Adventures of a Racing Heart AFib #8 and #9 (OCT/DEC 2021)

Adventures of A Racing Heart AFib #8 and #9 (OCT AND DEC 2021)

Just three and a bit weeks later you can imagine how irritated I was to wake up at 0435 with a fast HR.  Took the customary 100 mg of flecainide and tried to sleep.  Finally, off to Big Teaching Hospital who once again cardioverted me back to normal rhythm.  This was interesting actually because as I got more and more nervous as they prepared to do the cardioversion (well, they were going to stop my heart and it had taken a while to get it going again last time) they told me to think of somewhere nice and tell them about it.  I chose a spot high up on the Amalfi coast which we had once hiked to and then enjoyed a glass of white wine with the most superb view of the sea….

 

Later when I awoke, they said that they had carried on talking about Italy while I was sedated/unconscious and that I had continued to smile and nod along with their comments! I remembered none of it!

 

The other interesting thing was when I warned the cardiac nurse that the heart had been sluggish to get going last time.  She nonchalantly told me that I was not to worry, pointed to some contraption she had put under my pillow and said that they would “just pace me back” if that happened again!  I had (and still have) no idea what that meant but at least I was reassured it was all under control.  I recovered well from this one and felt better in about 12 days or less.  In fact, I was hiking in the Peak District just one week later though feeling a bit delicate!

Two weeks after that I had my post-ablation six-month follow-up with my EP and he said he thought a third ablation was the way to go.  The Local Hospital had suggested lifelong amiodarone but he was against that due to the toxicity of it and was also against a pacemaker as I was too young.  I was pretty upset to hear that the waiting time was now up to six months and that I would not be referred as an urgent case either despite two episodes (and two DCCVs) so close together.  He explained that the NHS was under huge pressure as a result of the Covid emergency and cancellation of routine appointments over the previous 18 months due to that epidemic.   

 

Some eight weeks then passed and I managed to convince myself that maybe, just maybe, I was still in the Blanking Period after my second ablation and that those last two AFib episodes had just been blips.  So, I was fairly devastated eight weeks later to wake up again at the AFib Witching Hour (0555 this time) with AFib (what they were now calling Fast AFib as it is well over 100 bpm each time).  Again, to the Big Teaching Hospital and sat in resus waiting for them to do yet another cardioversion.  I needed the loo and noticed the HR was lower, in the 70s to be precise, I thought it was just an odd reading so unplugged myself and slowly and delicately walked to the toilet.  When I got back to my bed, I noticed I wasn’t puffing too hard and plugged back into the Heart Monitor.  The HR was still only in the 80s.  I hardly dared look at it for fear of provoking it!  The nurse came past and gave me a thumbs up.  The doctor came over and said “well, you are back in NSR”. 

FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER I HAD SELF CONVERTED.  I’m going to shout that even louder – FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER I HAD SELF CONVERTED TO NSR!!!!!!!!!!!!! They warned it might not last but after two hours it was still okay and I was discharged again despite the fact they were still waiting for blood test results. 

 

Next day I got the call to say that my Troponin levels were high and could I go back to Addenbrookes for a follow-up blood test as this could be indicative of a heart attack!!  These tests were then repeated on the Monday before I was told there was no need to panic and it was just due to the AFib episode! Phew!  They really are so thorough at that hospital, a real pleasure to deal with.

 

I’d emailed the EP from my hospital bed straight away and got the reply that I would now be “expediated” (which I assume meant I’d now be a priority case, as they refer to it, which meant seen within a month) but that it would still be delayed due to Covid.  I just wanted the darned third ablation over and done with by now, taking the attitude that the quicker it was done the quicker I could begin to get over it.

 

Abbreviations

HR                  Heart Rate

EP                   Electrophysician (specialist in heart rhythm problems)

DCCV             electrical shock to stop and restart the heart in NSR

NSR                Normal Sinus rhythm

AFib               Atrial Fibrillation – an arrythmia of the heart.  It’s basically not going a nice regular lup-dup but rather a lup,lup, dup,lup, lup, lup, dup and in my case something like 150+ bpm, rather than my usual 50-70.  Doesn’t feel good, my whole rib cage vibrates and I cannot breathe well or walk very well.

BPM               beats per minute

Below, a souvenir of AFib #8's cardioversion.  Me flat-lining and then the heart gradually get back in the groove.  Eeeeekkkk!