I am in the dark after cardiac ablation procedure

Hello all, new member to forum.....landing here after hours and hours of searching the WWW.

Background:

38 year old male....over weight (216) but in over all very good health. See my GP every year, and blood work has always been good. Last month, on 2 different occasions, I had a tightness of my chest. Just a tick beyond heartburn, almost unnoticeable. Heart rate never got above 90 bpm during episodes. I had been noticing being short of breath for about the last 6 months or so, but I blamed it on being out of shape. My job has been becoming less and less physical, and I thought I was just getting soft. I saw my GP about the tightness, and he scheduled an echo stress test.

During the test as I approached my target heart rate, I felt the tightness and according to cardiologist that was preforming the test I went into "wide complex ventricular tachycardia". I was taken off the treadmill, the doc called for a crash cart, and he kept talking to me asking me how I was feeling, etc. I never passed out, and that amazed him it seemed. He told me I went in and out of v-tach twice in his office. I was taken to the ER for a dye test which showed no blockage.

I was then told I would be taken to a more advanced medical center, about an hour away, to be seen by a specialist in cardiac physiology. He saw me that night, and told me I would have an EP and cardiac ablation the next day. I did have one, and was told by my family he said he treated 10 places on my heart. I spent that night and the next in the hospital, with orders to go home on Saturday after the procedure which was late Thursday night. During all of this I was very nervous, and Saturday after they took me off the heart monitor, I began feeling unwell. Don't know what it was, but doc canceled discharge, and they said I would stay until Monday and have a repeat stress test. The stress test was going to be held off for a couple of weeks.

I passed the stress test with flying colors...made it to around 95% of my max rate before my legs began to tire. The doc told me Monday night that all my monitoring looked good. He gave me beta blockers, and told me to take 1 full strength aspirin per day.......and follow up in a month. I am wearing an event monitor now in case I have any issues.

Other than that, I have no idea what I have been through, or what my recovery will be. Part of the the problem I believe is the 2 heart doctors.....whom are over an hour apart, and although seem to have a good relationship with each other, don't really communicate that well. The doctor who did the EP/ablation is alot different "bedside" than mine GP, which I am used to. I have been with my GP almost 25 years now, and we know each other, and he takes my hand when I need it, and baby steps me through something.....the EP doc is short and to the point. His last words to me were approximately the following: "procedure went well, passed stress test, and only 1 missed beat on heart monitors in 6 days. What more do you want me to do? You are young, don't worry so much, see you soon, God Bless". While all of that sounded good, I guess I was wanting a little more from this very busy man.

A couple of days after I came home, I had what I believe to be a panic attack.....heart rate climbed on event monitor to 120+ while I was sitting on the couch in the home alone. My rate came down after I made the recording, and called someone to come and get me, where I wouldn't be alone. Later my GP called in some meds for anxiety, which have helped in 2 occasions since.

I think part of the anxiety is me not knowing more about this.....that is why I am here. No one has taken the time to tell me exactly what happened to me, what caused it, why they had to do things they did........I KNOW they were busy saving my life, and didn't want to take time to chit chat, but I firmly believe that MY recovery wont' truly start until I know the story(s) involved.

Any insight I can gain from this sight would be so very much appreciated, thanks to anyone who will take the time!!

Thanks for the kind words and good advice Kitt. I will of course do these things. Would this be better done before my follow up with EP cardiologist, which will be the end of this month? I wonder if my GP would feel as if he was being dragged into the middle of it before being released by the heart doctors? No one can know how my GP would feel, but what is "proper procedure" in a case like this?

Any additional input on original post would still be welcome.

You might want to consult a health psychologist. They can treat your anxiety, and can help explain about how the heart works, what the cardiologists have documented in their reports and translate it to English, and help you manage the ambiguity of the situation.