5 box Thorascoscope maze done on me 9/17

[Pete0629]

Hi all, just letting you all know I had this procedure done last Friday at Ohio State University Ross Heart Hospital. Dr Sirak is one of the innovators of this minimal invasive procedure. To save time and learn more you can go Ohioafib.com.

The advantage of this procedure over a typical ablation is it is much more affective on my condition, persistant, afib. It is more thorough and has better longterm results.It is definatley not a walk in the park. It is more invasive than the popular cardiac ablation, but as I said more affective on my type of afib, from the research I have done.

I am going to answer as many questions as I can in order to help people that are considering the procedure.

From what I have understood the procedure is " in network" in my United Healthcare insurance network. But I haven't seen any bills yet so only time will tell.
The worst part of the surgery is , to me, the feeling, weakness, and psycotic feeling from the  anethstetic and pain killers, I hate em! I actually hallucinated on them and they lingered for days. I did talk to others that have had surgery and they didn't have the same reaction , so it may be just me. I had essentially 2 nurses taking care of me in my room, one for general house keeping and care and the other a cardiac nurse. Both were professional and caring to the max. I also, being a single guy, developed a crush on my nurse in the OR, but I'll save that story for my buddys.
I have 10 incisions on my body, under my arms across my chest and 2 drain holes below my ribs. Small ones 1/2 inch long. Another concern I had was the whole BM issue, but I can report this morning I'm happy in that area.
I am on several meds for the shorterm. Mainly, as Dr Sirak told me, my heart has burns on it for the moment and need to heal, there will probably be inconsistant reactions to the inflammation over the next few weeks, but eventually I'll be taken off most or all the meds.

I'm not out playing tennis again, yet, but that is in my sites.

Any more questions? I'll be home the rest of the week and happy to let you know my experience.

Pete

[FruitFirst]

They must be hanging their head in shame now that the 5 Box has a better % then any other maze.

[Jack424c]

Hi Everyone!

I'm new to this website. My EP suggested that I consult Dr. Sirek after 2 failed PVA's. My AF is persistent and I'm on amiordarone. I spoke with Dr. Sirek and he sound confident that he can correct my problem. Any thoughts? What should I expect?

[madgicb]

Hi David,

I had the five box surgery in May 2011 and have had no afib since then. My recovery was super-quick and I had no issues. Heart monitoring shows that I have some ectopic beats (PVCs, skipped beats...) but I don't notice them at all. I am thankfully off all meds.

Just to be clear... you had the five box surgery by Dr. Sirak at Ohio State? If you are having problems and experiencing afib, I assume you are being helped by Dr. Sirak. It has only been a few weeks since your surgery. It can take a while for the heart to heal and the inflammation to clear up. Are you on an antiarrhythmic at this time? Were you in NSR when you left the hospital?

Your breathing will improve. I walked a lot after surgery and that seemed to help me. Everyone is different of course.

I hope the afib stops soon... let us know how you are doing.

[David580327]

Hi Pete, my name is David and I had the 5 box maze done on 9/11. unfortunately I'm still having many afib and flutter problems.  my doctors keep telling me to be patient and I am, but I'd be lying if I didn't say I expected faster results. I also on 7/11 had the catheter ablation, that unfortunately had no effect . you have no mention of them collapse your lungs to do the surgery, I am 54 and when the afib does hit I struggle with breathing  and the ability to walk any distance, but on good days, I get out of the house and take care of things that need to be done.
I'd like to follow your continued progress and speak more down the road to see how your recovery is going.
I have kept indepth details from the first day my afib began on March 21st. Example: Sept. I was in afib for 179 hours. Since my surgery I've been in afib 126 hours. Yes I am waiting as patiently as I can for this thing to take affect.
so let's get together sometime and compare notes, but in the meantime feel good and I hope for your speedy recovery !
David from Naples Florida.        

[Jerry_NJ]

Congratulations on your success.  It usually takes time, some times months, for the heart to heal - I do not know anything specific about your procedure.

Recovering an old thread/discussion isn't the best way to connect with the people who interacted on that thread.  Many of them got what they wanted and don't come back to see what else is being discussed.

Clearly this thread started by "Pete.." has a lot of information and views.  Perhaps you'll be able to get direct interaction with one or more of those by sending them a message. You can get to the message facility by "Clicking" on their "handle" on any of the posts made by them.

Good luck.

[madgicb]

Best of luck as you heal up from surgery! Glad to hear it went well, and I hope the healing goes as smoothly as possible.
Madge