Hubby in Hospital

[Gina]

Hi Marilyn, I thought you were away. Sorry to hear about what is going on with your husband. I will say a prayer and hope that the procedure you mentioned will help elimate the problem.. Good luck!

[DianaB]

Tell your husband that he'll be in our thoughts and prayers. With everything that's going on don't forget to take care of Marilyn. You don't need both of you in the hospital.

[gja1000]

I'm so sorry to hear this - do they have a name for what is causing his heart to beat so fast? or for the new procedure to correct it? I'm a nurse, so I am curious!

[Shada]

Hope your husband is home soon....

Scary to go thru. My mother was in hospital last year for same thing.
I pray they can regulate his heartbeat very soon. Please keep us updated.. what is the new procedure? I would love to be able to share with my mom.

Prayers and thoughts are with you and your family.
[[HUGS]]

[Marilyn]

Hi, just checking out the threads real quick. He's still in the hospital. He's down to 100 BPM, so they are making progress. Yaaaaa. What he has is called atrial fribullation (sp?). If it can be controlled with medication, he could live with it for years. There are many people who do, but he does not want to and the doctors don't want him to if there is another option. In the past they have converted him to a normal rhythm using drugs or electric shock.

This time they are trying to just get his beats down and leave him in A-fib so he can go to see the doctors in Houston. For them to map his heart and pinpoint the area where the problem is originating from, he has to be in A-fib. They will go in like they do for angioplasty only they will burn small spots on the heart to kill the nerves causing the fibrullation. If this is successful, he will be "cured" and will no longer need to take coumadin or any other drugs. I don't know the name of the procedure. It's been around for about 10 years, but only recently have they gotten the accuracy down to make it a recommended treatment.

He is very healthy other than being overweight, so he is a good candidate for the procedure. He's experienced A-fib 4 times now. Once in his 20's (triggered by an electric shock), then in his early 40's, last year and now.

Thank you for your prayers. It's always scary when something is going on with the heart. This house is too big for me to rattle around here all by myself. I need him home.

[Dobie]

Marilyn, so sorry you are going through thig = I'll be thinking of you and your family.

[gja1000]

Thanks for the update Marilyn!

My husband had the same thing, atrial fibrillation (a-fib) 3 years ago. They shocked his heart (actually he has an internal defibrillator due to his heart failure, so they just fired his own defibrillator) and it stopped the a-fib. Now he takes medication and it has been completely controlled. But you are right, medication does not work for everyone.

Interestingly, in May my husband developed atrial flutter which is almost the same as a-fib, but the heart rate does not go as high. Unfortunately, atrial flutter does not respond well to medication so he had the exact same procedure that you and your husband are going to Houston for. It is called a Cardiac Ablation. It is usually more successful in atrial flutter because the cells that are misfiring and causing the flutter are in the same pattern or in the same pathway - so all they have to do is burn out that pathway.

In a-fib, it is more difficult to determine (or map) where the cells are misfiring because they are misfiring in a more random pattern than in atrial flutter. You are absolutely correct in that the electrophysiology procedures have gotten much better in the past few years so that they can now better map the misfiring cells and then burn them (kill them) appropriately.

It is a very easy surgery. My husband got to come home in the afternoon after having it in the morning - but we live 10 minutes from the hospital so going from Houston to your hometown, that may not be the case. Also, he will likely have to take coumadin for a little while longer, maybe only 6 weeks, and then it will be stopped. But maybe not in your husband's case.

Sometimes in a-fib, they have to burn out so many cells to get it stopped, that the person has to have a pacemaker (and I can't remember, maybe your hubby already has one???) Anyway, even if he doesn't and he has to have one, that is OK too. It just means he won't be able to go through the metal detector at the airport (or other buildings). My husband says he gets "stripped searched" in lieu of the metal detector.

I hope everything goes well for your husband. Mine has very serious heart failure and he did great with the Cardiac Ablation - so I'm sure your hubby will come through with flying colors. Update us when you can.