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"SVT Ablation"

About: Golden Jubilee National Hospital / Cardiac Surgery

(as the patient),

Wonderful experience.  A week before the procedure the arythmia nurse explained me on the phone how the procedure would take place. 

I had to do a covid test and isolate for a couple of days before the procedure, all very well organised. I was nervous on the day but the staff was extraordinary helpful and understanding, I had my own room as I waited and could watch TV which helped. Saw the doctor before the procedure to answer any questions I could still have, then was introduced to the whole team in the theater, impressive equipment, all looking brand new, the team made me feel confident all was going to be ok, I did not feel pain at any moment neither before nor after, I was awake the whole time as it is supposed to be for SVT ablation and I appreciated that the staff was telling me what they were doing. It was easy to trigger my tachycardia, it turns out I had the AVNRT type, which was ablated. The whole thing lasted one hour and a half but you really don t see time pass. The catheter were removed, I was brought back to my room where you have to lay down for a while. The doctor checked on me all was good. After a while I was gradually allowed to seat, eat a little. After a couple of hours I went back home. The site where the catheter is inserted is in fact very small, very clean work, it cicatrized very easily and I am sure it won t leave any trace. I had a bit of chest disconfort in the next couple of days which is  normal. I was annoyed with a lot of ectopic beats, which feel like a pause and a big beat (premature beats), more than expected to be honest, but I guess it depends on every person. I called the arythmia nurse who reassured me, it is just the heart being healing, and she was right, it took me a while: like I had these ectopic beats all the time for 4-5 days then I started to have periods of normal heart beat, as the days passed the ectopic beats reduced more and more, now over two weeks post procedure  and I almost don t have any anymore, so if you are experiencing those do not worry it will get better. And most importantly, no more SVT crisis since the ablation! I used to get one crisis a week, sometimes several times per day on bad days, it completely controlled my life and I was living in fear of having crisis, I ended up forbidding myself to do some activities because of it. In normal time these ectopic beats would have triggered so many crisis so this is a really good sign, time will tell if I really got rid of it but so far this is wonderful, I am so grateful for the cardiology team, you change people's life! 

   
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Responses

Response from Paula McPhail, Feedback and Legal Co-ordinator, Clinical Governance, NHS Golden Jubilee 2 years ago
Paula McPhail
Feedback and Legal Co-ordinator, Clinical Governance,
NHS Golden Jubilee
Submitted on 08/07/2021 at 11:14
Published on Care Opinion at 11:14


Dear cciso,

Thank you for taking the time to write such a lovely post on Care Opinion. I am pleased to read that the staff were helpful and understanding, as this hopefully put you at ease from the beginning of your journey. The team work extremely hard to ensure that patients are keep updated and safe at all times throughout their journey and it fantastic to read this was the case for you.

It's really good to hear that you called the arrhythmia nurse to discuss your concerns and that they reassured you, as this can be a very worrying time for patients and they are there to support you at all times.

I would like to be able to share your wonderful post with the team directly involved in your care. If you would be happy for me to do this, please call me on 0141 951 5951, alternatively email me feedback@gjnh.scot.nhs.uk with your full name and date of birth.

I wish you a well onward recovery.

Regards

Paula

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