Posted by Carl Plaskett on August 22, 2001 at 19:51:11:
In Reply to: Beautiful beautiful echocardiogram posted by Rob Hamill on August 22, 2001 at 10:57:49:
Rob: You are right. An echo of a heart in AF is very dramatic. It is sure different than the fascinating steady pumping of one in NSR. I thought I would pass out the only time I saw mine in AF. It looked like it was doing nothing but kind of rapid,rampant,irregular quivering...and it was only at about 150BPM, not the 260 or so I experienced other times when I wasn't having an echo.
I found it enjoyable to watch the face of the technician doing an echo on me after the maze. She couldn't restrain her interest in how a heart could have such surgery and now be beating so much better than just a few weeks earlier (pre-maze).
I'm glad to know you are biking like a "bonsai",which I always thought was a Japanese container-grown miniature tree. I do know that bonsai trees live to very,very old, as I expect many of us "mazers" will now do!!You may find that a few drinks will increase your HR some. I have found that 1/2 bottle of so of wine will increase my resting HR about 25-30bpm to around 90-100 several hours after drinking it. I have found that about 10mg or less of atenolol brings it back to 65-75 in about an hour. I am finding that to be necessary less as the time since my maze passes. You are right about how good it feels to give one's heart a workout without the fear of AF and accompanying dizziness, etc.