hi steve!
prior to joey's surgery, he too, was in and out of afib atleast once or twice a year. it became so frequent one year that they cardioverted him.
they put him in a "twilight sleep" and it took all of 3 minutes. i was a nervous wreck.
when the cardiologist finished, he immediately called me in so i could see all was fine and joey was in sinus rhythm. joey told me that as soon as it was over_ not realizing it had been done already_ i would be called in. he didn't remember a thing!
because of the frequency of the afib, they admitted him for 3 days to regulate him on anti-arrhythmic meds. betapace (sotolol) was what he was put on.
this drug worked wonders for years, until after his avr. he went into afib 3 or 4 days after surgery and even the betapace at a higher dose failed to do the trick. that is when they decided on amiodarone.
he still takes it and gets checked regularly, especially since he has a thyroid problem and the amio affects that balance.
my father has a st. judes valve and takes coumadin and is in chronic afib and has been for years. he opted to remain this way , because it does not impede on his lifestyle at all. he golfs, runs a bit and walks and bikes.as far as he's concerned, he has to take coumadin anyway.
they say that the longer you are in afib, the more difficult it becomes to cardiovert the heart into sinus rhythm.
i hope this helps.
please let us know if/ when you decide to have this done.also, how things go.
be well, sylvia
