Posted by Sharee Berry on January 05, 2002 at 14:11:41:
In Reply to: Maze success posted by Tony Spackman on January 04, 2002 at 21:50:29:
Tony:
I am five months post maze. I am a 58 year old female and also was healthy other than the A fib. I considered many options before researching and deciding upon the maze procedure. I had been on all the drugs and broken through all of them, in and out of Emergency Rooms with heart rates over 200, and basically feeling my life was becoming a slave to the A fib and that it was controlling my life. I didn't want to be on amiodarone for the rest of my life, which was the drug of last resort for me. Neither did I want to have an ablation and be only guaranteed a 50% chance of success. When a wonderful cardiologist at Nebraska Heart Institute in Lincoln suggested I look into the maze, I still wasn't sure. It was only after talking to one of the surgeons there and accessing this message board that I decided that I had no other choice. I have never regretted that decision. Although I have had some episodes of A fib since my surgery, none of them have been as severe as before, and all have converted within an hour at home with small dose of Lopressor. My amiodarone has been decreased now to 100mg. q.d. and of course I am still on Coumadin. However, next month February 13th, I will have reached the six month post maze mark, and will be able to get off my medications.By the way, I am from Provo, Utah but have lived in Lincoln, Nebraska for the past 15 years. My surgeon was Dr. Deepak Gangahar, Nebraska Heart Institute, affiliated with BryanLGH Medical Center in Lincoln.
I hope this information is helpful to you so that you can make the decision that is best. As stated before, I now feel great and am looking forward to an A Fib free life off medications!
Sharee
- Re: Maze success Tony Spackman 17:23:28 1/05/2002 (1)
- Re: Maze success Sharee Berry 20:55:03 1/05/2002 (0)