Ellen's Posts

Good morning! I had a mitral valve repair with Dr. Luis Castro at Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City, California on September 28, 2016. I'm a little late on this update as I just saw my Cardiologist yesterday and wanted to have my ducks in a row after that scary run of atrial fibrillation! So I finished the month of Eliquis and the 2 weeks of patch monitoring without any further symptoms, YAY! I'm slowly building back up to exercise. My cardiologist basically thinks this is still related to "post-op" atrial fibrillation/flutter. She is in agreement that I am not in the "endurance athlete" category that would put me at risk for atrial fib from other mechanisms, BUT she continues to remind me that I have a scar in my left atrium from the surgery and there is no fixing that risk :). My ECHO looks good and there is no regurgitation from my repaired valve. My EF is good and my left atrium only mildly enlarged, better than pre-surgery! Will await results of the 14 day monitor, but plan to see the EP just to see what he says. He offered ablation for flutter when I had the episodes 6 weeks ago, but I'm most interested in his exercise recommendations. I've been doing some reading and found several studies showing that moderate exercise with interval aerobic training decreases episodes of atrial fibrillation in (non-surgical) patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. Not sure that this really applies to me, but will see what he says. Anyway, generally good news, and even with the scary afib recurrence, I'm better off and my heart is in better shape than pre-surgery :). So thanks to my heart warrior family! and to those of you in the pre-op contemplative phase of this journey, know that the majority of us come through in improved condition and in better health compared to before. Best to all!

Well crap! Been awhile since I posted, and I was looking forward to posting for my second anniversary, but... I'm about 23 months post mitral valve repair, had issues with post-op AFib for about 10 weeks, and had been free of rhythm issues for about 20 months when last Thursday while sitting and working on my computer I had palpitations and then went into AFib! I was floored! We were out of town and I haven't been carrying meds for more than a year, so I contacted my Cardiologist and drove 2 hours back to her office for an EKG. Atrial Flutter, no surprise there. I have yet to have and EKG while I was actually in fib, though it was clearly fib in the hospital post-op on tele. Anyway, went home, took my atenolol and flecainide and was back in sinus in an hour. Now what? Sent another note out to Cards and EP. EP suggested re-starting Eliquis. OK, needed a new script and cash for that, spendy drug for those of you who are not partaking. Talked to Cards and got the OK to resume exercise. Did a SLOW run on Satuday morning, all's well, then I sit to eat breakfast and there go the palpitations again. OK, I stand and walk and they're better. So I ate breakfast standing, and went back into flutter. Crap! Took the meds and was back in sinus. So as with most AFib apparently, the cause is fuzzy..no alcohol, no coffee, and with the initial episode no antecedent exercise! I had been way indiscreet with my diet for about 2-3 weeks as I was taste testing BBQ beef and pork as well as cupcakes for my wife's 70th birthday party. Anyone with any experience with dietary stuff causing AFib? So now I'm back on the no red meat, low carb diet. I am awaiting my chest strap heart monitor so that I can better evaluate my exercise and keep the HR down, and sometime in the next 2-3 weeks I'll be back on a ZIO patch and get my yearly ECHO. My EP has asked me to think about ablation if the AFib/Flutter comes back. Anyone out there with mitral repair had ablation? I'm concerned as they have to puncture the intra-atrial septum to get to the left atrium which is the most likely area causing my rhythm issues. And my repaired valve is right there! I have many concerns about ablation as my left atrium is enlarged from years of mitral regurgitation and that puts me at risk for the AFib anyway. Basically what they are doing with the ablation is trying to scar the electrical circuits, but that scars the muscle as well and puts me at risk for earlier heart failure. Too much in my brain, clearly, but I guess my hope is that there is someone in this community who has some insight into ablation and AFib after mitral repair. Thanks for listening :)