T minus 24 hours and counting

Well  less than 24 hours and I should be out of surgery..

Had my CTA and consultation with Dr Natale today. This is the first CTA I have ever had. First off the staff I the MRI lab were excellent. The test itself was easy. The only odd part is when they inject the contrast. They warn you first but it is a different sensation. I found it to be relaxing but others may be disturbed by the sensation. You can literally feel it flowing throughout your body.

The visit with Dr. Natale wasn’t very long but informative. My case nurse had discussed allot of things and answered questions for me before he arrived. So he was able to go pretty much to the nuts and bolts of tomorrow’s activities. I had asked if there was anything he had seen from my previous ablation notes that gave him any insight or made him suspect of any particular part of the heart that might be suspect.

He said that it probably is no longer PVI related as I have already had 2 ablation but he wasn’t ruling that out either. He did talk some about the possibility that it could be related to the left atrial appendage.  If this is the case it may require for me to come back for a second procedure. The reason for this is two fold. One being it’s location and second being structural. I’ll explain as best I can.

The left atrial appendage lies closely to the corroded artery. So when they ablate that area they can only allow the catheter to remain in any one area for a shorter period of time. The reason fo this is to eliminate the risk of doing any damage to it. The structural issue here is that the walls of the opening to the appendage are thick and thin depending upon the area. Also the structure of the consistency of the appendage is different as well.

The other caveat with the left atrial appendage is that if they do ablate it I will have to remain on anticoagulants for life. This is due to the fact that the LAA is a major cause for stroke by itself. Ablation only increases this risk. The other option to anticoagulants would be the Watchman Device. The Watchman is like a filter that they would implant that would catch any clots that may form thus eliminating 5he need for anticoagulants.

So for right now all I can do is wait and see what tomorrow brings.