Posted by Terry on May 03, 2001 at 14:39:30:
In Reply to: MAZE complications posted by Angie on May 03, 2001 at 14:28:58:
Angie,
I am a 43 year old female. My twin sister and I had the Maze Procedure performed in January at the Cleveland Clinic by Patrick McCarthy. We both had problems with atrial fib for approx. 15 years and had tried all sorts of medications, some of which worked initially but failed later on. I did some research using the web and found info. on the Maze procedure, which I then took to my Doctor. He was very helpful and researched the procedure, particularly the catheter based Maze. (I was a coward about surgery.) However, the catheter version did not have the success rate that the normal open-heart Maze has so we decided to go for it.
It has now been 10 weeks since surgery, and I have worked ever since week 2. (I am a CPA and do not have the luxury to rest this time of year!)
My twin sister and I shared a room after surgery and got quite a bit of attention because of the twin thing. We even were on the local news in Cleveland. I had a leaky mitral valve so I had a valve repair as well as the Maze procedure; my sister just had the Maze. I was released from the hospital after 4 days; however, my sister remained in the hospital a week longer and had addtional surgery during that time to drain fluid which had accumulated around her heart. During all of this, she went into atrial fibrillation and was put back on anti-arrythmic medication. Later, when we got home, she started developing blisters around her incision site and found out that she was allergic to the stiches used to close the incision. Needless to say, she was quite irritated because she was having all these problems and in her words to me "You just twist, twist, twist around and don't have anything happen to you!" Well, I told her that I felt like something had happened to me - I felt sort of like a Mack Truck had run over me!
All jokes aside, I think I've done real well since surgery. Our heart rates increased after surgery to about 100 BPM, but have come down to around 70 since then. I was really sore for about 6 or 7 weeks, and I still feel it and have to be careful about lifting heavy objects. I had one afternoon of atrial fib, but was put on a beta-blocker and have had no problems since. I do have premature beats, especially when I get real tired. My energy level is lower than it was pre-surgery, but is improving and climbing steps is also getting easier.
My sister and I will stay on these medications until we go back to Cleveland in early May - at that time, hopefully we will be able to come off all medications. My sister is doing much better -she is now back at work too!
Please contact me if I can help you.
Terry