Five years ago, I had heart ablation for atrial fibrillation. I didn't realize that the rapid heart beat was coming back until I bought an Apple watch last Fall. I set the Health app to warn me if my heart rate went above 100. I was surprised when it alerted me a number of times when I was not active. I knew it worked when I rode my bicycle for exercise.
On my annual heart checkup in October, I mentioned this to my cardiologist who had me wear a Zio patch heart monitor stuck on my chest for two weeks. I had to keep a diary of when my heart raced and noted three episodes during the two weeks. During these episodes, it was my Apple watch that alerted me to make a note in the diary. After reviewing the recording, the doctor recommended another ablation.
The ablation was scheduled for Thursday, January 4th since I wanted to avoid any complications during the Christmas holiday period. I was scheduled for a TEE (transesophageal echocardiography) and a CT Angiogram on the day before. I also stopped taking Sotalol, which had been controlling my heart rate, five days before. But on Monday evening, I felt my heart race, my watch beeped and I almost passed out. I got my Kardia device and checked my EKG which confirmed my heart rate was 224. My daughter took me to the ER but by then the episode had passed. I was able to email my EKG records from my iPhone to the doctor who then prescribed some Metoprolol for a few days until the ablation.
As scheduled, I went in for the ablation on Thursday at 5am. They started the ablation about 8 am and I didn't wake up until about 4:30 pm in the recovery room. Doctor said they worked for 6 hours, testing my heart and burning out nodes that caused the spurious episodes of rapid heart beats. Afterwards, I couldn't sit up until 9:30 pm because of three punctures in my groin where they had pushed catheters into my femoral arteries and up into my heart. They kept me overnight in the hospital but I couldn't sleep. I had a roommate that had back surgery and called for pain relief every hour, plus played Netflix on his phone until 4 am. I found out that he had hearing problems. After I got home the next day at 11am, I went to bed and slept for 6 hours.
On Saturday, I drove 30 miles to a family gathering and spent about 10 hours before driving home. On the way home, I felt a little funny and discovered that my heart rate had been 130 during the trip. I had a few more minor episodes since but seems be under control while I continue taking Sotalol. Dr says that I may need more ablation in the future.
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