Could I be In a Better Place?

Could I possibly be in a better place then The University of Colorado Hospital (UCH)? Sure I could, only if I wasn't sick, only if it wasn't for the damn angry sarcoid. But if you have Cardiac Sarcoidosis and and they are going to do a VT ablation, there is no better place, Period. I am sure of that.

The EP doctor, Dr. K, just dropped by to talk to me and my lovely wife Gina, (aside: how apropos was last weeks reading in the Catholic Church) about what to expect and answer my myriad of questions. She explained that she cleared her schedule and will be there for the whole procedure as well as the 2 other EP docs. She mentions that UCH is partnered with the manufacture of the CT scan and they are going to try to do some new imaging, overlaying the images from the CT scan along with the electrical mapping of the heart (I guess its called a electrophysiological study or EPS). So a representative from the maker of the scanner will be there (cannot remember if it is Siemens of Philips or some other company) to assist with that. That should really help in finding just where these problem areas are.

As for the ablation, what they do is put a catheter into the artery on my groin area and go up into a vein into the top or atrium of my heart and then into the ventricals and that's where they seek out where the VT is propagating from and ablate that area. That's my version, the actual technical version my be slightly different, but that's what I heard her say...

They've done this a bunch of times but not to many hearts with sarcoid. Dr. K mentioned a new study that came out from Michigan about VT ablations but I haven't found it yet and maybe will look for it post ablation. One of the questions I asked was how efficient my heart will be in after the procedure. The answer was that there is a lot a scaring from the sarcoid and additional scaring from the ablation may reduce my hearts productivity (in the heart failure world we talk ejection fraction or EF) but it is a question best answered by a "we'll see." I am OK with that. You know why, I cannot go through life having days of 80 VT episodes, the ICD fireing 6 times, 911 call, etc.. There is nothing worse then knowing every waking moment, in the back of your mind, that that ICD could fire. Then I think about the thing going off while I am sleeping too. I don't envision that thats a nice way to wake up. Yeah, I can't go through life like that.

We also talked about when I might be able to go home and the happy path would be Saturday. If its not Saturday, it probably means that they found and ablated on area on the outside of my heart. Which means that that cut a whole in me just below the sternum. But they have done their research and have the cardiac thorasic surgeon ready to go to perform the that actual cutting. If they do that then the recovery time might be a little longer.

We were told that there is nothing that they won't do to make this successful. And they have already done a lot of leg work working up to 8:00 am Friday morning, November 21, 2008.

So hey, this is all good and I am going to come out of this much better than when I came in. And... so... NO, I could not be in a better place right now then UCH. Absolutely COULD NOT BE. So I am going to relax, watch some football, get a late snack (since I cannot have any food past midnight, NPO you know), unplug the phone and get a good night sleep.