Bi-lateral Thorascopic Mini-Maze

Thursday morning I had surgery to cure my Atrial Fibulation at 7am. They laid me on my side and poked two holes in-between my ribs. They removed two ‘hot spots’ that were emitting electrical signals, surgically removed and tested my left atrial appendage, and cauterized the outside to eliminate other signal leakage. They flipped me over and did the same from the other side.

After about 3 hours of surgery I was discharged to the cardiac ICU with two drainage tubes from my chest, IVs in my arms and caratroid artery, a foley and an oxygen line. My internal organs were pretty swollen and sore and most of Thursday afternoon was spent trying to get some pain medication to kick in. All things considered I slept OK Friday night alternating sides to facilitate drainage from my chest. I thought I would be sore on my sides, but my ribs didn’t bother me.  The discomfort was caused by swollen internal organs and the 10-12″ of drainage tubes that extended into my torso.  I could feel the drainage tubes whenever I took a deep breath and expanded my lungs.

Friday morning I tried my 1st foods and got pretty nauseous – by lunch time I was able to eat a little solid food. Friday afternoon I was walking and my left chest tube was removed along with my caratriod IV.  I was glad when the rest of my tubes were removed on Saturday and I was discharged. I have a blistering reaction to the surgical tape that holds my chest bandages but otherwise feel good – all things considering.

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