Third Alation?

[dburris]

Hey there, I need some advice.  Let me set it up a little bit.  I have had two ablations, one in Oct. '06 and the other in Feb. '07.  The first one didn't take and the second one was the one of the worst times in my life.  I had a chest cold before going into surgery and during recovery I threw up phlegm for several hours.  I had two partially collapsed lungs from anesthesia and pulmonary embolisms.  It was very scarry!  I was in the hosptial from Feb. 19- March 1.  The first thing I told my husband when I saw him in recovery was, "I'm never doing this again!".  Well, here we are almost a year later and I'm still on every medicine I was on and they're talking another ablation.  My EP told me to up my medicine when I have trouble. (I've made a link between my hormone fluctuations and my arrhythmias, but that's another post).  I'm doing much better than I was before, but they've said I'll always be on these meds.  I take flecainide, atenolol, aspirin, tegretol, coumadin, all twice a day except for coumadin.  O.k., I'll be 30 this year and I don't really want to be on medicine for the rest of my life.  So do I take a chance and go back for a third (they have new technology so he says he believes he can get it) or do I stay the course and up my medicine?  Thanks for listening!

[dburris]

Thanks so much for your encouraging words!  They are greatly appreciated!

[Sunshine47]

Well I am in the same dilemma as you. I am scheduled for my 2nd ablation the first week of Feb. I had SVT's, PVC's and PAC's. When they got in there they found I had a second A-node (a birth defect) so he got rid of it and I had 5 troubled spots that he ablated and I was free of the PAC's and PVC's fo 6 years and they returned. I have been on  meds since my first ablation. I would love to med free. My SVT's didn't come back thank GOD!! Those things scare the **** out of me. I hate the PVC's and PAC's especially when I am having thousands a day. So if he thinks that it will help you I would let him give it another shot. I had a terrible experience with my ablation also but I am tired of sitting around taking my pulse and wondering when the next skip, hop, or jump is going to happen. I am 47 and want to be healthy when my grandchildren come along. I have a granddaughter now but I am not able to watch her much because she makes Grammy carry her around and she is heavy and I am scared it will make me have more skips. That is sad to not be able to hold your grandbaby in fear of a jumpy heart.
I am getting fixed even if it means keeping on all my meds. The 6 years of bliss spoiled me. I want them back.
Good luck and I will be praying for you.By the way you aren't that far away from me. I am Tennessee girl.I have a wonderful doctor.If you want a second opinion you should look up Dr. Merrill in Kingsport. Can't beat him and his special talents.

[lol7]

Hi dburris,

Sorry to hear about your two unsuccesful ablations. I would definitely try again if I were you.

I had an ablation for frequent pvc's in November. It was a success and I am feeling better than ever. I'm not on any medication and am not experiencing dizziness anymore which was the main reason for my ablation.

I had a follow up visit to my cardiologist on Monday and all was fine. He showed me the result of my pre-ablation holter monitor pvc's which were around 20,000 a day. On a recent post ablation holter reading the pvc's amounted to just 4 so I'm delighted!

Don't lose hope yet - at least give it one more try. You know what they say about third time lucky ;-)

Keep us posted anyay.

Momto3 - Hope all is well and best wishes for the new year :-)

[dburris]

I had them done at North Carolina Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem.  They've got some new technology that would be able to let them get a better idea of how things look and where the problems are.  There is a place that they couldn't get to last time and I'm not sure why.  He said there is some sort of ridge there or something and if he went in again, he could tell what it is.  Whether he'd be able to fix it, I don't know.

[dquenzer]

I would probably try only because it took 3 ablations for my brother.

Where are you getting it done?  What are they going to do different?

[dburris]

Yeah, it's the same doctor and we talked about my reservations.  He completely understands and he said he'd do it whenever I wanted to.  The ablations were for atrial fibrillation and another arrythmia.  He's been wanting to take me off of my meds, but is not able to.  He believes he will be successful.  Thanks for your reply.

[Momto3]

WOW, that's some ordeal you've been through!  No wonder you're hesitant to go back a third time.  Is this the same doctor who did the other two ablations?  Does your doctor know why you are reservations?  What are the ablations for?

In 2003, I had two ablations for PVC's.  After having thousands of PVC's a day, I now only have occasional extra beats.  What a difference!

When I found out I would be on antiarrythmics for the rest of my life, I decided to go for the ablation.  Does the doctor believe that you can get off the medications if the ablation is successful?  Any idea of a success rate?