Cardiac Ablation

Mom had her heart procedure today. (I'm with her now at the hospital)
Several weeks ago, while in the hospital, Mom had an episode of an excessively rapid heart rate.  This type of rhythm disturbance can be dangerous, especially if it continues for a long period.  The EKG at the time indicated a 'short circuit' that is typically very amenable to a cardiac ablation procedure.  In this procedure the Electrophysiologist (cardiology sub-specialty) uses special catheters to do an EKG inside of the heart to map the minute electrical pathways.  He attempts to stimulate the heart with small electrical impulses to induce the problem rhythm.  When he has induced the 'bad' rhythm he locates the precise area of causing the problem.  He then uses another catheter with a tiny microwave tip to burn (ablate) the problem area, thus cutting off the errant electrical pathway.  It is typically a very successful and permanent treatment for this particular rhythm problem.

During the procedure today however, the doctor was unable to induce the problem rhythm.  He tried for quite a while but the rhythm remained normal.  Since the rhythm couldn't be induced, nothing further could be done.  What this means is that Mom probably has a high threshold for going in to this rhythm and that treating her with the medications that she is already taking will likely be adequate.  We believe that she may have had some episodes of this in the past but they have been self-limiting.  The doctor feels that this all means that she'll likely do well with her current treatment and there is nothing more to be done other than possibly tweaking medication doses.

Since he didn't do the ablation, Mom can go home this afternoon.  (We were anticipating an overnight stay.)  Right now she's groggy from the sedation but is fine otherwise.

We will be working on getting phone service hooked up this week so look for more on that later.

Mo will be bringing Mom home this afternoon.  I will be heading to the ball park this evening to bring extra good luck to the Phitin' Phils.  Hopefully, Mom will be watching for me on TV!

Mom says "Hi!" to everyone.  Thanks for stopping by.