Posted by Russell Boyce on May 03, 2001 at 14:38:39:
In Reply to: MAZE complications posted by Angie on May 03, 2001 at 14:28:58:
If you are pursuing the MAZE I have to assume you have decided that your quality of life is no longer acceptable to you and you are willing to take the risk of the operation to improve it. I had been in cronic afib since Nov.1995 and all meds had failed by Dec. 1996. I pursued alternatives and found an EC that was the director of the unit at Dartmoth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Labanon,NH.He does an AV node ablation and pacer which helps some people, but does not correct afib and doesn't make the atrium work.He said I was severely disabled without the atrium working and should pursue something else. He located doctor Cox and another surgeon in Oklahoma who was doing a cath version of the maze which did not have good results and was abandoned shortly after. I aplied to doctor Cox in May 1997 and was scheduled for August 4 1997. A couple weeks before the operation it was found Georgetown didn't have a provider number with NH Medicaid so the operation was cancelled. I didn't get rescheduled until Febuary 1998 at which time my PCP allowed me to travel alone, wheelchair bound the 1000 miles from northern NH to DC and I showed up in such poor health Dr.Cox oredered a double heart cath the next morning.My lungs were full of fluid, my heart was floating in fluid and my abdomen was distended with fluid and I had 15-20% ejection fraction.Dr.Cox said I was no longer a candidate for the maze and I was turned over to the teaching faculty, who spent 8 days saving my life.I went home with the diagnosis I needed a heart transplant. I went home and started rehab and started taking CO-Q-10 and other supplements. None of the staff in DC expected me to make it home, nevermind come back March 17 ,1999 to have the MAZE done by Dr.Cox. I am two years post maze and have not been in afib since.I also had a mitral valve repair and a single bypass to repair damage done by clots from the afib as I was in afib three months undiagnosed before I had an MI and was brought into the ER in afib.
I am now working a full time job at 58 years old and I thank God every day for Dr.Cox and his MAZE.
The risk is there and only you can decide if the risk is worth taking.I made the right decision for me, now you have to decide. I know several people who were not active that have had the AV node ablation and pacer and they are able to work and have a great quality of life. It just would not have given me the quality I had to have.
Russ Boyce, northern,NH