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 :-)

[ReggieEve]

Hi Jannie411 I've read your posts about the actual procedure. Wow you were brave wanting to be awake. It was very useful reading this. Was you afraid though beforehand? I guess I am lucky that I havent endured ears and years of SVT, but if I don't have the ablation maybe the SVT will progress and trouble me more. I am definately more anxious since my 1st bad episode.
I will keep you posted, I have had confirmation today that it is definately going ahead, my EP has a shoulder operation himself the next day!
Thanks for your kind and helpful words.

[barbie1999]

hi
I had an ablation about 6 weeks ago. Like you, I was so stressed and scared about th eprocedure. But I shouldn't have worried so much. It was absolutely fine, I was awake but away with the fairies! No pain and time went by quickly.
My recovery took a bit longer than I had expected. I was pretty tired for 2 days and with a very jumpy heart but it all settled down and was feeling myself within a week. ^ weeks on and I'm completely back to normal. Good luck

[lotus8]

Did you recover at home or in the hospital? Is it a recovery where you can hardly get out of bed or just one where you need to lay low and recoup your energy?

[tom_h]

lotus8, Barbie1999 has not been on the forum for many years.  You should ask your question in a new post to get fresh answers.  But personally, my recovery took about 4 days of taking it easy before returning to work.  I had it done on a Thursday, and went back to work Tuesday.  I'd say that I was near 100% in about 6 weeks   but drove and did light exercise in a week.

[Jannie411]

Hi......please feel free to read all my journal entries at Jannie411.  I've documented the entire  journey from a few weeks before the ablation, including details on the procedure, and weekly, monthly, and yearly updates.  There's some background history at the beginning of the journals too.  It's been a little over a year now since my ablation and as I go back and read the journal entries, it's amazing to see the difference in my quality of life between last March and now.  I was a little bit apprehensive at first about getting it done, but couldn't bear the thought of continued SVT episodes, which became worse and worse over time.  I am so glad I had it done, no regrets.  I wish you the very best.  Please keep me posted on how you're doing.

[tom_h]

I got a syringe of Vallium before being rolled away from my short stay cube.  It took about a minute to hit, and I was barely able to scoot onto the cath lab table.  At that point, I couldn't care what they did to me.  I was out for nearly 5 hours, but woke up quickly and refreshed in the recovery (love the new drugs) and was alert and eating a chicken salad sandwich 60 minutes later back in my cube.  The only thing I didn't like like was the Foley catheter they stuck in my while I was asleep.  When I woke up, I was like, "Whattt the......!!  It felt like a garden hose being pulled out of me when it was removed later in the day.  For the next two days, I had the "silent scream" everytime I went to pee.  That was more painful than recovering from the procedure itself.

[Karynecpa]

Hi ReggieEve,  yes I had AVNRT and I was told that the ablation was successful. Don't worry, you won't panic on the table, the meds they give to you really relax you so no panicking.  And yes, I am the queen of panic so I can speak first hand. They have to bring on the SVT in order to find it to ablate it but I only felt it momentarily and then I was "out" again.  I was told that I could expect some missed beats or short tacky runs as I heal but these have not been bad at all.  I also stopped my beta blocker so I am no longer on a medicine so my body needs time to adjust.  Bottom line, I would definitely do it again, definitely worth it.  I am counting the days when I can start working out again. Just have thyroid surgery to get through on Friday and then I'm golden :). Feel free to keep the questions coming... I am home this week and taking it easy which means lots of time on my iPad.  Take care, Karyne

[ReggieEve]

Hi Kcaravelli thanks for your comment. I had 2 options of where to go on the NHS, one that is really close to where i live, relatively new centre approx 2 years old. Or go to the Queen Elizabeth in Biringham where they have around 60 years experience between the team, one of the consultants i believe he did some of the first RF ablations in the UK. Hope he is around on the day :-)
I'm pleased to hear that you are cured of your svt thats great.
Thanks again