Growing up, Nancy Furlong experienced an issue with her heart: sudden onset, rapid palpitations without explanation. This wasn’t anxiety: she had supraventricular tachycardia, known more simply as SVT, a condition where the heart suddenly races out of control. SVT happens when the electrical system that controls your heart rhythm is not working properly and, while not life-threatening, is very disruptive and often requires ongoing medical attention.
Throughout her childhood and early adulthood, Nancy experienced SVT occasionally but learned to live with it. She lived an active lifestyle in Mississauga and went to school to become a registered nurse, graduating in 1975 and eventually taking a job at what would become Trillium Health Partners’ Queensway Health Centre.
After Nancy had her three children, her SVT symptoms worsened: episodes became more frequent and prolonged. She tried medication to manage her symptoms but experienced side effects. Catheter-based ablation was recommended. Ablation is a cardiac procedure that sees soft, flexible electrodes placed through a vein to the heart in order to determine the source of the abnormal electrical activity and then uses radio waves or freezing therapy to stop it. She received back-to-back SVT ablations in 2007 and 2008.
However, a few years later, palpitations began again. Yet this was not her SVT, but paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF) – a disorganized and irregular rapid rhythm producing symptoms such as chest pain, dizziness, fatigue and an increased risk of stroke.
At first Nancy’s AF was infrequent and tolerable. For many years, she did well on a modest medical regimen. She continued her rewarding career as a nurse before retiring in 2015 and then began travelling a lot, doing cycling tours in Amsterdam and spending time with her six grandchildren.
But in early 2021 Nancy’s AF suddenly flared, with weekly episodes lasting several hours. Around this time, Nancy says, “I would go for a bike ride and do some workouts and then around 1:00 a.m. I’d get woken up with these atrial fibrillation symptoms.” The more intense medical treatment her AF now demanded, left her exhausted due to side-effects.
Trillium Health Partners established an ablation program in 2009. So, when Nancy’s AF flared, she was referred to Dr. Michael A. Platonov, Director of the Electrophysiology Laboratory and Physician Lead for the Heart Rhythm Service at THP.
“He was absolutely wonderful,” Nancy recalls of her experience with Dr. Platonov. He expedited a catheter ablation procedure due to the severity of Nancy’s symptoms.
“I danced into the angio suite and the nurses were like ‘Stop! Stop dancing in here,’” Nancy recalls with a laugh. She was just so excited to feel better again. “I remember being really blown away at the equipment in the room, it was like Star Wars. I went, ‘Oh my gosh, is this all for me?’”
Dr. Platonov performed the ablation in October 2021 and Nancy stayed overnight in Cardiac Short Stay to recover. “The nurses were excellent, I felt really looked after.”Nancy’s ablation was successful and her AF symptoms resolved. She is back to her previous modest medical regimen, free from side-effects. After taking it easy for about a year post-ablation, she is starting to get back into regular exercise and is looking forward to celebrating her 70th birthday.
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