Wellness

[Shelbelle]

I had a cardiac ablation with mixed results--not a complete cure. I still take a blood thinner--Pradaxa--and always will. The chances of complete success aren't that great. Yes, I was in the hospital one night. It was remarkably quick and easy. 

John, this was the answer my friend wrote me back when I asked her about her procedure at Hopkins for A Fib. I wanted to be sure you saw it.  Shel

[hckynut]

Hello Shelbelle,

Thank your for your response to my questions. I am thinking there must be different types of Ablation Procedures done since I spent so many weeks on the Heart Floor. The type they taught us about in my 72 Cardiac Rehab Classes were a very invasive type of open surgery.

One of my 3 friends with A-Fib had an Ablation surgery that took almost 3 hours, I was there with his wife during his surgery. He was in the hospital ICU for over 3 days. 

I did read where they put the catheter in the femoral vein to do some Ablation surgeries now, which off times only requires a 1+ day stay in the hospital. My friends surgery also did not cure his A-Fib problems, though he did say they are less frequent and less severe than pre-sugery. He is not on any Blood thinner, at least that is what he told me. I do know he does take meds which have to be checked regularly, most involve a hospital stay.

So far I haven't had this problem with my heart, just the artery plugging issues those 2 times.

Again, I appreciate you getting back to me about this because an overnight stay for an A-Fib procedure I certainly was not aware was possible.

Take care now,

hckynut(john)

[Shelbelle]

John, if you have any other questions, please feel free to ask me and I will ask her. She is in middle 70's and leads a very active lifestyle, takes care of a very large home with lots of stairs, babysits for her toddler grandson and she and her hubby travel the world about twice a year, so her A Fib is certainly not getting her down .