Jimbo, for me at least, that was done with a CT venogram. Basically, they start an IV in you and they get you into this machine. It tells you to hold your breath and does some imaging. Then they give you a shot of an iodine based resist through the IV and take another image. It isn’t the most pleasant thing, I felt a hot flush through my body that brought with it a strong sensation that I was going to shit myself. So, be looking for that.

When they did mine, the gal that started my IV didn’t do such a hot job and the first injection was not fun and they had to do it over because my elbow inflated and looked like someone had inserted a tennis ball under the skin. If forget what they call it, but none of that injection made it into my bloodstream. They had to start a new IV and do it over again. The gal who screwed up was very apologetic.

My sister in law is a cardiac nurse who assists with these kinds of procedures all the time and after I had mine done and told her about the e venogram and the... alarming sensation that came with it, she laughed and told me a story. She had an elderly woman she had set up the venogram for and had warned her about the flushing sensation and told her when it was coming. The male nurse running the equipment pushed the button to start the injection and they heard this surprised grunt/squeal from the other room followed by some little whimpers and my sister-in-law immediately checked to see if she was alright. “Oh sweetie, I’m better than alright! I haven’t felt that sensation down there in years!” The male nurse turned beet red, and my sister-in-law said she resisted the urge to pile on with “well, I guess you really pushed her button!”

Ha Ha Smudge! My wife, a cardiac nurse(retired) told a similar story of a woman patient saying:” I’ve always wanted my husband to do something like that!”

My wife has had more than one ablation procedure. She was unconscious (sedated) for the actual ablation procedures.

I was awake for my procedure . They gave me something to relax me apparently . The Nurse said I fell asleep and snored . I remember looking up at the ceiling and counting the the little holes in the tiles .

I had it done twice about 13-14 years ago. RF ablation to fix Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. I was very nervous prior to the procedure, but that's just the way I am. The ordeal turned out to be not worth the anxiety.

I had no issues post-procedure. The recovery was pretty easy. Just about 10 days of taking it easy to let the catheter insertion sites (near the groin) heal completely. I had no soreness, pain or discomfort following the procedure. It was pretty much back to business as usual (minus physical fitness activities for the 10 days)) the day after.

I think the procedure took about an hour or so with probably another hour of pre-op prep. Recovered in the hospital for about 4 hours then discharged.

The procedure is done on a radiographic table and I was under conscious sedation. It was a little odd watching the monitor and seeing the various tools snaking through the arteries into the heart. But of course, no pain or feeling at all.

I had to have the procedure redone after a year or so because WPW symptoms came back and the doctor determined that he did not completely eliminate the extra electrical pathway the first time.

Haven't had any issues since. The doctor said that once it is properly treated, it is permanently treated and has no impact on life expectancy.

Just want to take a few lines here to THANK all of you who responded to my post about the ablation. The responses were overwhelmingly positive and reassuring - and I thank you ALL for that. As you might imagine, I am still somewhat worried about the procedure, but my apprehension has been dulled - and that's all because of your responses. It would be impolite of me to fail to say "thank you", and I don't want to be accused of that. Thanks again, SIG FAMILY -> and just know that I appreciate your being there SO MUCH.... FredT

I’ve also had one (RF) in 2013 for SVT related to a condition similar to WPW. I was getting up into 250+ BPM! Procedure was super easy and zero recurrences since.

The thought of the procedure was more intimidating than the actual procedure. Once the drugs kick in, the fear goes away and you will probably be able to appreciate just how cool it is. If I had a return of symptoms, I would do the procedure again in a heartbeat!

Fred, I hope your procedure goes nice and smooth, gives you relief, and you have a fast and easy recovery. Be sure and let us know how it goes.

Thank you. Thank you so much. I REALLY DO appreciate that..... FredT

Thanks for easing my fears guys! I have to go through it in September

Me too wreckdiver. Maybe we can get a BOGO.

I had a surprise bypass surgery in 2016. After inclusive stress tests I went in for a heart cath where they said I "may" need a stent. I ended up with a 8 CABG surgery the next day as my heart was all clogged up. After years of good cholesterol numbers and exercise (Marathon running level) heredity caught up with me. The doctor said in layman's terms I had inherited sticky cholesterol so while my numbers were good it had built up in all my heart's arteries. My 2018 checkup revealed I was in AFIB 43% of the time so my cardiologist recommended cyro ablation. It took five hours and they sent me home the same day. The main complication was the incision where they went in the artery in my leg kept seeping/bleeding. It finally stopped the next day. The doctor let me know ahead of time it may take two procedures, but the first one was 100 percent successful, and I've been good since then. Statins keep my cholesterol very low, 110-115, and I have to stay on Eliquis (Very expensive but cheaper than dying) to combat blood clots should they ever appear. Good luck with your procedures. It's amazing what good doctors can do.

I've been in AFIB for a long time, since, IIRC, either 2011 or 2012. Started on
Warfarin, moved to Pradaxa (a GOOD move) and, several months ago started on Eliquis.

My Cardiologist-whom I really liked-said that AFIB did not increase the chance of having or dying from a heart attack, but a stroke was the thing that they were concerned with and, thus, the meds I mentioned were necessary.

She also said she'd be glad to do an ablation for me, but thought it would not work. I decided to stick with the meds.

Then about 4 years ago, I had to have open heart surgery as there were blockages they could not "fix" with stents absent opening my chest. As an aside, that sucked badly.

I didn't have a lot of time to worry about it before, as they considered it an emergency of sorts and just a few days later (4 IIRC), they cut. Did I mention that it sucked badly?

As long as they were in there they said they'd do an ablation and they did. It lasted maybe 24 hours, till I got up and brushed my teeth. I could have lived with the bad breath, but, oh no, the nurse had to get me up to brush my teeth and look what it did for me!

Seriously, if the ablation will work and last for you, that is wonderful, but if not,
AFIB, at least for me, has not been the end of the world.

I'm still upright, taking nourishment and am just as pretty as I was before the AFIB bit me.


Bob

Had one in December. It wasn’t bad.
I had one episode of AFIB in January, doc said it could be part of the healing process.
No other issues until recently. I had an ER visit due to pneumonia and I’ve been in and out of AFIB since.
Doc said they see lots of pneumonia patients go into AFIB.
But I also have a raging case of Pulmonary Sarcoidosis, so that complicates things.

As far as effects from the procedure, I did get that feeling in my chest from time to time like I had sucked in some super cold air. But that eventually passed.

I am off the blood thinners but still take Sotalol for heart rate control. I am currently in a wait and see situation about my AFIB.

I bought a Kardia EKG device from Amazon just to keep an eye on things. . It fits in my pocket and connects to my phone.

My wife had it due to erratic rhythms. They go into the artery in your leg and snake up. She didn’t have any pain or problems. Biggest pain in the ass was when they put a bunch of weight and pressure on the entry site to make it clot. Helped her.

I had one post covid, 2021. I had both tachycardia, caused by a mis-firing of the upper left chamber (the nerve impulse kept "shorting out" and causing the upper left to keep firing at a high rate, and the rest of my heart couldn't keep up, I forget the clinical name for this), and AFIB.

Resting heart rate was 160, BP was 190/150.

First I had cardioversion coupled with BP meds. This was effective, but it was recommended that I also have the ablation to make the reset permanent, as I was advised that the cardioversion was only 65% effective over the long term.

So I had ablation.

It was horrible. I tell this story not to scare you, but to tell you to make sure you know what to expect, and how to communicate with your team.

I was told that I would be kept on the edge of consciousness so that they could communicate with me as needed. Ok.

I had explained that 18 years prior I had a hernia repaired, and that there was mesh in my lower left abdomen. I also said that it takes a ton of meds to knock me out, and a ton to keep me out, as I knew from two prior surgeries. Ok, said they.

Out I go. Next thing I know, I can feel the surgeon trying to punch through the mesh in my left groin. I screamed "I'm not out!" and tried to get off the table, but was well strapped down, and they gave me a hard jolt of what-ever and out I went. As it turns out, they then went through my right groin, but I had to heal both wounds, and the left was worse.

I kept coming to the surface hearing the team around my head screaming "BREATHE BREATHE BREATHE!!!" as my O2 was low. It's hard to breathe through gritted teeth from pain, but I managed, and would go back out. This happened at least 3 times.

On one of those trips to the surface, I could feel the probe inside my heart. That, my friend, isn't a good feeling.

On the good side, the improvement in my cardiac function has been complete, positive, and so far, permanent. I feel great.

I never want to go through that again.

The lesson is to make sure your team knows about your particular issues. My issues are the hernia repair, which they apparently forgot, and a high pain tolerance which is coupled to an insensitivity to pain meds. It takes a ton to put me out, and a second ton to keep me out. My team screwed the pooch on both, even though I had communicated both.

On balance, I'm glad I did it, but simply typing this has made me a bit jumpy.

Good luck to you.

Had mine done 8 weeks ago. They went up through the groin on both sides, froze the areas causing the Afib, then exited.

The only pain I experienced was some minor throat discomfort from the breathing tube, but none in the heart or chest. However, I had a bleed in my left groin while recovering after the procedure and they applied direct pressure to stop it. That wasn't pleasant! Stayed overnight and was discharged the next day.

Woke up the next day at home coughing hard and that was enough to cause a bleed on the right side which developed into a hematoma. I was readmitted and the vascular guys injected a clotting agent to stop the bleeding and I was discharged the next day.

The initial shortness of breath I was experiencing has been slowly resolving and I haven't had any Afib episodes. Other than the direct pressure they applied, the pain was easily tolerated. Groin area was touchy for about a week and I was black/blue/purple almost to my knees.

Been riding my stationary bike for 40 minutes most days for the past week or so. A follow-up appointment is scheduled for the first week of August so I expect more info on any limitations.

Before my 4th one I told my guy to go ahead and put a pacemaker in me. I said I was tired of having these things done.

He agreed because he said there are no other places to ablate, and it didn't make sense that I could still be having episodes.

Bob