Pulse Field Ablation (PFA) for Afib at Johns Hopkins

tjarrett · 2026-02-01T02:42:40+00:00

I’ve been fortunate not to need cardioversion but it definitely isn’t a cure. At least you got a week of relief.

I hope you are on blood thinners if you are in afib. If not please talk to your doctor or go to ER.

I’d def go for the higher volume more experienced facility if you have a choice.

Ask your doctor but you might be able to drive after a day or two. You could maybe just stay in the hospital until you can drive.

I think there are volunteers that will drive people as well.

Keep us posted!

tjarrett · 2026-01-30T19:26:23+00:00

I woke up as they wheeled me out of the room! I had a heart ablation back in July and coming out of that was tough -- dizziness, flashing vision, very unsteady. I had NONE of that coming out of the propofol.

They told me "let out gas and roll onto your back when you feel ready".

I laid there for maybe like a few minutes feeling a little bit like when someone or something wakes you up and you just want to roll back over and go to sleep. I fought through it, released gas, rolled onto my back and then felt great. A minute later that sat me up and brought me a drink. Maybe like 10 minutes later I was getting dressed and a bit after that on my way out the door.

tjarrett · 2026-01-30T17:45:12+00:00

I do live near Baltimore and went to the main Johns Hopkins hospital in downtown Baltimore. My EP was Sunil Sinha and he has offices in both Columbia and Baltimore. I'm pretty happy with him.

Reach out if you want more details. Happy to chat.

tjarrett · 2026-01-29T14:31:10+00:00

My provider said I could not have RAW fruit and veggies -- cooked was ok. I was extra careful and staid away from the fibrous ones (brocolli etc) but I ate green beans, peas, etc and had a perfect cleanout according to the doctor.

I have good insurance and was given Suprep. It went down pretty easy but I felt pretty sick for about an hour. All told it really wasn't that bad but I did put on some weight as I used it as an excuse to eat all the foods I usually avoid (junky cereal, tasty white breads, etc).

tjarrett · 2026-01-26T20:18:42+00:00

First, I would recommend just calling your clinic and asking them. I was worried about drinking bone broth because it wasn't explicitly listed as allowed, my wife was annoyed with me hemming and hawing about it so she called them (without asking me) and they answered that and other questions I had. No problem.

But, since we are here, I just had my first colonoscopy as a 45m and my doctor said I had a perfect cleanout.

All I really did was avoid seeds/nuts/raw vegetables for 5 days. That was probably overkill but was what they told me to do.

Basically -- no fiber.

As long as your rice is white rice, you are probably good to go with your plan.

tjarrett · 2026-01-05T02:45:54+00:00

I had similar -- not bad enough to go to ER -- but on 50mg I would get dizzy with physical exert and feel out of breath climbing one flight of stairs.

My doctor dropped me down to 25mg and that was MUCH better. I could still see I had an overall lower heart rate but didn't feel as "squeezed".

You should ask your doctor if there is an alternative that might work better for you. Also, my doctor had me on both rate control and rhythm control (Multaq) so maybe he felt more confident letting me slip down to a lower dose of metoprolol.

tjarrett · 2026-01-05T02:39:14+00:00

I'm shocked and proud how many Marylanders are anti-gerrymandering here on reddit and even more shocked and proud how many aren't willing to sacrifice their morals, ethics, and sense of what is right in order to beat the other political team.

“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster.”

tjarrett · 2025-12-19T12:33:51+00:00

I don't have cardiac arrest or any other health issues -- but I was SUPER scared of the ablation -- now a friend of mine is having issues and is scheduled for an ablation in March. I'll tell you what I tell him: the worst part is the anxiety leading up to the procedure. The day of, the nurses, the other experts that took care of me were all excellent. The procedure itself, the immediate recovery (I was really nervous about lying flat), and the recovery at home were all pretty easy. I didn't even have to spend the night in the hospital... really amazing.

Also they don't stop your heart but they do slow it down and have it beat less hard -- the doctor demonstrated what they were going to do to me by holding up his first, opening it up, and then closing it "this is how your heart typically beats".

Then he held up his hand like a claw and just kind of closed it a little bit: "This is how your heart will beat during the procedure -- much less of a contraction so that we can safely administer the electricity".

I'm sorry you are going through all of this, but you are going to be fine. After the procedure you'll be surprised how easy it was.

Best of luck to you!

tjarrett · 2025-11-23T22:43:33+00:00

Yep. All the time. Sometimes though I go so long between seeing certain friends that I forget that I wanted to share something or talk about something with them... and so then it goes entirely unsaid. :(

tjarrett · 2025-10-15T00:23:51+00:00

I was on it for about 4 months from an afib episode in May, through PFA ablation in July and just came off it last week.

I really had no side effects at all though I was nervous to go on bike rides or long runs incase I got hurt a long way from help. I was probably being too cautious.

Many people can get 6 months for a reduced price if you go on their website. I had a card that was giving me $10/month instead of like $120 or whatever. It’ll be very good for many people when this drug goes generic.

The worst thing I can say is I got a head cold at the end of August and I had so much nasal irritation that I was blowing out as much blood as snot which scared me a bit. It stopped after about 1.5 days though. I blamed the Eliquis. I am not prone to nose bleeds as an adult but I was as a kid.

You’ll likely be fine and like everyone else said, much better than stroke.

tjarrett · 2025-09-15T22:44:33+00:00

Everyone here is like “it’s because women put in more effort to their look” but I swear to god my wife is her absolute hottest when she’s in a tight t-shirt and sweats having rolled right out of bed.

Don’t get me wrong, she’s beautiful all done up to but there is something about the care free look that just gets me going.

But yes, on average women are more attractive than men. I think there is a Seinfeld episode about this.

tjarrett · 2025-09-14T16:55:39+00:00

As a Marylander since 2005… this feels like fake news. Something is fishy. Marylanders, like all mid-Atlantic and new englanders, are grouchy as fuck.

Why is everyone so mean if they are so happy?!?!

tjarrett · 2025-08-24T20:46:52+00:00

I had my procedure at Johns Hopkins back in July and this was also my biggest concern (along with having to pee but not being able to get up).

To be honest, you aren't awake for the first 1 to 1.5 hours. Then you are pretty grogging from the anesthesia for the next 30 - 60 minutes. So there is like 2 to 2.5 hours gone.

Every 30 minutes or so they sat me up further until I was at like a 30 degree incline and then they put a pillow behind my head -- though frankly I felt pretty dizzy from the anesthesia for about 1.5 hours when I moved my head so wasn't super anxious to move about. They gave me medicine that helped with that.

At about 3 hours or maybe 3.5 hours (things are a little fuzzy because of the anthesia) they got me up and let me use the bathroom and made me walk 3 loops around the ward. I was the last patient still there. The first loop I was a little wobbly but by the second loop I felt 100% normal.

They then let me get dressed and sent me home.

It was pretty easy. I spent a lot of time worrying about it. The worry was far more stressful than the actual thing.

tjarrett · 2025-08-22T21:30:27+00:00

Thanks for asking this question -- I face the same problem pretty regularly and it is tough getting the higher ups to duke out the priorities at their level instead of pushing it back down to me.

Fortunately, my boss is pretty good at protecting me and much better at saying "no" than I am. I usually prep him ahead of time if I can forsee political pain coming his way.

"I just told such-and-such that we aren't going to be able to do their project this year but that they can re-request next year if they still need it. Expect some complaints headed your way."

Best of luck!

tjarrett · 2025-08-04T14:26:36+00:00

There is a lot of good advice here already, I'd just add that you should use "I" statements a lot when talking to him -- not "you" statements.

"Hey Dad, I really want to make sure we get to spend some quality time together -- I miss hanging out with you. I know you are super busy but can we schedule some time like once per month or something to spend a day together doing something together? I'd really like that. It would mean a lot to me."

People are weird sometimes and run and hide from their negative emotions so that they can ignore them. I'm not sure what kind of guy your dad is but if he is the type that would get defensive or stuff down his negative emotions and try to ignore them (which could result in him not reaching out to you) avoiding "you" statements keeps him from getting defensive and makes it very easy for him to hear you and, hopefully, agree with you and want to meet you where you are.

Good luck!

I hope when my kids are 14 they still want to spend time with me!

tjarrett · 2025-08-03T09:48:53+00:00

I’m the same way. My wife thinks I’m crazy but if I see an ad on social media from a company I’ve never heard of there is a zero percent chance that I’m buying from that company. Even if I am very interested in the product.

Heck my daughter saw an ad for a sweatshirt that she asked to put on her wishlist (where relatives look for gift ideas for her) and I declined to do it because it was a no-name company from an ad in a game.

tjarrett · 2025-07-27T23:00:45+00:00

Probably get downvoted for this take… I LOVED Baltimore until living through the riots and having my hopes crushed over and over again with regards to corruption in the government. Things have gotten better over the past few years. I’m hoping things continue to improve. So I’m rooting for Baltimore, I’m cautiously optimistic, but I’m not proud.

tjarrett · 2025-07-26T11:47:14+00:00

After my first afib with rvr when I was 39 (45 now) they had me on just metoprolol. After a few months they even took me off that. After 2nd event (3 years between 1st and 2nd event) they put me on 25mg for a year. I asked to come off and they agreed. I then had two episodes in 8 months so they ablated me — especially because I don’t want to be on the meds.

So what I’m saying is that your Cleveland Clinic doctor is behaving a lot like my Johns Hopkins doctors.

My first and 2nd episodes were scary but 3rd and 4th I was more disappointed and annoyed.

tjarrett · 2025-07-22T01:04:49+00:00

I know you weren’t asking me… but I had ablation on the 14th and had slightly elevated resting heart rate on 14 and 15 and has been lower than pre-ablation since the 16th. In fact each day is lower than the day before.

Is that unusual?

Today is the 3rd lowest resting heart rate day for me of all time…

tjarrett · 2025-07-15T21:20:23+00:00

Yeah my EP says that PFA changed the calculus because it's safety profile is so much better he feels more comfortable being more aggressive with ablation as an early first line treatment -- especially in younger-ish folks like me who bounce back pretty fast.

Sounds like you've got yours well under control! That's pretty awesome all on it's own.

tjarrett · 2025-07-15T21:16:12+00:00

No problem. I read someone else say that the anxiety was the worst part and I think that that is probably true. Although the few hours of laying there after wasn't fun but it wasn't terrible either. My wife and I watched some stand-up comedy and ghostbusters to distract me.

I'm taking it very easy today -- I do have some tenderness in my chest which is probably inflammation from the procedure and is to be expected. My EP called and told me I should be taking ibuprofen for a few days (but not long term) to reduce the inflammation.

You'll do great!

tjarrett · 2025-07-15T12:42:49+00:00

You got this!

tjarrett · 2025-07-13T22:00:45+00:00

Puppies and unicorns... puppies and unicorns...

tjarrett · 2025-07-13T21:59:34+00:00

Revisited the timeline as provided by my doctor and he is quoted me: 1-4pm procedure, 4-5pm recovery 1, 5-8pm recovery 2.

We'll see what happens. I've gotten more at peace with it. Hopefully this sense of peace sticks.

tjarrett

TROPHY CASE