HEART RHYTHM SPECIALIST
HEART RHYTHM SPECIALIST
I first presented to my local GP with a cough that wouldn’t go away, but after he had sounded my chest he said that he thought my heart was the problem, not my chest! I was prescribed β-blockers and referred to my local hospital to see a cardiologist who saw an immediate problem from my ECG and booked me in for a 24hr heart activity monitor and an echocardiogram. When I came out from my echocardiogram I was immediately seen by another cardiologist who told me I had Atrial Fibrillation and prescribed Amiodarone. At this stage I was going in and out of AF fairly frequently and I noticed that I was becoming increasingly breathless going up stairs. I even began to keep a diary of AF episodes, time of onset and length of episode and with many occurring during the night. The feeling the episodes created was mainly one of anxiety. Apart from this feeling I was mainly asymptomatic, but there was one occasion when I went incredibly dizzy and collapsed, resulting in admission to hospital via A&E where the heart rhythm alarm hardly stopped pinging!
I suffered fairly significant visual disturbances from Amiodarone and as a result was prescribed Flecainide as an alternative. Both my GP and the cardiologist from my hospital stay raised the possibility of ablation therapy though neither followed it up directly with a specialist referral.
I talked about catheter ablation therapy further with my GP, having researched it myself on the internet and found that Dr D. Gupta at the Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital (LHCH) specialised in this technique, and requested that my GP provide me with a referral letter. After reading my notes from the GP and talking through my medical history Dr Gupta thought that I was a suitable case for treatment, explained what the procedure would do and booked me onto his list.
My treatment day at LHCH was at the beginning of December 2012 and my ECG showed significant AF which was still active as I was wheeled past the Christmas decorations in the corridor down to theatre. I was also told that because I was in AF I would need to be given an oesophageal echococardiogram. I was sedated for the procedure, which I was told took several hours. In recovery I was aware that my heart rhythm had returned to normal and to this day (6 months on) it is still normal with no recurrence at all of AF. Post procedure I suffered only minor bruising at the top of my Right thigh.
I only have praise for all the staff at LHCH who cared for me so well and especially for the technology that was operated so skilfully by Dr Gupta and his expert team. THANK YOU!!
Geoffrey Sharpe, 56 years, Frodsham
13 July 2013