The Cardiologist

I finally had my long awaited appt with the Cardiologist yesterday afternoon. He started with an ECG looked it over, then we got chatting.

When he reviewed the ECG print-outs from the surgery he diagnosed it as a straightforward SVT. He thinks that I was anxious going in to the surgery (I didn't bother telling him I was having cold sweats of terror), and the surge of adrenaline set me off. He noted that I'd had this a few times in the past, 3 times requiring hospital visits since the first episode in 2003, usually from some sort of stimulant (ginseng/caffeine supplement the first time, an iced cappucino the second). He said as we get older the body has a more difficult time managing stress and adrenaline, so it's going to get worse, and could eventually lead to heart damage/failure.

I wasn't surprised when he said he was going to refer me to the Heart Institute's Arrhythmia Clinic, for Catheter Ablation. The procedure is as safe as an invasive procedure can get, but it's not terribly invasive. I'm a little freaked out that I'll be awake for it mostly, and that they put you into arrhythmia (I read somewhere else that they actually cause a heart attack, but I'll hide that little thought away) to find the location to blast with the radio waves (do you think it's ABBA? Because that can kill anything... ;))

His only concern is my first problem with SVT I also had an atrial flutter, which is more difficult to cure. The good news is there was no flutter during my surgery, or in the recovery room, and I haven't had flutter since, only SVT. SVT is cured in 99% of patients, atrial flutter he says in about 50%. Of course if things go wrong worst case scenario is death (almost never happens, honest!), or perforation, which would result in an automatic need for a pacemaker. But we won't focus on that either.

Because it's not life threatening, the wait time is long (6-9 months). The Heart Institute has critical patients to help, and I'm fine with that!

I'm to stay on the beta-blockers, to keep running and biking, and if I'm training by heart rate, to drop my numbers, because my max heart rate on the meds is lower. He expects that I'll be off the meds after the procedure. I wonder if I'll be able to have caffeine again?

Then he told me to check in with my GP for regular blood pressure checks, because it was 'a little high'. I told him it was 110/65 at home, that it's just the environment. He told me it measured 160/90. I responded "that's that adrenaline thing I have issues controlling". He laughed and said "yes, that would explain it".

I'm not too thrilled about yet another procedure, but if there's a good chance (and there's a great chance!) that it will cure my heart arrhythmia, bring it on!