Joseph's Posts

Hi Joe. I went into AFib about a week and a half after my AVR surgery in February. I was in the hospital for 4 days. All the docs said it was normal/typical after surgery. I was a wreck. AFib is very scary. You have absolutely no control....I was very scared. Docs increased my beta blocker and that seems to have done the trick. I sometimes still feel flutters, but nothing horrible. I found once I started cardiac rehab, I felt much better since I was being monitored. Hope you're going to do rehab, it's such an important part of our recovery. Good luck. If I can be of any help, please reach out. Stay strong!

Hi Joe. I had a bout of atrial flutter about six weeks post surgery that wouldn't resolve with meds...so I had a cardioversion. That did the trick and so far (knock on wood), it hasn't come back. I'm now in cardio rehab...starting to "stress" the heart...and all is still well. I have been told by numerous cardiologists that atrial flutter/fib is really pretty 'normal' after OHS/AVR, and it most often resolves once the heart tissue heals. That's what I'm hoping for. If your cardiologist suggests a cardioversion to get you back into normal sinus rhythm, I wouldn't hesitate to do it. I had no issues with the procedure. You do want to g3et the A-fib addressed...it is hard on the hear muscle and you have a higher risk of stroke due to the fibrillation. I'm no doctor...but that's what I've been told.