Well, I survived my appointment. My thoughts are jumbled right now with all that happened. I'm going to go through what happened in the order it happened so excuse any skipping around that may occur. :)
First, I thanked him for the great ablation. I don't remember much of anything from it and for that, I will always be greatful to him. He did a great job.
I started out by asking him about the ablation. He told me he was definatly able to cause my tachycardia. First, he paced my heart normally. Then, after giving me the drugs, he was able to cause my heart to beat 245 times a minute! He then told me it would slow down to 235 and stay there. (How is 235 slowing down?) The place was about 4cm from my sinus node. Anyway, he ablated that spot and then five spots around it. He said he got all of it. Yay! That's the good news.
Next we talked about my recent event monitor. He said that I am having tachycardia. It is fast, about 160, but it's not coming from the same place. He then said something that, for some reason, bothered me. He said my heart is beating normally. Huh?! He went on to explain that my sinus node thinks this is how it is supposed to make my heart beat. It's not normal for most people but my heart thinks it is.
Just great...I thought at that point, I was screwed. My heart was gonna be beating like this for the rest of my life. I guess my face showed a little of that. I told him I couldn't live the rest of my life like this. I'm only 26 years old. He agreed with me. He said that this is debilitating for me. I'm getting closer and closer to passing out...and that scares me big time.
He said that I had a couple options to treat it. The first was to add a new drug or two to what I'm taking. I'm wary to this. No drugs have done much in the past. I'm on 200 mg of Toprol right now and I'm still having a pulse of 160. Also, I don't want to take drugs for the next 50 years of my life. That's too much. I'm too young to have to worry about this!!
He said another option was another ep study and ablation. Since he's already paced my heart and done a bit of that, he knows more of what to expect. He said this time my tachycardia is coming from my sinus node. He will have to ablate part of my sinus node to fix the problem. He doesn't know how much though. He said he would ablate part, then pace to see if it fixed. He would continue doing that until my heart beat lowered to an acceptable rate. Usually, the acceptable rate is about 40 beats a minute. He said that the heart compensates for the ablated part of the sinus node and raises the heart rate. Since he'll make my heart rate go down to 40, it will have enough space to raise up without causing more tachycardia.
There is a risk though. Some people's heart rate doesn't go back up. He said if that happens for me, I will have to have a pacemaker.
The thought of a pacemaker scares me. I'm 26. I don't like the idea of being 26 with a pacemaker. However, having tachycardia or taking drugs for the rest of my life I like even less. I told my EP that I would risk having a pacemaker if it meant I didn't have to have tachycardia anymore. If I didn't have to worry about passing out it was worth it.
I'm scared to have another ablation. I have a knot of worry about it in my stomach. But, I don't remember much of anything from my ablation in April. I have isolated memories...the last thing I remember before it starting was being wheeled into the room. I don't remember anything of the actual procedure. I don't even remember seeing my EP that day at all. I asked my EP if I could have a prescription for Valium again. I also asked if anesthesology could be involved again like last time. He agreed to both. I will also be having it at the same hospital again. All good things. It went well last time and I expect it will go well this time. Still, I'm nervous.
Finally, my EP has switched my heart monitor to a Holter monitor for the next 24 hours. I'll go back to the event monitor afterwards. I'm not clear why he wants to record every little heartbeat I have for 24 hours...oh well...Most of my questions were answered. I still don't know about the events that were recorded yesterday. I filled my monitor twice with some very weird feelings. The rhythms were sent to the wrong office though. oh well. I've had those same feelings again tonight so I know they're on my holter monitor.
Overall, my appt was a good one. I think the appt went well. I have a plan now. I know what I'll be doing next. Even though I'm nervous, I feel much better after I have talked to my doctor.
Thanks for all the good thoughts. Please continue to keep me in your prayers. I'll need them...especially in about three weeks.
Lil