In brief: the procedure went well and the doctor is confident he got what he needed to. I have “snake bite” wounds at the top of both thighs that are bandaged and doing fine. In 3 days I’ll be allowed to do all the normal things. And I shouldn’t have any more episodes.
I went in at 9. They asked me medical history questions, took vitals, quick EKG. They don’t shave you any more – they just trim. Imagine like any army movie you’ve ever seen – with the addition of a vacuum attachment for the hair. My back, my chest, my nethers – except for a racing stripe. It is really weird not having any hair on my chest.
Into the operating room at 11. There were about five guys in there doing various things. They kind of bundle you up so that you won’t flail around. The doctor spent a while fussing with the catheters at the top of both thighs (it turns out that I have “challenging” anatomy in terms of how the veins go – not unusual), then suddenly I felt my heart start to beat fast. “There it goes.” “You can feel that?” “Yup.” And, of course, I could hear the monitor start to beep faster – just for a few seconds. And I could continue to feel him do things for a few minutes after that. It felt kind of like he was poking at the inside of my shoulder; very hard to describe but not at all painful. After a bit of that he declared that he was about ready to do the ablation. The anesthesiologist told me that he was going to give me something to make me more relaxed and less concerned about things. Nothing happened — and then I woke up and it was clear they were wrapping things up. Done by about 12:30. I figure I was awake for about half the procedure.
Then about an hour in post-op monitoring. And another hour or so in ‘day stay’ where I was given instructions for site care and follow up. My doctor (Dr. Porterfield – who everyone agrees is The Bomb) told us that he was able to trigger the issue, find the site, zap it, then was no longer able to trigger the issue. He and Ellyn talked over my head a bit; if you want the really good dirt you’ll have to talk to her.
So no more atenolol (which was never a big deal) and hopefully no more episodes!