lol7

[deedle1976]

Just wanted to say good luck for your ablation tomorrow. Be sure to let us know how it goes.

[Momto3]

Good luck tomorrow!!  

[iamfaithful]

Hi guys,
I pray everything works out for you.

How do you know when/if you need an ablation?  I know its something your doctor will reccomend, but what is the criteria?  When I was in the ER one time (after my first panic attack) one of the doctors told me I may want to try that.  She really made me mad because she said it like she was tired of me coming into the ER even though I have never seen her before.  My cardiologist never suggested this.  

[lol7]

Thanks Deedle and Connie! You're great for remembering. I'll keep you posted ;-)

Iamfaithful, I'm having around 25,000 pvcs a day as shown on a recent 72 hour holter monitor. Even when I went in for my pre-procedure tests on Tuesday, they took an ECG which showed bigeminy (a pvc every other beat). The pvcs are causing me to feel extremely lightheaded and faint at times so that's why I'm having the ablation.

[Momto3]

My doctor recommended an ablation when my pvcs (over 20k per day) caused my ejection fraction to drop.  I had pvcs for over 20 years before ablation became a topic of discussion.

[deedle1976]

What are you doing up at this hour? Get to your bed!! LOL.

[lol7]

Hello all,

I had the ablation done on Friday. It took over 3 hours. I was awake for the whole procedure. In the final hour they ablated three areas in the left ventricle. Then they ablated an area on the outside surface of the left ventricle. The ablation was very painful and I am stilll feeling quite sore in my chest and groin. Hopefully this will ease over the next few days. I'm on Plavix for the next six weeks to prevent any blood clots which may form. The cardiologist hopes that this ablation will stop the pvcs but said a further ablation may be necessary. This is because he could not deliver too much heat to outer surface of the left ventricle as it was a risky area to ablate. I will be seeing him again in January. Thank you all for your support.

Momto3 - Good luck on Monday ;-)

[deedle1976]

Glad to hear they think it wet well!! .... but sorry to hear you are in pain. Can you notice any change in the frequency of your PVCs yet? Were you able to feel your PVCs as palpitations or just the lightheadedness that they caused?

[lol7]

I can still feel my pvcs but it supposedly takes a while for the heart to settle down after an ablation. I could feel the pvcs beforehand but they did not always happen when I was lightheaded.

[Momto3]

I hope the "discomfort" will be worth it in the long run.  Fingers crossed for pvc-freedom : )

My stress test went well (still don't like that treadmill...lol).  I generally have the results before leaving the doctor's office, but the test had not been read yet.  The doctor is going to mail the report, and said I could email her also. They said "you did above average....for someone your age..."  LOL!!  I'll take it : )

Keep us posted on your ablation recovery.

[PVC man]

lol7-lots of courage going through that--hope the discomfort settles down soon and that the procedure was a success--25,000PVCs...wow I've had "bad" days wear I guesstimated about5-7thousand where I wanted to strangle someone...lol...hope you feel better right away!!!!

momto3-congrats on your stress results

[Momto3]

Thanks!!  Heard from the doctor -- "The results were just fine and...you only need a test once a year--... If everything stays good and you don't have symptoms...a plain echo once a year."  This means I'm off the treadmill, at least for now!!  YEAH!!  

For me, when I had 20,000+ pvcs per day, I didn't notice them as much (they were "normal" for me).  Now, when I get a run of them....."HEY, what was THAT?"  Weird how we adjust to what's "normal" for us, individually.

Have a fabulous Thanksgiving!