Posted by Ed Wehan on February 26, 2003 at 18:57:47:
In Reply to: Some maze questions posted by Jim Matthews on February 25, 2003 at 23:15:52:
Jim, Carl has covered most of this pretty well and if Steve steps in, you'll get additional good advice. One thing I did prior to my maze was read Dr. Cox's articles that were written in the January 2000 "Seminars of CardioThoracic Surgery". It covered much of what you ask including what might be termed atrial kick which wasn't really much of a problem. I loaned my copy to someone and forget who it was or I would mail mine to you. Maybe someone else has a copy or can tell you how to order one. It had every technical thing you wanted to know about the maze and even things you didn't want to know. After having read that 15 times or so, I could talk to any cardiologist about this stuff and know as much (more) than they did. At my age (59), the memory is not what it used to be so I can't quote too much information that was in there. I do know that with all of the facts that I gathered, I felt pretty content going into surgery fully understanding that there is always some risk. But, the other thing I always kept in mind was the RISK of not having the surgery. I knew the maze was for me because I knew the risks of life in AFib. This is not only quality of life risk, but mortality and morbidity due to your heart being in constant AFib. Remember that as you look forward to this lifesaving surgery you will be having.
After surgery, I believe that the incidence of AFib is higher than the 39% or so that is quoted. Just plan on it happening and understand that it takes 6 or 7 weeks for the incision to heal and from that point, AFib is permanently gone. I also had flutter awhile after surgery but that disappeared also. I initially was on rhythmol but that was a problem so I ended up with amiodarone for a short while and that worked great.
CC was the best place for me as I had researched every possible hospital and soon came to the conclusion that you go to the place that does the most of these and that is CC. If anything happens (like Carl trying to drink coffee shortly after surgery and starting to cough and open his chest incision), they have seen it before and handling the problem is old hat to them. You have chosen the best surgeon and (one of the) best hospitals for what you are doing. Get fit as you can. Ask to have the intubation tube removed before you wake up and look out for phone calls from Carl and Jack. Good luck.
- Re: Some maze questions Carl Plaskett 20:54:42 2/26/2003 (0)