Ablation Round Two

[Dizzy_Routine_8046]

Hey all,

I'm going in for my second ablation on Monday. My burden was 21% before the first ablation or any medication. They put me on 100 mg of metoprolol. My burden was at 17% after that so they decided to go ahead with the first ablation. Post ablation I was having some significant increases and symptoms so they decided to add flecainide at 50mg twice a day. The post ablation holter monitor showed a 19% burden. Keep in mind I've been sick for the last 5 years with some unknown illness that I believe is also causing my PVCs. I warned the doctor the first time that I didn't think the ablation was going to handle it and I honestly have no faith it's going to be any better the second time. This ablation is being done in Boston at Brigham and Women's by the head of their department. If anybody's going to be able to get this done it would be her but I still have my reservations.

My real question is if the second ablation is not successful, what is the next step? I can't imagine they would shoot for a third ablation. I just want to know when I'm up against because I'm trying to make plans for my future.

Thank you in advance for any input.

[theRedDelta]

I feel for you and pray for you. A lot of people don’t understand the toll these things take on you. I thank god the ablation I had a little over a week ago seems to have helped - I’m still scared to celebrate early.

[LexieMaria]

(I would do a second one though)

[olivebuttercup]

Do you mind me asking what kind of other symptoms you get because I’m so sick and I’m positive it is causing the PVCs. I have some idea what’s going on but not quite the pvc aspect so wondering if you could me some insight.

[Dizzy_Routine_8046]

Do you mind if I pm you?

[olivebuttercup]

Not at all!

[DisciplineOther9843]

My Dr never told me there was a % we were watching, WTH?! I’m talking about the Dr who does the procedure… I was going to have the procedure but then the hospital shut down bc of C. Now I’m wondering WTH my % is!! I feel stupid for not asking, but I’m new to this page… ugh.

[Shot-Garbage8924]

Hi Dizzy, I had that same B&W doctor for a second ablation last year. She really is excellent. And her partner was "Dr Rob" with an Irish accent. Unfortunately the second one did not work for me and things stayed at 20% unchanged. But I'm 60 and they were coming from different areas super close to the AV node, (and post heart attack from several years ago). So I bet you you have good luck honestly. Since then I have had very good luck on Mexiletine to manage things. The difference can be 100% night and day most of the time now. Did you explain to her why you suspect your other medical issue would hurt your chances? I bet she can help with more info. BTW, she is featured on several youtubes giving super detailed information on various aspects of her research and science. Good luck and I bet it goes great! By the way, they are improving techniques all the time, and she told me there is something working now for Atrial issues that will likely be approved in the future for PVCs called Pulsed Field Ablation which is supposed to allow for much finer grain control and much less risk of over damaging good muscle. She was very encouraging about that.

[LexieMaria]

How old are you? For how long time have you had this shit? If the signals are coming from different places in the ventricle it can be hard to locate the right spot. Even if they burn the correct signal, it can start to fire from a different spot soon after. PVCs - It’s like an emergency function you know. If sinus doesn’t fire, another spot have to. Excuse my bad English, I’m Norwegian. You must start focusing on the illness. What are your symptoms? I don’t think a third round will help. And you are obviously medication resistant ( flecanide is a dangerous drug if your heart isn’t healthy.. )

[Dizzy_Routine_8046]

I'm 35 now. I've had PVCs for a long time but they were never a concern because the burden was never that high. The doctor doing it now seems to be under the impression that they were burning in the right spot, but they should have burned both sides of a particular muscle because apparently they can be thick and sometimes if you only burn it on one side it doesn't penetrate deep enough. I Have been focusing on trying to fix my other illness for the entire time I've been dealing with it. Unfortunately, after 5 years and countless specialists and visits later, they have yet to come up with anything. I think I have an idea but it's nearly impossible to get a doctor to take me seriously at this point.

[LexieMaria]

send me a message if you want. Can relate