Heart Surgery / Ablation Procedure

[Blue J]

Some of you may know that I had an Ablation Heart procedure today at Emory Hospital in midtown Atlanta.

I had to wait until I was a year stroke free before we could persue the is option.

They had to perform a burn procedure  because the freezing type of Ablation didn't work. My wife Laura said my Cardiologist Dr El-Chami, said I did well. I went into Afib during the procedure and they were able to see the veins causing the Afib and Burn them off. Immediately upon doing so I went into normal sinus rhythm.
The headache is slowly subsiding, the back pain not so much. The headache is like a double ice cream headache that won't go away. The back ache is from when they had to burn the veins, my upper back muscles tightened and I sensed severe pain in my upper back. Now the back pain is upper and lower back and is a bit sharper than  a dull pain. I am now enduring 4 hours of bed rest with out moving my right leg at all, since that's where they went in with the catheter. The also just allowed me to take a percaset so the pain is going away.
Alright- back to good news:
I am now off one of my meds (Flecanide)for the afib heart rate control! Doc said this is one of the successful outcomes of this procedure. Whew! We should b out of here by tomorrow am!!
I didn't want to needlessly bother y'all before hand. But I wanted to be sure and share the good news.

[clark123456]

I had no idea, but I'm glad it's done and you were able to post about it. 

[Big Dave]

Glad it went well.

[Gerund]

Glad it went well you are doing good.

[tjsahara00]

x2

[DOUG]

Sounds like a rough ride for the short term with better days ahead. Sorry it is so bad today.  Best wishes from all of us, keep us updated on your condition.

[jd30005]

Hope you feel better soon. Take it day by day.

[tcdawg]

Happy to hear the good news Jimbo!!

[Cannonballkev]

Holy crap!  Glad your doing ok!

[BigMike]

Glad to hear that it went well.  We should have talked.  I've had AFIB since 2006. Atrial Fibrillation - upper and lower chambers of the heart don't always beat in sync.  I'm sure you'll fully recover and life will be great.  The success rate for that procedure is very good.

I had several cardioversions (zapped with a defibrillator) to get my heart back into normal sinus rhythm.  Sometimes it would last a year, 8 months, 2 months, and twice I went into AFIB 2 days after the cardioversion. 

I went to Emory to have an Cardiac Ablation in 2010.  My doctor was Dr. Angel Leon.  The procedure went great and I was in normal rhythm when I left.  About a week later, I went back into AFIB.  My odds weren't as good because I have an enlarged atrium and that is where AFIB lives.  So now I take Nadolol to keep my heart rate down and Pradaxa for a blood thinner.  The main downside to living with AFIB is that I get easily winded when I walk up hills/stairs.  I can do cardio like most people and the better shape that I'm in, the easier it is.  The risk of a heart attack with AFIB is only a few points higher than a person with a regular beating heart.  So if you see me walking down a hill to help be a spotter, it takes me a while longer to get back up the hill to my Jeep.

My only option is a Maze procedure.  Basically, the remove your heart, cut it up, remove some areas, sew it back together and stick it back in your chest.  That is a way over simplification but is a backyard mechanic explanation.  It will be a last resort for me if I ever get to the point where I can't walk across a room without getting out of breath. 


Wishing the best Jimbo!

[Scott F.]

Rest up and get well soon!

[Blue J]

Thanks everyone  for the warm replies. My procedure while grueling is considered a major success. I was conscious durning the entire procedure which made the pain that much more acute. Anytime I am faced with pain whether it's the Dentist or in this case surgery. I always compare it to the pain of my tattoos near my rib cage. The back pain was close to that but was much deeper.
Mike, when we spoke at Blackmoose I thought your Afib was under control through meds. I had no idea. My Afib was not responding to meds so I was left with little choice. They had tried to Cardiovert me 2x before but I would relax and convert naturally. Before the procedure.
There are no guarantees with Ablation but hopefully I will be be Afib free for several years. My mission now is to recover and start a work out program and continue to loose weight.