I don't know what I have

[mitchiethekid]

I can't believe how uninformed I am. I was told I had a -fib after my first experiance and visit to the emergency room (where I spent the night in a telemetry unit. My next stop was the cardiologist who refered me to an EP doctor telling me "I'm a plumber and you need an electrician" He also told me about ablation and if he was in my shoes he would have it. (I am 57 year old male in otherwise seemingly good health other than hypothyroid . that day I went to the EP , by next week I had an ablation. I feel so woefully ignorant. Its been 5 weeks and I've had a number of epsiodes of skipping beats , sometimes the beats come in pairs and then a skip. Regardless of whether I rushed into it I'm here for the community of people with similar experience. It helps to know I am not alone. First I was told I will have symptoms 1-2 weeks while healing, now I'm told it can be 4-6 months . I have no idea  whether it was successful, next week I'm seeing the EP and hope to get some answers.... like what exactly do I have. Meanwhile I'm on coumadin and can't get the level right, I hate it. The only things that helps is prayer , faith in my treatment and the natual resiliency of my body to heal. Any suggestions would be most helpful. Thank you to everybody here.


This discussion is related to Ablation vs. Medication.

[Jerry_NJ]

Not sure I understand the quote from your EP, about being a plumber, not an electrician.  
AFig and most (all?) heart rhythm problems are electrical-based, thus the EP Electrophysiologist is an "electrician" not a "plumber".  Maybe you got it backwards and he suggested there is some blockage, hope not.

All the above aside, I think it can take time, even months, to fully heal from an ablation, and sadly it sometimes doesn't work... thus a second ablation is on the "table".

Keep positive, and let the healing do its best, you may come out ok, and with a fix you can get off of coumadin.

[Crickett559]

Ask ALOT of questions and make your EP stay there until you have a clear understanding on whats going on and what to expect.  All these Cardo and EP doctors have all this infomation in their heads and unless we ask the questions, its a dont ask dont tell kind of issue. Especially if the results are not bad or are normal. Your level of care meaning $$$ for the visit will go up but you will have a clearer understanding of whats ahead for you and that is all that matters anyways. Good Luck.