A-Fib and Cardiac Ablation

[Flyinfool]

It is very likely that soon I will be going through a Cardiac Ablation to attempt to fix my A-Fib.

 

For those that do not know what this is. The short story;

 

A-Fib, Arterial Fibrillation, is when the electrical signal in the heart get messed up and the the top half of the heart,the Atria stops beating normally and goes into fibrillation, which is basically just quivering and not really pumping.

 

The Cardiac Ablation is an operation where they go in and kill the part of the heart that is electrically messed up so that the whole thing can go back to beating normally.

 

With my whole situation the doc gave me a couple of choices.

 

I would like to talk to a few people that have been through the Ablation procedure to get more real info as to what is involved from the patients perspective. Everything I have found on line is always from the doctors point of view.

 

The whole idea of using the words kill and heart that close together makes me very nervous.

Edited May 8, 2015 by Flyinfool

[GAWildKat]

Haven't been through it yet, don't know if I will need it, but hope you get the answers you are looking for, and mend quickly.

[jonesy]

I'm not sure what I got in medical terms but I got a heart valve and a pacemaker for the last 16 years, not such a big deal. had to get new pacemaker 2 years ago due to heart not pumping correctly cause of old style one at that time. what options are they talking about.

[cowpuc]

WOW Jeff, I have not experienced that surgery and am not smart enough to even begin to offer any form of meaningful advice my friend. I can say this though, even though we havent met - YET - I consider you my brother and dear friend. My thoughts and prayers are with you and that precious lady of yours as you folks deal with all this stuff. Doesnt sound like fun BUT, I have a hunch that you will be feeling a LOT better after you get the ticker back on normal rythems again!!

I do have a friend who had that surgery done many years ago, it all went very well and he is living a healthy - good life to this very day. He is in his 80's at this time!!

Please keep us posted as the surgery date approaches and all that.. You have folks out here who love you and really want to be in the loop!

Prayers Up - Blessings Down!!

Puc

[Flyinfool]

The options are the Cardiac Ablation or taking a small mountain of drugs, that cost more than my mortgage, FOREVER. If the ablation does not work I may still have to do the pile of drugs. The drugs are what are preventing me from riding the bike.

[ragtop69gs]

Either way they will keep you here with us, so we're pulling for ya bud.

[BlueSky]

When I was working in FL from Jan 2010 to August 2013, I worked 14 months of 6 12s towards the end of that job. I was 69 yrs old when the job ended. I usually walk for exercise and do a few exercises such as pushups, situps, squats, and pullovers and arm curls on my Total Gym. I quit exercising when I was working all that OT and was eating too much of not so good food. And combined with taking bp pills, I developed an irregular heartbeat especially at the end of the day when I was tired. When the job ended and I came home semi-retired, I slept all I needed and got back on the exercise program walking rapidly around the subdivision for 50 minutes (working up to it gradually). (and lost 20 lbs) My irregular heartbeat corrected itself. Your situation may be totally different but that was my experience with an irregular heartbeat. I did not go to a doctor to discuss this. Could have been a dumb decision on my part but as it turned out was a wise decision.

 

A co-worker in FL who was working the same hours had that surgery, the guy who bought my 2004 Concours. He was a huge guy, not tall just very large in girth. He was back at work afterwards. He was a contract engineer and had let his med ins lapse. He mentioned it costing him $105k in med expenses. Sold several of his bikes.

Edited May 8, 2015 by BlueSky

[Flyinfool]

I only found my heart problem by accident, literally.

After an accident, on the way into surgery to repair that damage, they did an ECG during the preop tests. The surgeon took one look at my ECG and said he ain't touching me with a 10 foot pole unless there is a cardiologist involved. That started this road back in October of last year..

[BigLenny]

Jeff,

 

I am an A-Fib patient and have been since I was 30 years old (I'm 52 now). I've had 2 Ablation surgeries. The first one I had when I was 30 years old. My heart stayed in rhythm until 5 years ago. I had to have another Ablation done at that time, and my heart stayed in rhythm for a couple years, but it eventually started having Fib episodes again. 3 years ago they put me on a medication named Tikosyn. Tikosyn spreads your heartbeat out to help prevent it from going into Fib. It works for the most part, but every couple months I have a fib episode that'll last for a few hours or so. I have to take a blood thinner (Xerelto) to prevent blood clots, which I'm sure you know is the biggest risk of A-Fib. In general, Fib isn't fun. It eventually weakens the heart muscle. When I'm in a fib attack, all I feel like doing is laying down and praying that it will pass.

As far as the Ablation surgery; The last one I had was 6 hours long. The first surgery I had was about 3 hours long. The biggest hastle of the thing is, they went up through my groin using the same procedure as an Arteriorgram, and after they get you out of surgery, you have to lay flat on your back for at least 6 hours waiting on the incisions in your groin to heal. Your back will be hurting a ton by the time you are allowed to get up and walk. I did hear recently that they are now starting to do the Ablation by entering through a port in the wrist. If that is true, then it will be a lot better for you. I'm not sure that is true, but I heard it from somewhere.

If you're consuming any caffiene at all, get off of it. That'll help.

[BigLenny]

Jeff,

 

Some other thoughts.

A-Fib in a large number of people is hereditary. My father had it, my oldest brother has it and has had 3 Ablation surgeries, my aunt has it.

Things that can trigger an episode if you're an A-fib patient are: eating a real big meal, intaking caffiene, sleep issues such as snoring or Sleep Apnea, physical excertion in the heat (getting too hot while working outside). There are some recent studies showing that being overwieght can trigger A-fib attacks.

 

A couple years ago my wife and I scheduled a two week bike vacation to Co, Utah, NM, Az. I hadn't had a fib episode in over a year. I was feeling good. When I woke up the morning we were to leave, I was in Fib. I didn't tell my wife becasue I was hoping it would stop after an hour or so. We got on the bike and rode 735 miles to Amarillo and i stayed in Fib the whole way. I thought I was gonna die. About mid day I told her i was in Fib and I had to listen to her yap in the microphone for the rest of the day about why we didn't stay home. After we bedded down for the night in Amarillo, I was able sleep it off and my heart went back into rhythm. But, I was extremely tired all the next day. Not very smart of me.

Some fib episodes are mild and you don't really know you have it, sort of like what you've described. I have those sometimes. But, sometimes Fib attacks are so strong all you want to do is lay down and hope itll go away. I have this kind usually. Feels like an elephant standing on my chest, and I can get a little light headed.

[Flyinfool]

Lenny

Thanks for the encouragement.

You are the 2nd person I have talked to that had to go back for another one.

Mine will be through the groin, but I will be completely out for it, not the semi sedated that some docs do.

I am also on the Xarelto. The max possible dose...

I do not get A-Fib "attacks" I am in a-fib 100% of the time. there is no end to the afib

With the surgery they are hoping to get me down to a few hours of an attack every month or so. Doc said there is very little chance that the surgery will cure me. But it can make things a lot better. With the drugs I am down to an "attack that lasts a day or 2 every couple of weeks. If I miss or even are late for a dose of the drugs I will be in full a-fib within a couple of hours.

Yes after a couple of days of the afib my heart does hurt for a few days. But then the atria just spent a couple of days trying to run at 300 to 400 beats per minute and are tired.

 

I do very little caffeine. Just the occasional bite of chocolate. Caffeine give me other problems so I avoid it but will NOT give up chocolate.

[BigLenny]

I'm with you on the chocolate, Jeff. LOL

Man, I hate to hear you're in it all the time. I hope the surgery will be a huge help for you. Do you know of it running in your family?

Oh, Hey, One more thing. If they put you on a pill called Amiodarone, don't stay on that pill too long. My Dr. left me on it for about 8-9 months and it ruined my thyroid. It caused me to have to have my thyroid taken out, and I have to take Synthroid pills daily because i no longer have it. That happened to my aunt also.

[Flyinfool]

No known record of this in any family history.

As far as the other triggers you mentioned........

 

Things that can trigger an episode if you're an A-fib patient are:

 

eating a real big meal, - All of my meals are real big......

intaking caffiene, - see above

 

sleep issues such as snoring or Sleep Apnea, - I have stayed up all night to see if I snore, never heard a peep..........

physical excertion in the heat (getting too hot while working outside). - Physical exertion, ME????? :rotfl:But I have always been real prone to heat stroke.

 

There are some recent studies showing that being overwieght can trigger A-fib attacks. - Doc says that BMI chart on the wall is BS, my weight is pretty good, but it would not hurt to lose 20 but I should never get down to the chart on the wall....

[tazmocycle]

my wife susan had afib, where her heart would beat around 200 times per minute, most times she would blackout from it. she worked at a hospital and finally had an event there and they rushed her to surgery. after about 6 hrs and dr testing 7 places on her heart he found the nerve that was misfiring. they just deaden the nerve that is causing the problem. she hasn't had any problems for about 14 yrs. in fact she has an appointment this Monday to do a checkup on her. she is out of town right now, but when she gets back, i'll see if she can post to you about it, she is very smart when it comes to a lot of medical problems. she worked 12 yrs in intermediate care unit and 12 yrs doing sleep studies. sleep apnea causes a lot of problems with your heart, when you hear of someone dying in their sleep, most times it's caused by apnea . I have to wear a bi-pap machine, now about 14 yrs.

[TDunc]

Jeff, I am an A-Fib and A-Flutter patient too. Sent you PM.

 

Short version. Previously, No signs of an issue, healthy, active, coaching, running, hiking, etc...jumped on me like a pig on slop. One month later had ablation and I am a happy pig in slop now. No more heart hurt, energy level way up.

[dacheedah]

I had "unexplained" afib identified at on two occasions. The second time my VA doctor sent me up to see a cardiologist , he after putting a bunch of answers in the computer asked if I had a sleeping test. I ended up having one and they found I have apnea. Apnea can cause afib, so now I sleep with a cpap and have not had an episode since.

[midnightventure]

I haven't been through it but I have a friend that has. We are older basketball players and it used to hit him while we were playing. He had the ablation thing after he was in his sixties and if I remember right he is 69 now and still able to play hard. Never has an episode any more. If I remember right he did have to start taking some kind of drug to get to feeling just right. I do know that he is glad he had it done.

[friesman]

It is very likely that soon I will be going through a Cardiac Ablation to attempt to fix my A-Fib.

For those that do not know what this is. The short story;

 

A-Fib, Arterial Fibrillation, is when the electrical signal in the heart get messed up and the the top half of the heart,the Atria stops beating normally and goes into fibrillation, which is basically just quivering and not really pumping.

 

The Cardiac Ablation is an operation where they go in and kill the part of the heart that is electrically messed up so that the whole thing can go back to beating normally.

 

With my whole situation the doc gave me a couple of choices.

 

I would like to talk to a few people that have been through the Ablation procedure to get more real info as to what is involved from the patients perspective. Everything I have found on line is always from the doctors point of view.

 

The whole idea of using the words kill and heart that close together makes me very nervous.

 

I will be watching this with interest as I have had AFib for years but its gradually getting worse and the doc indicated I may have to look at the same solution youre looking at. I am sure that its a good solution, but its one of those things that you want to know every angle before going forward. Wishing you all the best on this!

 

Brian

[Dale124]

Wow, that doesn't sound like a fun procedure, good luck with everything. I've often wondered if I have something like a-fib also. I sometimes get a fluttering feeling in my chest, accompanied by a lightheaded feeling. I wonder how they diagnose it, since it doesn't happen all that often - maybe a couple of times a week, or so.

Dale

[BARKEEP1956]

I had a Cath Ablation in 2006. What would you like to know?

[Flyinfool]

Well it looks like plan A

 

I am scheduled for the Cardiac Ablation on June 17. starting at 9am, expected to last till 6-8 pm.

I will be spending the night in the hospital and escaping the next day.

[BigLenny]

Hey Fool,

 

I hate to admit this, but I have a trickster mean streak in me that sometimes flares up. When I had my last Ablation surgery, I had to lay flat on my back for about 6 hours after the surgery in order for the incisions in both of my groins to heal. they are very serious about this. If they get you up too soon and one of those incisions breaks open, you could bleed out fairly quickly. So, they're gonna make you lay there for a long time before you get to get out of bed. Anyway, when it came time to get me up out of bed, it was this happy go lucky nurse who came into my room and very excitedly announced that it was time for me to get to get up and go for a walk down the hallway to see how I was feeling. So, she helped me get out of bed, and here we went slowly creeping down the hall with me pushing an IV pole and I'm wearing the traditional hospital gown that is wide open in the back. Well, after several feet of walking, she got a little distracted and was walking faster ahead of me and waving and talking to other nurses, and yapping her mouth. So, I just stopped in the hallway and she didn't even notice and kept on walking down the hall yapping and laughing with some other nurses. After she had walked about 75-80 feet in front of me down the hall, she realized she had ran off and left me. She turned around real quick and looked back at me and said, Mr. Clayton are you alright? Me, being the meany I am, said as I was looking down at my feet toward the floor, "I guess I'm alright, but I'm wondering where all this blood that is running down my leg is coming from". I literally thought she was gonna freaking faint. She hollered for me to not move and she started running back to me! She was yelling NO NO NO the whole time she was running back to me. Needless to say, she was not very happy when she got back to me and found out I was joking. LOL. Taught her a lesson to keep her trap shut and pay attention. LOL.

[videoarizona]

Jeff,

 

Prayers Up!

 

david

[Flyinfool]

Hey Fool,

 

I hate to admit this, but I have a trickster mean streak in me that sometimes flares up. When I had my last Ablation surgery, I had to lay flat on my back for about 6 hours after the surgery in order for the incisions in both of my groins to heal. they are very serious about this. If they get you up too soon and one of those incisions breaks open, you could bleed out fairly quickly. So, they're gonna make you lay there for a long time before you get to get out of bed. Anyway, when it came time to get me up out of bed, it was this happy go lucky nurse who came into my room and very excitedly announced that it was time for me to get to get up and go for a walk down the hallway to see how I was feeling. So, she helped me get out of bed, and here we went slowly creeping down the hall with me pushing an IV pole and I'm wearing the traditional hospital gown that is wide open in the back. Well, after several feet of walking, she got a little distracted and was walking faster ahead of me and waving and talking to other nurses, and yapping her mouth. So, I just stopped in the hallway and she didn't even notice and kept on walking down the hall yapping and laughing with some other nurses. After she had walked about 75-80 feet in front of me down the hall, she realized she had ran off and left me. She turned around real quick and looked back at me and said, Mr. Clayton are you alright? Me, being the meany I am, said as I was looking down at my feet toward the floor, "I guess I'm alright, but I'm wondering where all this blood that is running down my leg is coming from". I literally thought she was gonna freaking faint. She hollered for me to not move and she started running back to me! She was yelling NO NO NO the whole time she was running back to me. Needless to say, she was not very happy when she got back to me and found out I was joking. LOL. Taught her a lesson to keep her trap shut and pay attention. LOL.

 

Everyone says that that 6 hours of laying still on my back is the worst part. I do not know if I have done 6 hours on my back in my lifetime.

 

I generally deal with stress through my own warped sense of humor. It may be bad for the nurses..... I am not typically mean, but if I am on some good drugs, there is no telling what strange thoughts may take a stroll out through my mouth. I have not spent a night in the hospital since the the first week when I was hatched, LONG, LONG, long ago.

 

Yes this whole thing has me worried.

[OrlinEngh]

Jeff

Prayers up for a fast and full recovery,