I had talked more in depth with my fertility doctor about everything going on in regards to my heart and he said not to be concerned. He had previously dealt with patients who had SVT and they would probably just talk to me about taking some Beta Blockers throughout my pregnancy.
The day had come for me to finally meet with my Electrophysiologist. His name was Dr. Mehdi Razavi. I was shaking because I was so scared of what may come of this appointment. I explained to him everything that had happened in my past, and with the previous doctor appointments, and what eventually led me to him. So he had me explain to him what these episodes were like and how I can break them on my own. I also explained to him the triggers that caused these episodes to occur. His faced lit up with excitement as I described these things. He said "You have textbook SVT. Wow you are little too in tuned with your body!"
He said that I would need to get this taken care of eventually. Dr. Ali had said that if I would have waited until I was 50 or 60 years of age to get this checked, it could have been dangerous. We talked about what to do from here. They of course did an EKG and that came back normal, just as they always did. They could have done a 30 day monitor to try to catch an episode, since one had never been recorded, but we knew what we were dealing with essentially. So he told me that there were 3 different medications that I could take to help with the SVT. Then..... I dropped the pregnancy bomb on him. I told him that there was a chance that I could be pregnant and I needed to know what options were best for me at this time. The look on his face changed instantly. He said in his experience with SVT, it gets WORSE with pregnancy. Most people don't even know they have SVT until they become pregnant, and I was lucky enough to catch it before pregnancy. The pressure of the pregnancy starts to trigger the SVT episodes to occur, without me even attempting to trigger it. The problem with this is that you cannot take the medications needed to treat the SVT while you are pregnant. Only Beta Blockers, and that is not enough. The other two medications needed can cause extreme deformities to the baby. He said it would be like trying to help me with his hands tied behind his back. The cure, and only other option, would be to have a catheter ablation done. I had already had a feeling this would be the case, considering all I had been doing was googling the cure since I'd had left Dr. Ali's office. He said that there would be less than a 7% chance that I would need a pacemaker and this should be the thing that cures it for good! We talked about how high the success rates were and all the benefits and risks that came along with it.
I had to ask him the one question that I was so afraid to know... Could this kill me? He said NO! Oh my goodness, I couldn't be more relieved. I would not drop dead like those basketball players and soccer players. This would not cause cardiac arrest....but it needed to be taken care of eventually.
Here's the catch.... Since there was a chance I could be pregnant, we needed to act and we needed to act fast. You can get a catheter ablation done while you are pregnant, but not until later in the 3rd trimester. Who would want to put themselves in that type of situation? He told me to think about it and let him know within a day or so. He also offered to talk to my fertility doctor so they could discuss the situation and be in agreeance with what was going on.
I left his office in tears of panic. How was I going to make this type of decision in like 24 hours!? I called my step dad and he calmed me down, as always. My fertility doctor called me from his cell phone also to find out what was going on. I could talk to him like a friend, so I told him how much I was freaking out and everything the doctor had said. I must have been talking a hundred miles a minute with my voice shaking, as I fought back the tears. He said that he would talk to Dr. Razavi, but he agreed that it would be best to get it taken care of. He said..."You know, deep down, what you need to do."
I knew the catheter ablation would be the best thing for me and for my body.
It was time to get this thing scheduled and put it behind me once and for all.
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