Treadmill Redux

The day after ablation and all is well in the world. Except that Marchlinski has ordered me back on the treadmill. It seems a bit soon after seven hours of cardiac cath., 24 hours with no food or water, and a fitful, uncomfortable sleep. But Marchlinski can do no wrong so I oblige. Afterall he is excited to test his work, and I am excited to prove myself fixed.

The treadmill looms large, This time I fear it. The resistance is ramped up. We get to eight minutes -the point at which everything came crashing down the last time. I cruise right by. The heart rate hits 150 without trauma, I do 12 minutes, the doctor in charge asks me if I want to continue. Feeling out of the woods and anxious to prove it, I say yes. We plod on. At 14 minutes I am at 163. There are PVC's on the EKG readout but nothing terrible. The doctor says it's my call, whenever I want to stop. Just because it is so good to be in control of myself once again I tell him I'll go to 15 minutes. At 15 minutes they shut the infernal thing down. I've reached 172 bpm with no V-tach.

Marchlinski comes by for a consult. He's highly pleased. But there are two caveats. First: because of the speed of my V-tach, and its ease of trigger with adrenaline, he is not recommending an implanted defibrillator until he knows more. He wants me to go home, resume life for three weeks, and come back for another electophysiology catheter study. In the meantime it is Beta-blockers and no exercise.

The other caveat is that I might not be fixed. There are areas on the outside of the heart which may not have been properly ablated but we won't know until things rest up and heal. So the return visit will determine that status. I'm so happy I did so well on the treadmill I can't imagine that I'm not fixed. I make a mental note to start some light exercise as soon as I feel up to it.