Posted by Russell Boyce on April 30, 2001 at 20:48:08:
In Reply to: Not Ready for the Maze Yet? posted by Jerry on April 30, 2001 at 20:32:09:
Hi Jerry,
Take your time and be sure you are comfortable with the surgeon and hospital you choose. I am 58 and had the maze done by doctor Cox in DC in March 1999 after being rejected by him in 1998 as being no longer a candidate at 15-20% ejection fraction and being in congestive heart failure. I strongle recommend you start taking CO-Q-10 at least three months before your surgery. My AF had been cronic for three years and had caused an MI, a near totally coronary artery blockage and severe mitral valve damage. I had a mitral valve repair and a single bypass along with the full open heart MAZE by Dr. Cox.I was home living alone in the wilderness in a week and driving my van in two. It is not quite 2 years post-op and I restarted my computer repair business last summer and I just took a full-time job on top of my own business. The 40 year old jumbo jet pilot in the room next to me had been grounded a year before and I have heard he is back in the air flying a MD-80. My AF had me in a wheel-chair and unable to drive and the state was considering putting me in a nursing home.I have not had any AF since the MAZE and I can walk up and down stairs without giving it a thought.I would have the open heart surgery a hundred times to be where I am today.Three of the meds they tried on me have left their permanent side effects. Quina-glute took most of my hearing, Procainamide gave me permanent arthritus in my back and neck and Sotolol took most of my vocabulary and computer repair skills. I have relearned my skills and vocabulary and a lot of my hearing has returned.I refused the AV node ablation and pacer because it does not cure the AF and I would have been pacer dependant.There are risks involved in the surgery but, just think about the hell your family will endure if you have a stroke and have to be fed and washed like a baby. I have a neighbor who took care of me when I was disabled that has had a stroke and is five years my junior and it is painful for me to visit him and see what he is going thru. Russ Boyce