PVA Report

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Posted by Bill Hawley on May 19, 2002 at 15:55:26:

First; Thanks to all of you who sent your very best wishes and prayers.

As you know, my son had his PVA on Wed. He went into the Hosp (CC) at 7am and was prepped. The proceedure took about 5 hours. I spoke to Dr. Tchou who said that things went well.

On Wed. night he was between nsr and fib, mostly fib. They were going to cardiovert him on Thurs. am but by the time that decision was made he had already eaten bkfst and they put the cardioversion off till pm. He was taken back to the cardioversion lab at about 5pm and when he got on the table the Cardiologist called Dr. Tchou and told him that he was slipping between nsr and fib. At that time the decision was made NOT to cardiovert and to get back to nsr by upping his tambicor by 50%. This worked. So now he's in rythm, but it took the tambicor to get him there. I met with the cardiologist who was to cardiovert him and later with Dr. Tchou. Their message was that this is very, very unusual. (which I took to mean it probably had not happened previously)

Going on, Dr. Tchou said that it was his opinion that he should go home and stay on the tambicor for a few weeks giving the heart some time to heal and to reduce the swelling from the pva. We came home Sat. evening (with a monitor to send any unusual rythms to CC) and expect to call Dr. Tchou in about two weeks, all things staying equal.

At some point they will begin to reduce meds and see what happens.

Some comments about the pva proceedure: First, they are very careful about the possibility of stroke and they take extensive precautions. And they watch the patient very carefully for signs of stroke for several hours after the proceedure. I came away with the feeling that if they error it will be on the side of caution.

At the end of the day you have to say to yourself, was this trip necessary. I believe it was and while my son and I are unhappy that he wasn't in the 80% group, perhaps he may get there and if not, he'll go back and have at it again.

I hope this lengthy report doesn't deter anyone from having a pva...I'll tell you this: It's a heap easier on the body than the maze he was sent to CC for last year.

Thanks again to all of you. If anyone has any suggestions or comments they can post them on the web or send them to me at my email address. Thank you all. Bill


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