17 days post PVI ablation

[Guest guest]

Hi Everyone,

I figure I'd share with those who might be interested on the latest

and greatest with my recovery from my PVI ablation on Friday,

December 13th. Remember for those of you contemplating having this

procedure done that the things I've gone through in my recovery may

not happen with you. I'm sure others will put forth their

experiences as well.

Like I said, my PVI was done by Dr. Jie Cheng at St. Luke's Episcopal

Hospital in Houston, Texas on Friday, December 13th. For details on

my hospital experience you can look at message numbers 14296 and

14395.

I spent almost a week in NSR without any ectopics (skipped beats

basically) or a-fib. Not counting that first week, I encounter some

skipped beats everyday since except for two days. Given my

sensitivity to feeling each and every beat (you a-fibbers know what I

mean), I probably wouldn't even have noticed most of the episodes. I

also have had 2-3 possible a-fib episodes. I know my pulse was fast

and irregular, but whether it was actually a-fib, I don't know.

I did notice that two of the possible a-fib sessions followed heavy

meals. Hhmmm....

Anyway, here are two of the more significant adventures since the

ablation…

December 23rd, two days before Christmas and not a creature was

stirring, not even a mouse. Well, actually, I don't know that for

certain because I couldn't see anything! Why? Because I was just

sitting on the couch, watching TV and the next thing I know it was as

if I was looking through waxpaper. To make it more weird, the

waxpaper effect was only in my left eye and only on the outer half of

my field of vision in that eye. My truly wonderful wife (Margaret)

suggested I lay down for a while and see if it'll clear up on its

own. Since I was going to lay down, I figured I'd go ahead and put

my sleep shirt on. Upon removing my shirt, we discovered that I had

two hives on me. One on the front and one on the back, and both had

the same size and shape as the emergency defibrillator patches that

were placed on me during the procedure. Mind you, these areas are

about 4 inches by 6 inches in size. And when I say I had one hive on

the back and one on the front, I mean just that, but each was 4x6

inches in size. Did I mention the nasty storm that was coming

through here at the time all this was taking place?

I called Dr. Cheng, and he basically didn't give me an option. He

wanted me down at St. Luke's then and there. I knew he was afraid

that I may have thrown a clot and that I could be experiencing a TIA

(mini-stroke.) So, once again, my truly wonderful wife (whose been

my personal champion through my whole a-fib adventure) gets out of

bed at 11pm and drives me to St. Luke's where Dr. Cheng is literally

waiting for me at the entrance to the ER at 11:45pm. I got looked at

real fast that night. Bloodwork, vision testing (my vision had

almost gone back to normal by the time we arrived at St. Luke's) and

CAT Scans were all normal. No evidence of clotting could be found. I

was also in NSR, with a rate of about 85.

Best guess, is that I may have had a small clot that momentarily got

lodged somewhere in the retina. My PT/INR was 0.9, even though I was

taking the same dosage now as just prior to my procedure (which was a

steady 2.5 then.) As far as my two hives go, they think it was an

allergic reaction to either the pads or the sticky stuff on the

pads. Either way, it was rather weird that I broke out 10 days after

the procedure. The rashes still have not completely gone away as of

the 30th. I have some additional testing this week, with my eye

doctor and my Family doctor wants to perform a carotid doppler to

make sure I don't have blockages forming in the veins/arteries in my

neck.

So, my advice to those about to go in for the procedure, make sure

you get your anti-blood clotting back to the proper range quickly.

Then today (the 30th) was also an adventure. Now, one thing I did

notice for about two days after the procedure was a pain in my chest

and neck. I figured it was due to the TEE probe, and just leftover

irritation from having something shoved down my throat.

Well, today (the 30th) I developed a very similar pain. Radiated

from my chest, up through my neck and into my jaw. Decided to pay

the doctor a visit. Got another echo (external, not the probe), ECG,

and bloodwork. There was nothing apparent on the test to indicate

anything abnormal. The best guess is that I still have some

inflammation. Did I mention the storm coming through here today?

Let's see, last week, a nasty storm system moved through Houston and

I had weird things happen. Today, another nasty storm system has

been making its way through Houston and I'm having weird things

happen. Anyone experience something like this? Or am I just weird

and paranoid about the weather?

My wife says that I'm doing better. Except the couple of " fun days "

I've had, I think I'm doing well. I did notice the other day that I

didn't seem to lose my breath as bad when playing with my Golden

Retriever (Rex) out back. He seemed to tucker out faster than me.

Anyway, I hope all of you have a Happy New Year!!!

Bruce