Catheter Ablation for SVT - any success stories as I'm so scared?

[ReggieEve]

Hi, I'm a 32 year old female, diagnosed with SVT in December 2011. I saw an Electrophysiologist in March and he advised that I have a Catheter Ablation due to possibly having AVRNT or a concealed accessory pathway...
I am absolutely dreading it to say the least. I understand that I may be sedated and I have never experienced that before. I don't want to be awake and know what they are doing as the whole thing freaks me out. I am als petrified that something will go wrong. Can anybody share anything that will make me feel a little better? I know I need to have it done as I am living with constant fear of the SVT. Many thanks :-)

[kcaravelli]

Hi ReggieEve,

I had an SVT ablation about 10 years ago to address my fast heart rate at that time. Ablation procedures have evolved quite a lot since then.  I am now in the final planning stages of an ablation for afib.  I am doing a lot of reading so that I  understand the risks and have some intelligent questions for my doctor. I do not believe in relegating my health to him. I go to him for his expertise...I ownd my health and so should you.
I my current reading it seems that the technology they now use to go in up your Femeral artery is much advanced from just a couple three years ago.

I would say the most important thing to do is be sure you are working the best medical team you can find in your area. Don't just bow to your doctor thinking he is a smart guy. There will be a team that does it. Miine was done by my doctor at that time and his team had done over 160 of them. Ask those kinds of questions. My nurses pointed me to the best heart people in the area.  I left my doctor who was good and went to the best.  In doing that I went from a 30% ejection fraction in my heart to abouot 50% which is pretty close to  normal.  I am telling you that so you can believe in the miracles of medicine and understand that they won't happen by accident.

[Karynecpa]

Hi ReggieEve,  
I just had my ablation done last Thursday.  I must say I got myself all worked up over nothing.  For me, the worst part was having my needle thing (where they put IV meds) removed upon discharge as they removed my arm hair with it!  I don't remember much about the procedure itself....the sedation they gave me put me out for almost all of it.  I only woke up when they triggered the SVT but it was only for a short time.  I did not feel the catheters going in, the ablation or even the numbing needles before the catheters.  When I did wake up, I had some horrible shakes, shivering but they put something in my IV and then I instantly felt better.  The other part that wasn't pleasant was laying flat on my back for 4 hours afterward but again, they gave me meds to tolerate the back pain.  So here I am, at home, 4 days later and am just a little sore in the groin and my arm where the needle was, walking slowly but mobile, I take the stairs slowly and I'm limited on what I can lift for a week but other than that, I feel fine.  Bored in fact, because I'm used to always being busy.   The other thing I want to mention is to make sure you have a doctor who is very experienced with this and don't be afraid to get a second opinion.  I did and ended up at Penn with one of top docs in the world.  You'll be fine, I'm a complete baby when it comes to pain and I found it to be nearly painless....except for the arm needle getting removed.  Next time I get anything done (which is this Friday, unfortunately...getting thyroid removed), I'm shaving my arm!  Good luck and let me know if you have any questions while this is all still fresh in my mind :)

[tom_h]

Just to add to Karynecpa's post.  I too had mine done on a Thursday, and was back to work the following Tuesday, then drove 250 miles Thursday morning (US Thanksgiving Day) to visit our kids in the Philadelphia area.  You will be back on your feet the day of the procedure, and literally up and walking around the next day.  Maybe sore,m but you'll be walking around without any aid. I slept in a downstairs bedroom the first and second night before taking the stairs to shower, get dressed, and rejoin the world again.  WIthin two weeks, I was taking easy laps at the rink. After one month recovery, I wasn't back at 100%, but I was pushing as hard as I could with whatever I had to give at the time.  If you're in good shape, you'll pop back fast.

[littlegreenman1]

OK. Here's the deal. What %-age did your doc give you for success??

95%, 85%?????????
If it's somewhere in those lands - then be 95% or 85% freaking PUMPED AND EXCITED AND READY like you're 7 years old and Christmas is around the corner.

I had mine done in July 2010. Not a blip of SVT since. I just PR'd a full marathon this past weekend.

Ablation works for AVNRT. Or whatever brand of SVT you have. It's really stinking expensive, so don't squander this gift of heart rhythm. Git 'er done and a couple weeks later... hit the gym and LIVE!!

[ReggieEve]

Thanks again, i'm sorry to hear you are having a rough time with yours. Hope that they can diagnose something for you soon and get you right. Horrible not having control over these things isn't it.
I'm on countdown 23 days :-(

[ReggieEve]

Thank you for your response, i'm still getting the hang of it on here sorry if I'm posting like a geek! I'm starting to feel a little easier (microscopic amount haha) i tend to focus on thee worst case scenario, the small risk of things going wrong like needing a pacemaker fitted. Bit silly i know. But the centre that i am going to for my ablation, the Queen Elizabeth in Birmingham, sounds as though it has a very experienced team there, I believe they do around 800 per year.
I hope that i bounce back as quickly as you, i am not as fit as i was before i had my son. I used to do circuit training and spin classes but i am too afraid to do anything that raises my heart rate in fear of having an episode or getting these weird skips in my chest. (can you tell i am a complete wuss?).
I will have a read of Jannies walk through of ablation, hope it doesnt scare me though :-)
Thanks again