It
was April 30, 2014 and it was ablation day!! I barely slept the night
before. I mean. Dr. Razavi did brief me on how this procedure would
take place, but still...when you think of anything being done to your
heart, it is TERRIFYING!! Especially because I knew that I would be
awake for the entire procedure. I watched a few testimonies on YouTube,
just to see what other people had to say and see what the procedure was
like. There weren't many videos of the actual procedure being done.
The testimonials of others helped a tiny bit though. I had also been
researching Dr. Razavi as well as St. Luke's Hospital in the Texas
Medical Center, and that put me at ease a bit. I mean I had only met
this doctor one time when I had to make my decision quite fast, due to
being in the middle of a fertility cycle. Who does that?! I had a feeling I knew I would be in good hands..
My
mom and I headed out early that morning, and my stepdad was going to
meet us there. (Miguel would be meeting us later, due to having to
work.) We got there about an hour early and sat in the lobby before
even thinking about going into the 6th floor Cath Lab waiting area. My
mom kept telling me that we should just go check in early but I
refused. There was no way I was going up there just yet. I sat there
talking with my parents, shaking from nerves and fear. I just really
didn't know what I was in for. I hated being drugged, and I was having something done to my heart for goodness sake. My heart!!!! Time went by so fast. Before I knew it, it was time to head to the 6th floor to check in.
So I headed up to the 6th floor where the Cath Lab was located. I had heard that the Cath Lab was pretty amazing so I was anxious to see what this room looked like.
I checked in. Shaking. I did all of my paperwork and billing stuff.
They put a patient tracking device on me. They must have known I was
thinking about running out of that place! Lol. I was sitting with my
parents, and I saw Dr. Razavi walk by. He kindly came over to meet my parents and answered their questions. He said that with me, he was expecting to be done quickly and I would be ready to rock-n-roll. This made me feel good. I
went to sit back down with my parents, and before I knew it, they were
calling my name. I felt a little better seeing the doctor so I wasn't extremely nervous at the moment. I went back by myself at that time.
They wanted to get me all set up and changed into my hospital gown. I
was placed in a temporary "holding" room. There was another patient in
there also waiting for a procedure. I changed into my hospital gown and
just laid there. Scared. They still wouldn't let my parents back
there with me. The nurse came in FINALLY. She was very nice. Everyone at that hospital was very nice. She went through my medical history with me and started my IV. She laughed as she took my vitals because my heart was beating so fast. She said that they wouldn't have any issues triggering my SVT. I
kept telling her how scared I was and she helped ease my nerves. She
told me how great Dr. Razavi was as well as his team. The one thing
that stuck with me was when she said, "This is going to be one of the
best decisions you will ever make in your life." She had similar
experience with SVT, as well as other heart problems, and she wishes she
would have known the things that I knew at the time. I just knew I had
to do this. I didn't want to live on meds the rest of my life. There was no way.
Finally
my parents came in the room. What a relief! We talked and my stepdad
helped me to meditate. We didn't quite know how long the wait would be
before they called me back. They kept coming in and telling us
different times that they may be calling me. You see, with ablations,
it can take 90 min to several hours. So with that being said, they
didn't know when the doctors case before me would be finished. The
nurse came in and said that it may be another couple of hours before
they call me. Fifteen minutes later she came back and said, it's
looking like they may call you in about 30 minutes. The next thing you
know they called for me. I wasn't prepared. My stepdad had stepped out
to smoke a cigarette at that time and I freaked out. I told the nurse
she couldn't take me unless my stepdad was with me. She kindly waited
so I could call him, and he came rushing in.
My
parents walked me down the hallway until they wheeled me to these
double doors where we had to say goodbye to eachother. I mean geeezzz
they can't drug you at least a little bit during this time to calm the
nerves?? I lost it saying goodbye to them. I was shaking so much
because I was so scared. I even almost triggered an SVT attack. Sure
enough Dr. Razavi walked by again and saw me crying. He came and gave
me a hug and said, "Don't worry. I promise you that everything is going
to be ok". I liked my doctor. He calmed me a bit, once again. At
that point we went through the double doors.
They placed my bed in a
waiting area with TONS of other patients. More waiting. The
anticipation is a killer. All of the other patients were all pretty
old. Waiting for ablations for other reasons and pace makers. Everyone
who walked by made a comment to me about being there at such a young
age. They did a pregnancy test on my while I was waiting there which came out negative. I was bummed, of course, considering there was a chance I could be pregnant at that time. I continued to lay
there waiting. A young nurse came by and asked me if I was ok, and I
told her no. I began to cry and explained to her how terrified I was.
She explained to me that I didn't need the sedation if I didn't want
it. It is just to keep you calm, considering how nerve wrecking it can
be laying on that table for the procedure for such a long period of time.
She also explained how simple and non-invasive the procedure is and not
to worry. I felt a bit better, but I was still scared. I concentrated
on my breathing until it was my turn to get called back to the cath
lab. I also told her that I wanted just enough drugs to calm my nerves, and that was it. Sure enough, it was now go time!!
