A fib before and after

[Bamajoe]

I have had some a fib for years. Maybe every couple of months on average and it might last 20 minutes to an hour at the most. For years when I would get the wild flush sensation and everything that I get with it I would run to the ER. By the time I got there I would have a normal sinus rythm. I would still sometimes have a high heart rate and the BP would be a little high. I was told that I had nothing wrong with my heart. I was told that I had reflux/gerd (which I do) and I was even told it was panic attacks. As the years went by It seemed to not happen as often. Then in April of this year I went to the ER with Kidney pain because of what I thought was a lingering stone I had been diagnosed with in March or so. They did a CT of my kidney and bladder area and low and behold they caught a glimpse of what would later be found out to be a left atrial myxoma. I was actually kind of relieved to find out that I did in fact have something going on with my heart. I knew I did but I could not ever "prove" it. I had the myxoma removed May 31st. For the 1st couple of weeks I did great. I walked a mile 7 days after surgery. Then on Sunday 17th of June I had the old firmiliar feeling come on. My blood pressure was really high and everything felt out of wack. Once again I went to the ER. By the time I got there it had settled down and as usually I had a normal EKG. A CT scan showed that I had some fluid building around my heart and they sent me back to Vanderbilt where I had the tumor removed. They kept me over night and monitored my heart for a few hours and everything seemed ok so they sent me home. They told me that it might be palptations and it was a part of the healing process of the surgery. Well then on Friday the 22nd of June I was woke up by the palpitations and wild flush feelings. I even let my wife feel my pulse in my neck. She could feel it was not right either. So I got in my truck and drove to the ER again. This time it lasted long enough for me to get there. They caught me in AFIB. They said my heart was trying to get back into a normal rythm. My heart rate got really high somewhere north of 190 maybe even in the low 200's I quit looking at it. Then the meds kicked in and I slowed down and the rythm was normal sinus again. The dr seems to think it still could be a product of the surgery. Have any of you ever had problems like this after surgery? If so what was the solution? Thanks

[Bamajoe]

I meant to tell you in the other post when I had the round on Friday the ER docs/nurses were great. They flew in and got my HR down and was talking on the phone with Vandy (my surgeon) within minutes. I was more or less asking if anyone else had problems like this before and after having a myxoma removed.I tried to give as much info as I could but I was trying to keep it short too. Kinda hard to do.

[Bamajoe]

I asked all those questions yesterday with my surgeon. I know to go to the ER if it happens again. I had a left atrial myxoma. It was the size of a golfball. My surgeon seems to think the A fib was caused by the myxoma and now is being caused by the surgery irritation of my heart. I am on 100 mg of metroplol and coumiden right now to keep my heart rate down and my blood thin. I go back to see him again in August to see where we stand. I hope he is right. I cannot stand A fib.

[Midijane]

Hi Bamajoe,

I'm sorry you had such a scare following your surgery. Things are supposed to be better afterwards, right? Atrial fibrillation at lower heart rates can make some people symptomatic, others don't even notice it. At a rate as high as 200 beats/min, nurses should absolutely scramble to bring the heart rate down, no wonder you felt bad.

Atrial myxomas grow in one of the two top heart chambers and right atrial myxomas have been known to be associated with Afib but not all of the time.

With your background and staggering heart rate in the ER, I would want to make sure my Cardiologist was aware of the ER visit and I would want to know what to expect in the future. Like, how long on average does it take for things to quiet down after surgery? What should I do the next time this happens, another ER visit? Can I prevent this from repeating itself via medication or other means. I'm sad the ER docs didn't go over these basics with you. To me, these are questions we need answered to have any peace of mind after such a scary episode.

Follow up on this with your Cardiologist asap and let us know what happens. Take care.