I suffered many years with a debilitating condition called atrial fibrillation. That's an abnormal heart rhythm in which the upper two chambers of the heart quiver instead of giving a steady beat, which can prevent the blood from getting to the organs efficiently. It also puts one at risk of getting a blood clot which could cause a stroke.
Atrial fibrillation kept me from walking and exercising. Once, I was embarrassed that I could not climb up Stone Mt. in Georgia. Relief from my nemesis came in February of 2007 through the power of catheter ablation. It is a medical procedure that has revolutionized the treatment of certain types of arrhythmias or irregular heart beat.
My agonizing journey with arrhythmia began in 1995. While driving my car on the interstate my heart began flip-flopping in my chest. Startled, I murmured, "What in the world's wrong with me?" The event was soon over so I decided not to go to an emergency room or to consult a physician like I should have. Since I was able to wait it out I figured I would be okay. I decided that all I needed to do was to get some rest and my heart would correct itself, like the way a sprained ankle or a sore throat heals and fades away with time.A few days later the event re-occurred. Again I waited it out. It happened again and then again. Each time it was a little longer in duration. Whenever an event would start, I would torment with the thought, "what if it doesn't stop this time?" As time went by it became too difficult to ignore, so I had my first visit with a doctor and found out that my problem was atrial fibrillation or an irregular heart beat. The first thing he did was to put me o n a blood thinner to prevent developing a blood clot, and gave me a beta blocker to regulate the heart.
A few years passed, and the irregular episodes grew more frequent. The doctor switched me from one heart medication to another. Each one was supposed to be stronger than the previous one but none seemed to work effectively for very long. The heart is an obstinate muscle. Mine would function well with one kind of medication keeping me in sinus rhythm for a while and then later it would resist and go haywire or "bust through" as the doctor described it. I called the experience "the washing machine in my chest" syndrome. There were times I was sure I could hear my heart going slush, slush, slush. At those times, day-to-day living was often a struggle. The medicines caused me to be light-headed, affected my ability to concentrate, kept me feeling exhausted and worst of all in fear of becoming a cardiac cripple for the rest of my live. Half of the time I was okay and the other half I was a wreck.
To make things worse, on Aug. 13, 2004, Hurricane Charley struck with all its mayhem where I live in Southwest Florida. I was confronted with downed oak trees strewn all over my yard. I had no physical stamina to cut and carry branches to the curb. After a few minutes of work I would soon be lying prostrate on my back, sweating profusely and weak as a pup.
One day my wife brought me a Reader's Digest article titled, "They Fried My Heart." It told of a relatively new heart procedure called catheter ablation, which was helping people who suffered with atrial fibrillation. I was intrigued and took that article straightway to my cardiologist for his impression. He said it was only for patients that had tachycardia, where the lower chambers of the heart beat too fast. Mine was the slower beating kind in the upper chambers. I was crushed.
Three years later, after having switched from one medication to another and doing a battery of stress tests, my cardiologist announced that the ablation procedure had greatly improved and was helping many people like me. He referred me to Dr. Carlos Cuello, a skilled cardiologist who had done more than 2,000 ablation procedures. I found that like many other people, it was possible to have more than one electrical pathway through which electrical signals can pass. The errant signals create an electrical circuit that causes the heart to beat irregularly.
On Feb. 6, 2007, Dr. Cuello performed the ablation after putting me to sleep. The procedure involved snaking a long, flexible catheter probe through the vein of my groin up and into my heart. The source of the arrhythmia was located and the cells causing the problem were burnt which stopped it. Four hours after the procedure I was blurry eyed and back in my room. The ordeal was substantially less awful than I had expected. I stayed in the hospital for one night and was released the next day.
At home two nights later, I had a two-hour bout of arrhythmia. The doctor said that it was to be expected, because my heart did not like being burnt and messed with. After that I was fine. I went off the heart medication a few months later. I continued to see my cardiologist several more times until now I only see him once a year.
Well, the procedure so far has been successful and it's good to once again enjoy enough energy to take long walks and to even run again. I have been thinking about Stone Mt. that was so hard for me to climb and once sent me into arrhythmia. I would like to have another chance at it.
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