VT ablation

I recently posted that I was having surgery on 9-6-12 and it was for an AV node ablation witht the possiblity of a pacemaker. Well I had the surgery however he did a VT ablation without doing a pacemaker. My dr stated that while I was in surgery he believed he was able to ablate the area without having to put a pacer in but once I was awake i started to have the same problem with the heart rhythm. So now I came home from the hospital yesterday and now on monday I have to go back to the drs and prepare to get another monitor on. In order to determine why i am still having the problem. I explain to the dr i still feel a little short of breath, feet swelling, and i still feel the abnormal heartbeat. But I know i have to give it time. My question is as anyone ever encounter this situation, where you and your family were preparing for something and the dr kind of changed the plan? Now please dont get me wrong I know its all in GODS hands and he has a plan for me. I am just tired of not feeling comfortable and being able to do things like a normal person without getting tired easily. If anyone out there has experienced this can you spread some words of encouragment my way.Thanks in advance.

7 Comments

Great Answer

by Caguy - 2012-09-09 01:09:10

I was wondering why they didn't do that to me before putting the pacemaker in, I asked if I should have that done and then see if I needed a pacemake but two Dr's said I needed the pacemaker, My wife put her head to my chest and says my heart sounds strong and she can't hear that flutter that it had before. Well mybe the Dr's were right, but will get my second checkup on the 20 th of this month and ask my Dr if the flutter gone.Th 20 th will be about 22 days after they put the pacemaker in, oh by the way I never got any pain from the operation and still no pain and were they put it it is not sore or swollen , I guess I was lucky or maybe this happens all the time who knows??? Anyway I like your answer and will ask my Dr when I see him.Thanks AL

CaGuy pointed something out

by PacerRep - 2012-09-09 01:09:30

I forgot to address why you did not recieve a pacemaker. When you Ablate the AV node you essentially create complete heart block in a patient for the rest of their life. A pacemaker is essential to daily living at that point. He didn't ablate the node and therefore scratched the pacemaker.

CaGuy you sound like you have a completely different arrythmia than the poster.If you are having a true flutter (or maybe Atrial Fibrillation) a pacemaker can help to regularize the rate in your heart which is why when your wife was ezz dropping on your heart it sounded like a military drummer going in to battle (boom, boom, boom) nice and steady.

PaceRep

by asims10 - 2012-09-09 01:09:43

Thanks for truly breaking it down to me in the simplest form. I am just gonna see how how recover from this 3rd ablation. Because all I want is to be able to live a productive life with my husband and kids. If this does it than I am cool, however if it does not than I just don't know what else to do. Thanks again for your comment.

Ahhh Electrophysiology

by PacerRep - 2012-09-09 01:09:50

Where to begin, I will try to keep this short because I could write a book about ablations.

So the suggestion of the AV node ablation means that based off of the monitor reports they had a sneaky suspicion that the origin of your irritable foci (the part of your heart thats acting like a jerk) orginated from the top part of your heart, or the Atrium. When you burn the AV node it sentances that irritation to a lifes sentance in the top part of the heart, it protects the ventricle which obviously is the important part of the heart that supports life.

Surgery day arrives, your on the table listening to crappy music while everyone is in the control room with catheters in your legs looking at you like a lab specimen. The E.P. saw something while he was forcing the electricity in your heart to do unnatural things. Whatever he did or saw (so many possibilities here) he changed his "sneaky suspicion" from the the irritation coming from above the node, to below the node. This changes it from an AV node ablation to a VT ablation.

VT Ablations are hard work, I hate it when I get called in for them because I can just write the rest of my day off and better bring a sack lunch. If the irritation is below the node there is no longer a reason to burn the node to protect the ventricles from crazy electricity because its already in the ventricles. There could be more than one place acting up, it could be just one. He probably found one of the spots, kicked its butt and turned you loose. But that spot sometimes has friends and thats why your still feeling the discomfort.

Hope I explained it a little for you, sorry for the bad analogies.

PacerRep

by asims10 - 2012-09-09 01:09:54

In reference to not putting in the pacer I understand it now I just wish he would have said something prior to instead of having me and my family prepare our lives for me having a pacers. But like I said I will see what this 3rd ablations has in store for me and take it from there. All of your comments have truly been helpful.

Your welcome

by PacerRep - 2012-09-09 02:09:38

You have to cut the guy a little bit of slack though. He probably truly thought you were getting a pacemaker, especially if he thought he was taking out your node. He didn't realize it was a completely different problem until he got in there and started playing around. He isn't gonig to wake you up in the middle of the surgery and be like "oh by the way no pacemaker" He'll just tell you later

Lol pacerRep

by asims10 - 2012-09-09 03:09:06

Thanks for making me laugh.... I needed that thank you. :)!

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