Guest guest Posted March 1, 2006 Report Share Posted March 1, 2006 I am back from the hospital, having had an ablation yesterday morning. I'll recount the gorey details for those so inclined. The one thing I do want to say is that Dr. Calkins, Dr. Saag and the entire staff of s Hopkins hospital in Baltimore MD, couldn't have been more outstanding in every way. A very professional, yet caring environment. I have never had better hospitalization before, and believe me when I say I needed it this time! I started my saga on Monday morning with a CT scan.. I was given a much larger dose of the contrast dye than is usual, I guess to take a better picture. The whole procedure took oh.. less than a minute. The contract dye made my entire body hot.. very weird. Then I went in for the obligatory TEE. I pointed out that I do not do well with narcotics (demerol, percoset, dilauded... etc)... I was given Versed and Fentenly, the lattter of which may as well have been any of the above. I felt rather puky just after the procedure, although there was no throat pain at all... I dozed for most of the afternoon, and joined my faily at Mo's - an excellent seafood restaurant in Baltimore, ate some salad, had a club soda, had a little soup... the main entree came... monsterous crab cakes.. I took one bite, hailed the shuttle back to the hotel, and promptly puked my guts up. Slept well through the night, and left for the hospital at 6am Tuesday morning. Dr. Saag (who is, by the way, quite handsome) gave me the prelimnary talk again.. going over complications, what to expect.. etc... they wheeled me into the lab on time, and the last thing I really remember was talking to a guy named , who was responsible for hooking me up to stuff. They put arm restraints on as well, but didn't tie me down until I was under. The rest of the day was really quite blurry (thankfully). The procedure was longer than expected (in at 7am, out around 1pm), and I apparently was given a monster amount of Versed and Fentenyl (I don't do narcotics well). I vaguely remember that my husband was wearing a brown sweater and than my sister gave me a black scarf as a gift. I also remember the projectile vomiting that basically got everyone except my husband and my one sister. Everyone else got it full force... they give you those rediculous kidney shaped pans which don't hold anything... I also remember a slight bit of bleeding at the cathedar sight (likely from the puking) and Dr. Saag coming to apply pressure. The nurse then rudely (I'm sure not really) told me if I didn't stay awake I couldn't go to my room to sleep... my face was bathed with cool washcloth until I guess I was awake enough, and then I was transported to my room where I proceeded to sleep fitfully and puke the rest of the day and night. Today saw the worst narcotic hangover imaginable.... it's been 29 hours since I came out of surgery and I still feel like absolute crap. The thought of food makes me ill... I had to take potassium pills because I was so depleted... they're gross too and leave nothing but a salt taste in your mouth. But, through this all, my heart has remained in NSR... if I breath deeply my heart feels " achy " .. like I've been running in very cold weather, but honestly that's about it. I barely have a mark at the cathedar site and truthfully it hurt more taking blood than the site does! The jury is still out on the results, although Dr. Calkins was very pleased at the end of the procedure... the nurses were commenting about how pleased he was. That I made it through two days of intense vomiting without afib is really amazing, and I hope a good sign. Would I do it again? I'm sure by tomorrow, after a good nights sleep, I'll say yes! Stef Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 1, 2006 Report Share Posted March 1, 2006 > > > Stef, Welcome home. Glad the ablation went well. Take care. Earl > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 1, 2006 Report Share Posted March 1, 2006 You made it Stef, your story reminds me my two ablations minus the vomating part. Good luck to you. Alfred Quarter Acre Orchids quarteracreorchids@...> wrote: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 1, 2006 Report Share Posted March 1, 2006 Congratulations, Stef. It sounds like the chemicals made it tougher for you than for most, but if it worked it would certainly be worth it. Hang tough. Bill Manson " For every complex problem, there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong. " -- H.L. Mencken > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 1, 2006 Report Share Posted March 1, 2006 Hope you're soon feeling better, Stef, and congrats on NSR! Thanks also for all the info, including the details about Dr. Saag and the projectile vomiting! my ablation I am back from the hospital, having had an ablation yesterday morning. I'll recount the gorey details for those so inclined. The one thing I do want to say is that Dr. Calkins, Dr. Saag and the entire staff of s Hopkins hospital in Baltimore MD, couldn't have been more outstanding in every way. A very professional, yet caring environment. I have never had better hospitalization before, and believe me when I say I needed it this time! I started my saga on Monday morning with a CT scan.. I was given a much larger dose of the contrast dye than is usual, I guess to take a better picture. The whole procedure took oh.. less than a minute. The contract dye made my entire body hot.. very weird. Then I went in for the obligatory TEE. I pointed out that I do not do well with narcotics (demerol, percoset, dilauded... etc)... I was given Versed and Fentenly, the lattter of which may as well have been any of the above. I felt rather puky just after the procedure, although there was no throat pain at all... I dozed for most of the afternoon, and joined my faily at Mo's - an excellent seafood restaurant in Baltimore, ate some salad, had a club soda, had a little soup... the main entree came... monsterous crab cakes.. I took one bite, hailed the shuttle back to the hotel, and promptly puked my guts up. Slept well through the night, and left for the hospital at 6am Tuesday morning. Dr. Saag (who is, by the way, quite handsome) gave me the prelimnary talk again.. going over complications, what to expect.. etc... they wheeled me into the lab on time, and the last thing I really remember was talking to a guy named , who was responsible for hooking me up to stuff. They put arm restraints on as well, but didn't tie me down until I was under. The rest of the day was really quite blurry (thankfully). The procedure was longer than expected (in at 7am, out around 1pm), and I apparently was given a monster amount of Versed and Fentenyl (I don't do narcotics well). I vaguely remember that my husband was wearing a brown sweater and than my sister gave me a black scarf as a gift. I also remember the projectile vomiting that basically got everyone except my husband and my one sister. Everyone else got it full force... they give you those rediculous kidney shaped pans which don't hold anything... I also remember a slight bit of bleeding at the cathedar sight (likely from the puking) and Dr. Saag coming to apply pressure. The nurse then rudely (I'm sure not really) told me if I didn't stay awake I couldn't go to my room to sleep... my face was bathed with cool washcloth until I guess I was awake enough, and then I was transported to my room where I proceeded to sleep fitfully and puke the rest of the day and night. Today saw the worst narcotic hangover imaginable.... it's been 29 hours since I came out of surgery and I still feel like absolute crap. The thought of food makes me ill... I had to take potassium pills because I was so depleted... they're gross too and leave nothing but a salt taste in your mouth. But, through this all, my heart has remained in NSR... if I breath deeply my heart feels " achy " .. like I've been running in very cold weather, but honestly that's about it. I barely have a mark at the cathedar site and truthfully it hurt more taking blood than the site does! The jury is still out on the results, although Dr. Calkins was very pleased at the end of the procedure... the nurses were commenting about how pleased he was. That I made it through two days of intense vomiting without afib is really amazing, and I hope a good sign. Would I do it again? I'm sure by tomorrow, after a good nights sleep, I'll say yes! Stef Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 1, 2006 Report Share Posted March 1, 2006 Welcome back Stef. JH sounds like a great place. Dr. Caulkins is more than qualified. And you. You'll have your life back! Oh yea... Rich O Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 2, 2006 Report Share Posted March 2, 2006 Hi Stef, great to hear from you. I hope your stomach has settled down as much as your heart has by now. Take it easy. Just curious, have they changed/stopped any meds. -- D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 2, 2006 Report Share Posted March 2, 2006 The only change in meds is that I went from rhythmol 3 times a day (a pain) to slow release twice a day. And I still feel like crap this morning AND I woke up in afib. They told me to expect this for several weeks.. Was just hoping it would be a " not me " situation. So officially the jury is still out. We wil see what the rest of the day brings. I'm not discourged..mildly dissappointed but not discouraged. Stef Re: my ablation Hi Stef, great to hear from you. I hope your stomach has settled down as much as your heart has by now. Take it easy. Just curious, have they changed/stopped any meds. -- D Web Page - http://www.afibsupport.com List owner: AFIBsupport-owner For help on how to use the group, including how to drive it via email, send a blank email to AFIBsupport-help Nothing in this message should be considered as medical advice, or should be acted upon without consultation with one's physician. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 2, 2006 Report Share Posted March 2, 2006 Hi Stef - I hope you feel better soon - I am thinking of having an ablation too. I will say a prayer for you - my best wishes to you!!! Hang in there!!! Debbie in Texas > >Reply-To: AFIBsupport >To: AFIBsupport > >Subject: Re: my ablation >Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2006 06:59:51 -0500 > >The only change in meds is that I went from rhythmol 3 times a day (a pain) >to slow release twice a day. > >And I still feel like crap this morning AND I woke up in afib. They told >me to expect this for several weeks.. Was just hoping it would be a " not >me " situation. > >So officially the jury is still out. We wil see what the rest of the day >brings. I'm not discourged..mildly dissappointed but not discouraged. > >Stef > > > > Re: my ablation > >Hi Stef, great to hear from you. I hope your stomach has settled down as >much as your heart has by now. Take it easy. Just curious, have they >changed/stopped any meds. >-- > D > > > >Web Page - http://www.afibsupport.com >List owner: AFIBsupport-owner >For help on how to use the group, including how to drive it via email, >send a blank email to AFIBsupport-help > >Nothing in this message should be considered as medical advice, or should >be acted upon without consultation with one's physician. > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 2, 2006 Report Share Posted March 2, 2006 THanks Debbie - just FYI.. the afib lasted about an hour and a half and then " poof " was gone.. went from about 148 to 70 just like that... in the " old days " my afib would end, and it would take a few minutes before I'd realize that it had... this was quite different..... the EP nurse says I'm likely still very dehydrated from being ill for so many days. I'm trying to stay hydrated, but I know it will take some time! Other than the anesthesia, I'd say the whole procedure was not difficult or painful at all. I did my homework, considered things carefully, and went with the best doctor I could. I actually looked forward to it.. I didn't hesitate or get at all nervous. Had I known how sick I would be, I think I would have thought differently, but that's really a different problem and had nothing to do with the surgery being an ablation. d m dm365@...> wrote: Hi Stef - I hope you feel better soon - I am thinking of having an ablation too. I will say a prayer for you - my best wishes to you!!! Hang in there!!! Debbie in Texas > >Reply-To: AFIBsupport >To: AFIBsupport > >Subject: Re: my ablation >Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2006 06:59:51 -0500 > >The only change in meds is that I went from rhythmol 3 times a day (a pain) >to slow release twice a day. > >And I still feel like crap this morning AND I woke up in afib. They told >me to expect this for several weeks.. Was just hoping it would be a " not >me " situation. > >So officially the jury is still out. We wil see what the rest of the day >brings. I'm not discourged..mildly dissappointed but not discouraged. > >Stef > > > > Re: my ablation > >Hi Stef, great to hear from you. I hope your stomach has settled down as >much as your heart has by now. Take it easy. Just curious, have they >changed/stopped any meds. >-- > D > > > >Web Page - http://www.afibsupport.com >List owner: AFIBsupport-owner >For help on how to use the group, including how to drive it via email, >send a blank email to AFIBsupport-help > >Nothing in this message should be considered as medical advice, or should >be acted upon without consultation with one's physician. > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 2, 2006 Report Share Posted March 2, 2006 Stef, I'm so happy that your ablation went off without a hitch, so to speak! And, that you had a handsome doctor to assist Dr. Calkins! I have found that it never hurts to have a handsome EP nearby! Sorry to hear about your vomiting. That must have been awful. My son had the same problem the two times he needed surgery. It seemed to take him a couple of days to get all the anesthesia out of his system. Good luck to you. Take it easy for a few days. > > I am back from the hospital, having had an ablation yesterday morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 3, 2006 Report Share Posted March 3, 2006 A re-send for those who didn't see this the first time (below). Thanks to everyone who responded as well.. it's good to know the support is here, and I appreciate all the kind words and thoughts! An update from the below post, which was written and sent Wednesday afternoon. I switched from Rhythmol every 8 hours to 12 hour slow release.. .first dose Wed night. Yesterday morning (thursday) I woke up in afib (148 bpm) took my meds and within half hour it just stopped... very suddenly. Last evening, about 5pm, I went into aflutter at about 128 bpm. Blood pressure went up to 140/101, and I felt horrible. I took my meds about 7pm (half hour early) and within half hour the aflutter had stopped. Today I am going back to the 8 hour Rhythmol.. my own cardio originally didn't want me on the 12 hour, as he said it was less effective toward the end of the cycle, and now I believe him... yesterday could have been a fluke, but it seems a litte coincidental to me! I'll take the 8 hour pills until I run out and that will give my heart time to heal, and then I'll switch back to the 12 hour and see if they hold me! Today no afib/aflutter so far, although I still feel like crap (hungover), and still have an awful burnt wood taste in my mouth. I do think part of feeling crappy is from laying around too much, though. I'm going to run a couple local errands today (one to get my INR) and see how I feel then. Thanks again, and I will keep everyone updated, but so far so good! Stef Quarter Acre Orchids quarteracreorchids@...> wrote: I am back from the hospital, having had an ablation yesterday morning. I'll recount the gorey details for those so inclined. The one thing I do want to say is that Dr. Calkins, Dr. Saag and the entire staff of s Hopkins hospital in Baltimore MD, couldn't have been more outstanding in every way. A very professional, yet caring environment. I have never had better hospitalization before, and believe me when I say I needed it this time! I started my saga on Monday morning with a CT scan.. I was given a much larger dose of the contrast dye than is usual, I guess to take a better picture. The whole procedure took oh.. less than a minute. The contract dye made my entire body hot.. very weird. Then I went in for the obligatory TEE. I pointed out that I do not do well with narcotics (demerol, percoset, dilauded... etc)... I was given Versed and Fentenly, the lattter of which may as well have been any of the above. I felt rather puky just after the procedure, although there was no throat pain at all... I dozed for most of the afternoon, and joined my faily at Mo's - an excellent seafood restaurant in Baltimore, ate some salad, had a club soda, had a little soup... the main entree came... monsterous crab cakes.. I took one bite, hailed the shuttle back to the hotel, and promptly puked my guts up. Slept well through the night, and left for the hospital at 6am Tuesday morning. Dr. Saag (who is, by the way, quite handsome) gave me the prelimnary talk again.. going over complications, what to expect.. etc... they wheeled me into the lab on time, and the last thing I really remember was talking to a guy named , who was responsible for hooking me up to stuff. They put arm restraints on as well, but didn't tie me down until I was under. The rest of the day was really quite blurry (thankfully). The procedure was longer than expected (in at 7am, out around 1pm), and I apparently was given a monster amount of Versed and Fentenyl (I don't do narcotics well). I vaguely remember that my husband was wearing a brown sweater and than my sister gave me a black scarf as a gift. I also remember the projectile vomiting that basically got everyone except my husband and my one sister. Everyone else got it full force... they give you those rediculous kidney shaped pans which don't hold anything... I also remember a slight bit of bleeding at the cathedar sight (likely from the puking) and Dr. Saag coming to apply pressure. The nurse then rudely (I'm sure not really) told me if I didn't stay awake I couldn't go to my room to sleep... my face was bathed with cool washcloth until I guess I was awake enough, and then I was transported to my room where I proceeded to sleep fitfully and puke the rest of the day and night. Today saw the worst narcotic hangover imaginable.... it's been 29 hours since I came out of surgery and I still feel like absolute crap. The thought of food makes me ill... I had to take potassium pills because I was so depleted... they're gross too and leave nothing but a salt taste in your mouth. But, through this all, my heart has remained in NSR... if I breath deeply my heart feels " achy " .. like I've been running in very cold weather, but honestly that's about it. I barely have a mark at the cathedar site and truthfully it hurt more taking blood than the site does! The jury is still out on the results, although Dr. Calkins was very pleased at the end of the procedure... the nurses were commenting about how pleased he was. That I made it through two days of intense vomiting without afib is really amazing, and I hope a good sign. Would I do it again? I'm sure by tomorrow, after a good nights sleep, I'll say yes! Stef Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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