heart conditions and the future...

As some of you may know, I started a thread awhile back about heart conditions and the safety to ride rides then and after a heart problem presented itself. I have atrial fibrillation and medicines have not corrected the problem completely. They have made the episodes of a-fib a lot more tolerable and less frequent, but for a person that hates to take med's, this is not good enough. It is also a problem because I have asthma and when I take my inhaler when I need it, it causes my heart to flutter and pound. Anyway getting to the point... With many recommendations and most importantly my decision, I will be proceeding with the catheter ablation procedure 12/17/07. I also wanted to see if there was anyone out there that has had this done, and if the doctor ordered them to stay off rides or not after the procedure had taken place. I still rode after I was diagnosed, and only had one episode while in line for dragster (note: I wasn't planning to ride, I just stood in line so the friends could keep an eye on me until my palpitations stopped).
*** Edited 12/6/2007 7:08:44 AM UTC by IvyRose-MissX***

A guy I work with had a similar procedure done, he said you can feel the catheter inside your heart, and its really odd feeling. We have a physical job and he was back to work in 2 weeks. He is a lot better now.

this is good to hear, thank-you :)... well the part about him being being a lot better, not about feeling the catheters. eek!
*** Edited 12/6/2007 6:04:07 PM UTC by IvyRose-MissX***

I am very close to a person that has heart disease and had a heart attack at a pretty young age. All is pretty well now with an operation, proper diet, exercise and monitoring. We rode Dominator at GL this past summer a few times together and there are no restrictions that I know of. But everyone is different and your doctor knows best. My heart goes out to you and I wish you the best of health and happiness. God bless and take care.

I hope your procedure has a great outcome, I'm sure it will. Let us know how you are feeling afterward!

My 3 year old daughter will be having that same operation when she is older. The doctors don't want her to have it done at this young of age. They say she must wait till she is 6 or 7.

They tell us that it has a very high success rate AND that she will be completely normal after the operation. (pending it's sucessful) :)

About 1 week and you will be on the path to a normal life! Congrats.

Okay it has been done. My catheter ablation was done on Monday Dec 17th. It went well, but I can expect to have palpitations for a few more weeks, then all should be well.

Good to hear that everything went well! Thanks for letting us know, I hope you have great remaining part of the holiday season.

Congratulations! Glad to hear it was a success!

Congratulations. :)

You'll be all ready for the 2008 season!

thank-you all, I am really looking forward to the 08 season that is for sure!

Yay! Glad it went well. :)

Update on this old old thread. Its been almost a year since my cath ablation, and I couldn't be better. From the heart operation 12/17/07 to about early march, my palpitations finally stopped, but I had started having panic attacks associated with general anxiety, which developed from all my worries about my heart and what I had gone through. I was off heart meds for good, but then put on xanax and zoloft to gain control over the anxiety. FINALLY, I am over all the anxiety, and 2008 was like a normal fun visit to the park before all my heart drama, and I am glad that I had such a great outcome. No ride restrictions for me, just back to the youngin' self that I was before. Sigh...

Yay for being able to ride again! Had a bit of that myself this year. Wrote a trip report about my November 2nd visit to The Point! Congrats!

Awesome! That's great news!