Sheffield and the Minimaze - the Saga continues - October 2025

 

THE NEXT TRIP TO SHEFFIELD

To continue my saga – remember I had just had precisely SIX days warning of going into the Northern General Hospital in Sheffield for a Minimaze/Hybrid ablation with Mr Hunter.  That phone call was itself only 12 days after my consultation-cum-premed!

We drove to Sheffield on the Sunday and were, naturally, hours early.  We sat on a brick wall overlooking the carpark and had a packed lunch.  We know how to live!!

Hubby took me up to the ward and stayed for a bit before going off to exile in a Premier Inn.

It was all very unrushed and friendly – got chatting and laughing with the three other ladies in the ward – well, once they worked out that I was  not a “Southern Snob” and I tuned my ear in to their accents! 

The anaesthetist came around really late, probably around 8 pm.  He was a jolly man but seemed surprised when I said I was having both the Minimaze (or what they call a “surgical ablation”) AND a usual catheter ablation.  He didn’t seem to think they would do both at the same time, so that was disappointing as I had understood they did.

Monday 13 October 2025

I was awoken at 5 am (5!) for my pink antibacterial shower and told to put on two hospital gowns (I was advised to go “commando” as “if you wear paper knickers, they cut them off straight away so we don’t usually bother unless you really want to”!)  At 8am, I was taken down (or actually up) to the dedicated Cardiac operating theatres.  I waited there in a wheelchair for about 30 minutes before being taken into a sort of anteroom, where a cannula was put in my hand, the anaesthetist greeted me and they checked, for the umpteenth time who I was, when I was born, what I was in for – better safe than sorry.  I was given Propofol to send me away and I discussed that drug with them having had that for all but one of my cardioversions (I think he was a bit shocked that I had had 13 of those plus four previous ablations – not to mention the SCAD heart attack!).  As usual, they said I would feel sleepy – As usual I didn’t at all, I felt totally wide awake. I kept my eyes wide open so they would realise the stuff hadn’t worked……… y..e..t………..

Two hours later I woke up in CICU (Cardiac Intensive Care Unit).  There were wires, pipes, tubes and cannulas sticking out of everywhere.  I had an IV drip, a central line in my neck (think a cannula but with eight tubes – like an octopus clinging to the neck); a cardiac monitor, cannulas in my hand and the opposite arm, a bladder catheter (I didn’t need to use a bedpan – hurrah – I find them impossible) and a drain out of my side plus two cuts that had been glued shut apparently.

CICU was not a bit like on the TV where it always seems to be dark with lots of machines beeping – this was a big wide space in a specialist ward with one nurse to keep an eye on me.  I can’t remember much else except my hubby came to visit and we chatted quite nicely, I think.  He was briefly turfed out because the physio wanted to get me out of bed – out of bed!!!!  She told me how to sit up (don’t use arms) how to swing my legs over the edge, how to position my legs to stand up and held my hands for balance.  In my head I was a bit, like, “Er, yeah, I’ve stood up before you know” – then I tried to do it and realised I couldn’t! I think it was the second attempt before I managed it – I think I then sat in one of those nice upright hospital chairs for a little while.  Mr Hunter came to see me and was delighted to see me out of bed. He explained what he had done – there was no ablation needed to the inside of the heart (which would have been done separately anyway); there was some sort of embryonic ganglion cells which he “blasted”, I think he ablated around the Pulmonary veins ( or maybe that didn’t need doing, I was still drugged up!) clipped the LAA (Left Atrial Appendage, where blood clots form) and ablated the clipped bit, I think.

I thought I was quite with it, but Hubby said one minute I was talking, the next I would fall asleep for 15 minutes – he left me because “I felt sorry for you trying to keep your eyes open in order to talk to me”!

Beforehand I had been really worried about how much it was going to hurt – it was the thing I dreaded the most.  In the event it was my back that hurt – the left side, about bra strap level, tends to stiffen up if I lie on my back a long time – and this was moving beyond discomfort into severe discomfort.  That night I was given codeine tablets, oral morphine, yet more paracetamol and probably a whole load of stuff I have forgotten!

I then spent much of the night throwing up huge quantities of watery liquid – the bowls they give you are woefully too small and I was very spaced out – net result I was constantly being sick over myself!  In this melee I took out my custom-made mouth guard with a view to putting it on the side in a minute – instead I fell asleep and once they washed me and stripped the bed I never saw it again – which was an (expensive) shame!

Tuesday

I did not get out of bed at all – Hubby said I was very spaced out.  My sleep was all over the place – and I’d always feel sleepy when Hubby visited!  Typical! I was reading a novel and it was so boring – the guy in the book just kept saying the same things over and over – really tedious and slow.  It was only the next day I realised it was me reading the same bit over and over!  It also took me 5-6 attempts to type each word on my phone in reply to friends asking how I was!

Wednesday 

I was back out of bed for quite a while.  I was really shocked by how bad I was and started to think that if I had known I would not have had it done (but then what other choice did I have? none!) I was like a little old lady begging to be allowed back into bed – it was so exhausting just sitting up. In the early evening, I was moved back to a normal ward.

Thursday

Mr Siddiqi (sp?) came to see me with his entourage (a “beat” of cardiologists?), and he ordered all the ‘pipes’ etc to be removed.  So that was nice.  They wanted me to pee once they removed the bladder catheter and so the physio took me to the toilet.  It was an epic hike of all of 7 metres or probably less – I was exhausted afterwards!! I was visited by the Cardiac Nurses who told me that Mr H was not impressed that I was still in hospital and had wanted me out the day before!   By this stage, I had visualised Hubby and I slowly walking along the corridors – obviously not! Instead, I was still struggling to stay awake on my cocktail of opiates and other painkillers.  I was retaining fluid and was now 76 kg (69 pre-op). My darling husband told me afterwards that my face was all puffed up, as was the rest of my body tbh.

In the event my discharge was delayed by several days:

Friday, I had more blood tests, was taught to do lung exercises as my “sats” (oxygen levels) were borderline low – there was a Cortisol abnormality so I had to have a special injection followed half-hour later by a blood test to check it was all normal and then it had to be reviewed by the Endocrine team.  This all would have been done Wednesday but I was too weak after all the sickness. The physio came again and walking was a lot easier – I had to prove I could do stairs before I was allowed to be discharged. I think I shocked the physio by walking up them quite quickly and easily – she was “Whoa! Steady – one leg up, second leg joins it, repeat” – by which time I was already at the top! All the exercise I do paid off in the end then!

That night I had a several hour run of Afib, which corrected itself.  Then during Saturday seven-hour episode although it when captured on an ECG it turned out it was not Afib but a fast HR.  So, I was given a Betablocker.  Because of my long history of collapses with BP lowering medication they kept me in overnight to make sure I was okay even though it was a tiny 1.25 mcg dose (maybe 1.25mg?). I was back to 69 kg by this time, but my chest was stiff and I was scared by the ‘AF’ and depressed.  Realised I’m not as tough as I like to think I am. There was a lovely lady on the ward and she came over to see if I was ok – she was so sweet.  Just those few words cheered me up no end.  Little gestures can mean so much. 

Sunday

Apparently, I “looked a lot better” (!). They gave up on the endocrine team and said they could liaise with my GP especially as the test was ok.  Had to wait for a sackful of drugs, including red label opiates and had an excellent handover from Brad. 

Quick aside – all the staff were just brilliant, kind, funny, helpful, spotted things without being told, mentioned even quite trivial worries to the doctors etc etc.  I cannot praise them enough.  It was a great ward.

And, of course, we teased each other about our accents – especially the word “booza” (buzzer) which they reckoned we pronounced ‘buxah! Even the kind follow patient reckoned that in her family they say “Never trust a Londoner”!  Of course, there was only one reply to that: “Totally! While you were in the shower I’ve already been through your purse to see if there was anything worth stealing”!

Finally, I was discharged Sunday afternoon at 1450 so I never did get to stay at the two Premier Inns as planned.  Another aside – the staff at the Premier Inn were so sweet – we had paid for breakfast and dinner for us both for two days as advised as the pre-med team said they like you to stay nearby for a couple of day in case of complications.  As soon as the Premier Inn manager spotted that I was not at breakfast on the Saturday and my husband explained, they were all concerned and he gave us a full refund on all my food.  Hubby told him I might be there after all on the Sunday – Manager said “If she is, she can have a complimentary breakfast and dinner”.  How kind – And £55 towards the cost of a new mouthguard!!

In the event as my discharge was delayed by 3-4 days and it was now late Sunday we drove home in one go – four hours instead of three due to the A1(M) being closed!!  I was very uncomfortable and felt very sick for almost the whole journey - it is certainly not recommended just six days after surgery.

I was deadbeat the next day…

Thanks for reading – hope it was helpful…

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