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Ablation complete...fingers crossed!

I just had my SVT ablation done yesterday.  I apparently had an AVNRT rhythm, which is the most common of the SVT rhythms and has a high success rate.  They believe that they were able to successfully ablate it.  I was under twilight sedation, and barely felt anything.  Really, the worst part was them attempting to put the IV in my arm.  This is probably more my genetic makeup than anything, but it took them 3 attempts.  Once the IV was in, everything else was fine.  I started to get nervous during the prep work, but after they started the sedation, I was awake, though time was compressed.  I remember asking about the catheters, and they said the catheters were already in place and the pacing was gonna start.  I spent most of the time looking at my heart rate on the monitors and seeing it sometimes in the hundreds, and sometimes in the 60's.  Then, only recall waking up by the surgeon who told me they believe it was successful.  It was a breeze!

Like I mentioned in my earlier posts, I was worried about the surgeon being able to trigger it.  I guess that wasn't a problem at all.  They said the SVT kicked off when they were just moving the catheter, which explains my sensitivity to it.  I spent the night at the hospital.  My leg didn't hurt...the only thing I noticed was the feeling of that first trigger beat that occurs whenever an episode occurs.  This happened last night much more often than times prior to the ablation, but I'm guessing that's just the heart irritation from the procedure that others have mentioned.  Luckily it never kicked off an episode.   I hope that's good news!  Since I was hooked up to a monitor (and had nothing else to do overnight but stare at it), I was able to actually see what was happening.  It doesn't look like a skipped beat, but rather an extra beat.  It occurred whenever I took a deep breath, but I can feel the weird nervy sensation in my chest...and then see two beats occur on the ECG screen.  Hopefully, that will settle soon.

So I guess the next step is to take it easy and keep my fingers crossed.  I think my biggest challenge will be convincing myself that the episodes won't happen.  Any tips on how to build that confidence?
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Avatar universal
Thought I might give an update.  I'm now 16 days post ablation and am happy to report that I'm still SVT-free so far.  The ectopic beats, which I was getting pretty much daily with slight exertions have settled down a bit.  I don't get them at rest, but I do still get them.  The ectopics seem to occur when my heart rate is up a bit, like after eating or walking up stairs quickly.

That being said, heart still feels a little sensitive or jumpy.  What I mean by that is my heart rate seems to run faster than it should for the exertion that I'm doing.  This can happen with just walking up stairs, or the issue from my last post, eating too much.  It's never a full blown SVT, but just higher than what I'm used to...and I can feel it.  

Also, sudden exertions that used to kick off my SVT still feel uncomfortable...like my chest and throat get tight for a few minutes until my heart rate settles down.  Not sure if that's what others have experienced.  I'll chalk it up to the heart still healing and continue to keep my fingers crossed.

On a positive note, I actually started to workout starting day 13, with some light walk/jogs.  I felt a little tight and I had plenty of ectopics, but felt good to be out there again...and again, no SVTs!  I hope the further I am from my last SVT, the better I'll feel.  
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Avatar universal
Just figured I'd post my 7 day update, since I remember surfing this forum and trying to figure out how everyone's procedure turned out.

So, I'm about a week out from my ablation now.  So far things are slowly improving.  First off, I'm happy to report that since the procedure, I have not have any episodes of SVT.  Prior to the ablation, I was having them, at the very least, every other day...so to go 7 days without one is a good sign.  That being said, as many other have experienced, I have been getting an influx of PACs or "trigger beats" as I'd like to call them.  I get that weird nervy sensation in my chest as if I was just about going into an episode, but this time there is no SVT that follows.  So, it's bitter sweet...the heart is definitely a bit more jumpy than usual.

Speaking of the jumpiness, I'm having a hard time eating full meals since the surgery.  Whenever I eat, it almost feels like my stomach gets filled quickly and the bloating makes my heart gets irritated.  This tends to kick off more trigger beats.  Hopefully that will subside, but it's been tough to keep up my nutrition, when I'm barely able to take in 1000 calories.

The area where the catheters were place are slightly bruised.  The bruising actually didn't show up until day 3 or 4...and hasn't really hurt much.  If I try to go on a walk, it'll feel a more sore, but not too painful.  Otherwise, I've been walking normally, though, not quite ready to test out the new heart with activity just yet.  

Doc said to give it a week, but I think I'll take it easy and see if the jumpiness will settle a bit more before trying anything.  Anyways, so that's where I'm at 7 days later.  My follow-up isn't until end of May. Finger crossed things will continuously improve!

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Avatar universal
Congratulations!! Im so happy to hear this! I just read another post from someone else who had a successfull  ablation as well. Ok lets shoot for another one I am probably having another ablation here soon in the future as well. So hopefully I will have a success story as well.
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1423357 tn?1511085442
That's great to hear!  Congratulations.  Now rest up for a week or so, then go out and try it out.  I needed a treadmill test with my cardiologist at the controls to convince me it was gone for good.
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1807132 tn?1318743597
Great news.  I had my avnrt ablated a year and a half ago and not one svt episode since. Your heart may be irritated for a few months even.  You will feel all sorts of oddness and maybe even little runs of something that would more likely be runs of pacs as opposed to the svt.  And then again you may not but if you do try to just go with the flow.  Your heart will indeed settle down with time.  It just needs a little time to readjust to a life without svt.  So take it easy for a while and push yourself when you feel up to it but if you start to get worse ectopics then just ease up a bit again.  And it is a very good sign that you weren't falling into svt.  It very well does indicate that your ablation was a full success.  Your heart may always have an odd beat here or there but getting the svt was definitely a good decision for the long term health of your heart.  Rest up and feel better soon.  Congratulations.
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1398166 tn?1358870523
Confidence???
Relax for a couple weeks. Heal up... get the anesthesia worked out and then go tempt the devil. Do whatever it is that you think triggered it. If you're an athelete - ease into it, but once you're strong again - go.get.it.

Be done.
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1807132 tn?1318743597
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