Cardioversion

Rewind....Last week Sam started to get atrial flutter again and this time it wouldn't go away. His heart rate was over 130 beats a minute and we went into the doctors office last Wednesday, July 18th. Usually an extra dose of medication would bring his heart rate back down but that hasn't been working. Sam had an EKG done and met with Dr. Wong's nurse - Carla (Dr. Wong was out of the office when we went in). She looked over everything, examined Sam and texted Dr. Wong with the details of what was going on with Sam. Dr. Wong believes the atrial flutter is coming from his left side of his heart since he had fixed the right side of the heart in May. Sam was advised to increase his motoporal - taking an extra does if needed and to come back for a cardioversion next week.

[Sam's rhythm and heart rate prior to cardioversion]

A cardioversion is when an abnormal heart rate is converted via electricity (being shocked). Doesn't sound very appealing and I did ask how many shocks one's heart could take in a day.... 12! Unreal right!? One pad is placed in the center of the chest and the other is placed in the center of your back. These are connected by cables to a machine which functions as a electrical defibrillator. A synchronizing function allows the cardioverter to deliver a reversion shock, by way of the pads, of a selected amount of electric current over a predefined number of milliseconds at the optimal moment in the cardiac cycle which corresponds to the R wave converting the heart back into a normal sinus rhythm.

Fast Forward to today... we arrived at Beaumont at 6:30am and checked in for Sam's cardioversion. I started to get flash backs when we entered the waiting room as it was the same waiting room I waited 11 hours in for his ablation back in May. They took him back for prep and I was finally called back at 7:45am to see him. Dr. Wong was running late so I sat their cracking jokes and filling him in on all the other people their and my people watching information from the waiting room. Dr. Wong came in around 8:15am to talk to us and explain what his goal was today and for the future.

They took Sam into the lab and did a TEE first to ensure there were no blood clots around his heart and then performed the cardrioversion (only once) and then he was back in recovery. I made Dr. Wong promise me it would in fact be this short of a procedure given his track record. I went back to the waiting room and after 15 minutes Dr. Wong was already back to see me.. I was shocked! He said he was back in a normal sinus rhythm and in recovery. Music to my ears. Now this is not to say this all happens again but I am remaining positive and calling in a favor to the big guy up stairs to give us a reprieve. We were discharged at 11am and headed home for Sam to nap all afternoon from the anesthesia.

We see Dr. Wong for a follow-up appointment on August 27th and are sticking to the 'original' plan of taking Sam off all of the arrthmya medications and monitoring his heart for a month on a heart monitor. However, Dr. Wong is being proactive and is already requested his 2nd ablation be done in October so that he can ensure the heart doesn't have any other arrthmyia triggers. He is confident

Stay tuned....the beat goes on.

Ablation Updates

Its been almost a month and half post ablation and I am sorry for the delayed update! This thing called life gets kinda crazy at times. Sam's first week home was spent taking it easy as he was very sore from the long procedure and was starting to feel the burning sensation in his chest from all of the ablations. What hurt him the most was his arms/shoulders - since in the operating room they have you flat on the table with your arms out straight the entire time. Dr. Wong had decreased Sam's arrhythmia medications prior to us leaving the hospital.

For a few weeks post ablation Sam didn't feel any arrhythmia issues like the atrial flutter or atrial fibrillation he felt before the procedure. Things didn't feel "normal" but that was due to the trauma his heart had been through and part of the healing process. However, a couple weeks ago Sam started to get atrial fibrillation again. Needless to say it was disappointing for him despite the fact we were told it may take several ablations to fully correct the issue. It was a speed bump in the healing process but luckily Sam was able to take an extra does of his medication and it stopped. Which is a VERY GOOD thing since before the procedure the medication wasn't working anymore and he was on the highest dose he could take.

The goal is for Sam to be on the decreased dose of the arrhythmia medications for 3 months and come in for a check-up at the end of August with Dr. Wong. At that time he will have an evaluation and some standard heart tests run. From there they are going to put him on a 30 day heart monitor (always enjoyable for Sam). They want to see how the heart is doing post-ablation but AFTER its had time to rest. If the monitor shows everything to be in good working order he will be able to stop taking all of the arrhythmia medications and the blood thinner. [Fingers crossed]

 

Sam's birthday is this Saturday so he is currently deeming it his 'Birthday Week'....we are going to enjoy our summer and we will keep you posted during the recovery process.