Posted by Henry Alken on September 12, 2001 at 17:09:34:
I am a 69 year old male with Lone Chronic Afib. I have had Afib since 1996. For the first 4 years, Betapace worked well for me and I was able to walk and run and perform my job (I am not an athlete or a long distance runner). About 9 months ago the Betapace gradually stopped working and I went into Atrial Flutter at 135 bpm 24 hours a day. Dr Marchlinski, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, told me that I would damage my heart if I let that rate continue, so I had a Flutter Ablation done by his team. The Flutter Ablation cured the flutter, but, just as Dr M. warned me, it was replaced by Afib. Since then I have been on Rythmol and Toprol. The new meds have made me faint and feel frequently dizzy. Also, I can no longer walk a few miles without becoming breathless and feeling a tightness across the chest. When I twice fainted at work and became very worried about driving on the expressway, I decided to spend a lot of time reading this Maze message board. As a result of my reading, I have decided that I don't want to continue living this way like an invalid and so I have an appointment for the Maze with Dr McCarthy at the Cleveland Clinic. He has performed over 230 mazes with no deaths or strokes, so I am keeping my fingers crossed. I did consider Dr Brown at OSUMC but he has done only 22 Maze operations so I chose Dr McCarthy. I fly out there (if the planes are flying) on October 10. Get lab tests on the 11th and 12th and have the surgery on the 17th. When I get home afterwards, I will post the results. I could not have reached this decision without the life stories I have read on this message board and the tremendous help I have received from everyone who answered my questions and gave me support. My sincere thanks to Jack Drum and John Behle.
- Re: Maze on October 17 Tom Meyer 12:34:26 9/17/2001 (0)