, part time, after two weeks, as I felt I could. The biggest impact has been getting tired very quickly and the occasional ectopic heart beat (that’s how they described it) which is completely normal and to be expected. I have been cycling, gardening and walking and feel fine taking any exercise. I am glad to be off the beta blockers and have had no episodes of SVT. I honestly considered not getting it done and just remaining on the beta blockers forever, but now I’m very glad that I did.

[Sparkleshimmer in reply to Duncan]

Thank you so much for your reassuring reply - I go in a week today for mine so I hope the outcome for me is as good as you! I too considered not getting it done, but at 33 years old I want to be off the medications. More comments of positive experiences would be so useful on this forum. Thanks so much for your reply and I wish you all the very best!

[Judygb]

I had my second ablation done on Friday. My EP, Dr Graham at LGI had told me that it doesn't always work first time. I went 3 months before the SVT started up again. There are two types of ablation, cryogenic which is freezing and burning, I don't know the technical term for that. Apparently, burning has better results according to my EP. The procedure this time was much the same as the first one, I didn't have any sedatives, or as my EP calls it, gin and tonic, I have a high pain threshold, so didn't need anything. Yes it can be a bit uncomfortable, but as Duncan said, they talk to you all the time. I also had ultrasounds of my heart done before, during whilst they had put my in tachy and after the burn. I went down at 2 pm and went home at 8pm. My groins are a bit sore and stiff, but that is only to be expected considering what I had done. All of the staff at LGI were amazing, and now only time will tell if the second ablation has been successful. I have to go back in 2 months to see Dr Graham for a review. As Duncan said, you do get the feeling that your heart is not functioning as it should, but these are just ectopic and are normal. Remember that the heart has had invasive surgery done on it and takes a little time to settle down. All the best with your procedure, let us know when you have had it done and how you went on Mrs Law, good luck.

[Sparkleshimmer in reply to Judygb]

Hi, thanks so much for your reply - very reassuring! I wish you all the very best!

[Hidden]

I'm one week post ablation for AF, I only had 3 episodes since my diagnosis so signed up to a new study with dr Sabine Ernst at the royal brompton.

I was worried sick and almost pulled out right at last minute, but I can honestly say now that the worst part was the cannula in back of the hand, I came around in recovery with nothing more than a ache in chest and slight sore throats from the toe and being incubated, both of which cleared right up after about 2 days