Morning Update

This morning we were called and told that we could arrive at the hospital early as the first ablation was postponed. We arrived to Beaumont around 9:45am and they whisked him away the minute we got upstairs. They had to do procedure prep which included some shaving of his fur (i mean chest). His parents (Bonnie & Fred) and I are here today and were able to go back and see him prior to him being taken back.

He was hooked up to all of the monitors and was experiencing atrial flutter and a very high heart rate. Which I think is good in the sense that they can already see the issues he has been experiencing before they go in.

Dr. Wong came in to talk to us before the procedure and explained everything very nicely for Sam's parents and I. Dr. Wong showed us the heart monitor and how the lines were showing his atrial flutter which is like a dog chasing his tail (all I could think about was Baxter and how he LOVES to chase his tail daily).  Atrial fibrillation feeds into atrial flutter - so with that said they are going to do his procedure in a few parts. First they are going to go in and correct the atrial flutter. This will correct the fast heart rate and most of his day-to-day symptoms. The success rate of correcting this today is 95%. However, correcting his atrial fibrillation success rate is only 50-60% the first time. More than likely a second ablation is needed to fully correct the fibrillation. Commonly the second ablation will show flutter in the left upper chamber instead of the right (where his current issues are isolated to) and the success rate jumps up to 80-90%.

After the atrial flutter is corrected and they are working on the atrial fibrillation they can tell if they are correcting it by looking for extra signals through the catheter. These signals can't be seen on an EKG and are easy for the doctors to see through normal signals.

They ordered a TEE test prior to the procedure to ensure there were no blood clots around his heart since he has been off of the pradaxa since Tuesday. The doctors assistant (Scott) came in and told us that the TEE was clear and they were starting the ablation process. It will take between 4-6 hours and he will come back and give us updates throughout. Stay tuned...

Procedure Details

Sam received a call from Beaumont today with all the details for tomorrow's procedure. We need to report to the hospital at 10:30am (much better than the original 6:30am they had him down for). His procedure is slated to last between 4-6 hours and afterwards he will need to lay on his back for up to 8 hours. This is very similar to the catheterization he had done in 2009 at UofM. Unlike the catheterization they will go through a vein in his leg which should be less invasive  - the catheterization went through his groin which took longer to heal and caused some complications.

Sam also received a Beaumont video link with a very informational video for tomorrow - almost too much information! I can't share that one as its through their patient system but I did find one that was shorter and similar that outlines some of the key details.

As you can imagine tomorrow will be a very long day and with that I am off to bed...I will post updates to the blog throughout the day tomorrow.

We appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers!!

Ablation Update

Its been 6 months post-op and we are right around the corner from Sam's heart ablation. For the past few months Sam has been on a few different medications trying to keep his heart rhythm normal. With the right medication combination he has been doing pretty well but recently the medications have started to become less effective causing arrhythmia issues again. In order for this to be corrected and for Sam to get off all of the medications he has to have a cardiac ablation done. Sometimes this procedure corrects the arrhythmia issues the first time and sometimes additional ablations are needed to correct it for good.

A couple months ago Sam met with Dr. Wong and discussed his options for all of his arrhythmia issues [see 4 month post] and set-up his ablation date. Before the ablation can be done he had to have a coronary CT scan and bloodwork done. Last Thursday morning Sam & I went to Beaumont for him to have the Coronary CT Scan to ensure his veins would be good in order to do his ablation this week. Out of all the tests and everything he has been through this was by far one of the easier ones. They took some blood work and after waiting 30 minutes he was ready for his 10 minute test. We even got to watch Ellen like old times while we waited in the prep area for his test.

This Thursday, May 31st (this day may ring a bell for some of you as its our 4 year wedding anniversary) we will be at Royal Oak Beaumont for his heart ablation. The hospital will call us Wednesday with the time of his procedure. Since Sam is only 6 months post-op he will have to stay the night in the hospital to be monitored for any complications. As you can imagine its not our ideal date for our anniversary but I have a feeling this was in our vows somewhere in the "for better or worse and in sickness and in health" part. So we will make the most out of our slumber party at Beaumont!

The past few months have felt like a ride at the fair with doctors appointments, tests, medications etc...hopefully all of this will be behind us soon.

More updates will come throughout the week...stay tuned!