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Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 5, 2011 - 07:16pm PT
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Thanks BargainHunter.
I can relate to your (pre-ablation) experience. Gave up the little caffeine/monster drinking when I nearly passed out on the bike from my "asthma". That didn't seem to matter much except for a higher bank account balance. :)
I'm glad you discovered your v-tach in such a way as to allow you to post and not have a relative have to do it for you. :/ Scary stuff!
And I'm happy not to hear any gruesome moments during/after the ablation. This is my hope for myself the wonder-chicken.
Thanks for posting up. Hope you hang out here on the taco. And tell Reddirt 'hey!'...it's been too long since we visited!
edit: Oh, and true about the cost. I think at this point, it's already been about a $40k adventure. May come close to the $100k after the ablation. :/ Thank goodness I've insurance. The co-pay and deductibles are expensive enough. Without it I'd just be a 90 year lady.
double edit: I just reread your post and wanted to say I absolutely can relate to the fear of passing out and/or croaking. That fear is huge. More than once in front of class, I was pretty certain I was going down. My teaching assistant knew what was up so I knew someone would call 9/11, but still. That fear isn't anything one reads about in the literature or on web sites. Also, to hear you out at half dome post ablation alone means a lot. For months, being somewhere alone has been unthinkable. Risking passing out where no one would be wasn't something I'd do. Thanks again.
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Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 6, 2011 - 10:15am PT
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Riley - my understanding is that PSVT is misdiagnosed a lot as anxiety. Two docs of mine offered similar findings. One said I should learn to breath more deeply with my diaphragm and I'd feel better (nice way of saying it's in my head, no?). The other said it must have been a virus that is passing. I found that odd as I'd almost passed out in his presence.
What can one do? I've really come to understand what people mean about the difficulty in navigating the system. Only because I'm persistent because I KNEW something was way wrong did I keep at it. (Having insurance helped too). There were moments that I gave up too. But I'd feel so bad they didn't last long. I knew something was wrong.
I feel for many people who would just give up. It'd be easy to declare oneself old and just quit. I've seen that happen more than once.
I was VERY HAPPY to get this diagnosis - really any diagnosis would work after months of searching.
Mind you too, these strips have come after months of sitting here doing nothing. What you see there was what happens as I sit at the computer. Some while I sleep. It was far worse when I was riding a lot. I'd be curious how those strips looked.
And more birding it's been. In fact, heading out to see the ducks coming through right now!
edit: And the artifact at the end of those strips were me pressing the button on the monitor to mark it. I found odd some strips while I was asleep that had artifacts in them. Wonder what the heck I was doing in my sleep.
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klk
Trad climber
cali
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Wonder what the heck I was doing in my sleep.
heh
useless w/o pictures
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Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 6, 2011 - 10:33am PT
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Heh heh. :)
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ME Climb
Trad climber
Behind the Orange Curtain
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Crimper,
So sorry to hear about this. I wish you the best towards a full recovery and returning to all the activities you enjoy!
Eric
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bobinc
Trad climber
Portland, Or
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Best wishes from your Sept 29 colleague in the NW. And glad to read Bargainhunter's detailed acct from upthread.
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Mtnmun
Trad climber
Top of the Mountain Mun
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May you have a speedy recovery and they get to the bottom of this soon Crimper.
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spyork
Trad climber
Tunneling out of prison
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Sorry to hear Crimpie! My son had a heart problem they need to fix with a catheter. Abalative something, I can't remember now. It was scary as hell. Hang in there!
Steve
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Bob D'A
Trad climber
Taos, NM
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Crimp...you sound a lot like my deal...I had a nuclear stress test done in Boulder two years ago...clean and strong, in fact they told me I was in amazing shape for my age (57 at the time). A year and half later I went through open heart surgery...two arteries 99 per cent closed. The widow maker was one of them. A minor heart was the warning sign and thanks to my wife and my best friend who is a doctor, the doctors told me I did everything right.
Heart disease runs in the males on my father side of the family, I'm a imprint of my dad, got his great looks :-) and bad arteries.
Call me if you ever need to talk...I have been through it and life is wonderful.
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Brian
climber
California
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Sorry to hear about this. I had an episode of a-fib about 6.5 years ago. Just came on in the evening, not exercise induced or anything. They converted me back to sinus rhythm in the ER (using drugs, not defibrillators). I was only 36 at the time and more or less monster-fit. Crazy.
Anyhow, long story short, after the proverbial million dollar work up, a visit for a second second opinion with a team of electrophysiologists at UCLA, the diagnosis... "We don't know why this happened. We don't know if it will happen again. You seem fit as a fiddle, go live your life." I asked about what would happen if I had a recurrence 1/2 up El Cap, or a week into the backcountry in the developing world. "For someone like you, a-fib is not life threatening. Walk out, go to a hospital. The techniques for converting you back to sinus rhythm are pretty standard. Stop worrying."
Since then I've had fairly regular episodes of skipped heart beats (PVCs) that show up on my annual Holter Monitor test, but no a-fib. The PVCs could be precursors to a recurrence, or they could be unrelated. No way to tell, and I've finally come around to just (more or less) forgetting about it. Since the a-fib I've run a half-Ironman, soloed big routes in the Alps, made a (failed) free attempt on Moonlight, climbed my hardest ice and mixed routes, skied my steepest descents, and so on. To be completely honest, it still gives me a nagging bit of anxiety, but at this stage I just sort of soldier on and, so far, that seems to be working.
I'm still on a baby aspirin each day and a micro dose of a beta-blocker (which I suspect may be placebo or anxiety-moderater given how low the dose is). Six plus years our and no recurrence.
However, if I get another recurrence, I'll go with an ablation before I let them put me on long-term blood thinners. Lifestyle matters. I did lots of research into ablation options early on when I was stressing, and for a-fib the success rate is only around 70%, so it's something to put off until it becomes necessary (hopefully never!). But apparently, as you've found out, ablation is a silver bullet for other arrhythmias.
Good luck! I'm sure you'll come though with flying colors.
Brian
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Ken M
Mountain climber
Los Angeles, Ca
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Thanks, Riley!
Brian, when you said:
Since then I've had fairly regular episodes of skipped heart beats (PVCs) that show up on my annual Holter Monitor test, but no a-fib. The PVCs could be precursors to a recurrence, or they could be unrelated. No way to tell, and I've finally come around to just (more or less) forgetting about it.
It's worth noting that up to 15 PVC's per MINUTE are considered within the normal range, so that what you have on your Holter's sound like they are *normal*. I only mention it, as you sound as though you might think that it represents something trying to happen.
What you mentioned about low dose beta blocker IS often used as an anti-anxiety agent (I use it for that A LOT, a very safe, non addictive drug). But it also may blunt a blast of adrenaline that could be a trigger for the AF. Pretty benign and cheap insurance (plus protects against heart attacks-no extra charge!).
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SteveW
Trad climber
The state of confusion
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A big bump for the Crimpster!!!!
I hope you're feeling better, a bit!!!!!
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Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 9, 2011 - 10:25am PT
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Thanks Steve. Just a work and wait game. Happy to see a the finish line with the procedure scheduled. As a world class worrier, I now dread the thought that they can't create the arrhythmia in the study. I want the ablation! Have not read numbers on how often that happens. Ready to sign up for the 2012 bike tour!
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pc
climber
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Crimpie,
Very sorry to hear of the hitch in your ticker. But for sure you've got a base health that's tough as nails to throw at this thing.
Must be something about this age. I'm the same as you. Recent funny/bummer body discovery here too.
And to think we (humans) spend so much time bitching, moaning, fighting, politicing, etc... No time to waste on that stuff folks...
Keep the great attitude. And I'll try to remember a fart joke or two,
Peter
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nature
climber
back in Tuscon Aridzona....
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Upon exertion, I start passing out. This is not a quality one wants in their belayer. :)
two words...
Grigri
sorry to hear this news!
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ilona
climber
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Hi Crimpie-
I'm also an ER doc, and had ablation for PSVT 1.5 years ago. Unlike you, I had symptoms since I was 12 years old, intermittently, and had multiple EKG's showing my dysrhythmia as it would frequently happen during med school rounds or while I was working. I finally decided I should get it ablated after I went into it once in Ecuador while climbing a volcano, and couldn't break it for about 6 hours. My ablation went very smoothly, I was running again within 1 week, and have been completely asymptomatic since then despite lots of exercise and caffeine.
Your story is a bit different, as your symptoms seem like they're more severe and associated with concerns for coronary artery disease, but the PSVT itself from the EKG's you've shown seems similar, and you have a great chance of successful, easy ablation. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you, and feel free to PM me if you'd like to discuss further or have more questions.
Cheers,
Ilona
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Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 9, 2011 - 08:13pm PT
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I like the part where you are drinking/eating caffeine again. :) Heh heh. Congrats on you successful conquering of it. And thanks for the report.
Do you know how often it is that an EP cannot get the arrhythmia to show up during the study? That would be a major drag if that happened. Hard to believe it won't though. It seems happy to show up at any time and any place. :)
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Jan
Mountain climber
Okinawa, Japan
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Crimpie-
No advice to give, but I wanted to add my best wishes for getting this thing
under control and getting back out doing fun climbs again soon
 after first getting a good zing from your morning coffee!
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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hey there say, crimpie... just dropped in to say good wishes, again for you...
and help be one of these folks here, who are cheering you up!
god bless...
:)
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Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 9, 2011 - 11:59pm PT
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Thanks you too. Maybe BN will post a good photo of me looking like death warmed over after the procedure as I'm on the road to recovery. :) Here's a good one from the souvenir angiogram. I look dead. I felt super poopy too. :/
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