Newbie - Ablation for VT

• By CarolJean65
• Reply 3317870
• August 24, 2012 at 12:47 pm
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Welcome, colsie .. I'm pretty new as well, but can guarantee that you'll find a wealth of support and encouragement on this site. I'm sorry you are facing these things at a time when your life should be carefree and full of fun kid stuff (I have a grandchild your son's age). Enjoy each day to it's fullest! When you feel stressed, submerge your thoughts in the happy little face in your picture! Praying that these glitches are just that and will resolve with further healing. I also have a newly placed ICD biventricular device to resynchronize my ventricular beats as well as defibrillate if necessaru. The "flipping around in my chest" is just what I felt until this was placed. A stronger heartbeat gives me hope for a better future.

• By Mommy2TnL
• Reply 3318133
• August 24, 2012 at 2:22 pm
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Although we don't have the same thing, I understand a lot of your feelings....from not being able to exercise, heart flipping around, trouble with sleep, unsuccessful ablation, being young with a young family and just being frustrated and worried. I get it!!! Since my ablation, my heart will sometimes 'flip out' as I'm laying down, even when I'm super calm and relaxed. Those are the nights when I don't get much sleep. Those are the nights that I lay there in the silence praying that I just get to wake up in the morning. This is all still very new to me, so I don't have a handle on coping with it yet, but I hope that we both get to a good spot soon. (((HUGS)))

• By colsie
• Reply 3318916
• August 24, 2012 at 8:04 pm
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Thanks ladies! The hardest thing right now seems to be getting to sleep. And my hub is great but sometimes pushes the positivity too much when I'm not feeling it. Each night that goes by with no VT is a good one though! ;)

• By Pavater
• Reply 3321329 · In reply to 3318916 by colsie
• August 25, 2012 at 7:55 pm
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My husband has an ICD which has fired on multiple occasions. However he says he goes to sleep peacefully, knowing that if his V-Tach returns the defibrillator can and will take care of it. It is an unpleasant sensation but when it is gone, it is completely gone and you feel OK again. So trust this miraculous lifesaving device to care for you awake or asleep. Good luck! You are already one of the lucky ones as just a few years ago, nothing could be done for V-tach. ICD's can give someone their life back.

• By colsie
• Reply 3321500
• August 25, 2012 at 9:36 pm
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Wow, I didn't realize we had come so far in treating VT. It seems like you are right through because three years ago when this all started happening they didn't seem as advanced as they are now. It's both scary and hopeful!

It is easier each day, if only by a little. I have tried that tapping thing that some people have talked about - seems to help when I can't get in to acupuncture. I went to the tap4health website and learned a lot!

• By Pavater
• Reply 3322206 · In reply to 3321500 by colsie
• August 26, 2012 at 8:54 am
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I should have checked my post. Drs. have used antiarrythmic drugs for a long time to treat V-Tach and this is sometimes successful but with multiple side effects from the drugs for many of the patients. They have also been doing ICD's as well as ablations. The first ICD's were quite large and placed in the abdomen. Uncomfortable things. I was mostly trying to encourage you to accept and trust this lifesaving device.

• By TamraB
• Reply 3332774
• August 30, 2012 at 5:16 am
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I had an ablation (rt ventricle outflow tract) for VT's with syncope (black-outs) on Oct 2000. I was 36, married with 2 young kids, living on a farm with a commercial flowering growing business. It was a tough 18 months, but we all survived. (My whole family had to go through my illness.)
I have occasional VT's now but no syncope, so they are not sinister at present. I do have issues with AT's at the moment and have, after 12 good years, now developed coronary vasospasms ... grrrr
A cardiologist told me I was born with "faulty wiring" ... so I wake up each day and remember what my grandmother said "If I wake up the rest of the day is a bonus!".
So I 'try" my best to find some hope, fun and happiness in each day.
I am a tai chi and Qigong instructor and "try" to practice what I preach!
Could you maybe try taking up tai chi, yoga or Pilates?
Stress is a b**ch ... the more we think about not having it the more it multiplies like a virus!
Day at a time ... is all I can say ...
Smiles
Tamara

• By Chloe321
• Reply 3337841
• August 31, 2012 at 9:51 pm
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I feel your pain and know what you are going through. Twenty years ago, my heart was weaken by a infection of the pericardium. The only thing that the doctors could come up with was that it was caused by not pre medicating before dentist appointments. About a year later I started to experience atrial fluttering and really fast irregular heartbeat which just kept getting worse. Three ablations, an AV node ablation and pacemaker implant still didn't solve my problems.

First of all you are not alone and I know that you feel like no one understands, I am right there with you on that one. I too have an ICD, because of a SCA in Nov. 2010. My whole world changed that day and it hasn't been the same since. I spent two weeks in the hospital after my SCA and when I tried to go back to work three weeks later I realized that my memory and brain function wasn't the same. No one there understood what I went through, nor have most of the people I have told since.

So now I don't rely on support from anyone, but a couple of people, and I deal with it internally. I am tired of talking about lack of oxygen and brain damage and heart function. The only people who really understand are the one's who walk in our shoes.

Don't worry too much because you do have an ICD. I don't know what drugs the Dr's give you, but it may help to explore maybe something to help you sleep. I take sleep medicine because I don't like the things I think about when I'm lying in the dark.

I always have said, people don't realize their heart beating until it starts beating incorrectly. I hope you get to feeling better. If you need someone to talk to....don't hesitate. Good luck, Jan

• By colsie
• Reply 3346653 · In reply to 3337841 by Chloe321
• September 4, 2012 at 11:25 am
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Thanks so much Jan. It's so true that you never really think about your heart until something goes wrong.

I am definitely going to ask about anti-anxiety meds because I have a really hard time sleeping!

Thanks for the support.