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.