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I am sorry to hear about the loss of your mother. It sounds like she was very sick. Unfortunately, this is out of my area of expertise. I can tell you that patients on a ventilator who also have kidney problems are at high risk for not surviving.

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We do sometimes see an increase in PVCs after ablation for a fib. This may be due to the nerves around the heart being affected. In general, we perform a 24 hour monitor to evaluate how many PVCs are present in 24 hours and an ultrasound of the heart to evaluate the pumping function. Bloating can have many causes including from the PVCs, particularly if there are a great deal of them (20,000 or more in 24hours). Ablation can also damage nerves that help the stomach empty. It may also be unrelated.

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I think there are two different questions listed in three. For the first, If you have failed an anti-arrhythmic medication, which includes not being able to tolerate the symptoms caused by the medication, then you would be considered an ablation candidate. Insurance companies and other countries may not pay for the procedure unless you meet other criteria. For the second, there are many factors that can cause an elevated heart rate. Anemia is one. High thyroid, dehydration, stress, pain, are just a few of the others. A 24 monitor is not unreasonable if you have had a good evaluation for the most common causes.

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I assume your question is what are the possible causes of your symptoms. Arrhythmia is likely. The symptoms in the throat are sometimes seen more with a rhythm such as Av node re-entry but other rhythms such as a fib are also possible. I would suggest having an event monitor if you continue to get such symptoms, or if it lasts long enough, getting an EKG done at an ER or physicians office.

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I am not really a lipid expert, but in general, I believe that if someone has elevated cholesterol despite optimal lifestyle modification and removing aggravating factors(such as medications that elevate cholesterol) then medical therapy is warranted.

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In general, I consider afib a progressive disease. It tends to occur more frequently and last longer over time. The amount of time this takes is the major difference among people. For some it is many years, while for others it may only be weeks. The goal of treatment of afib is to allow you to live life the way you want to live it without symptoms interfering. Avoiding bad habits such as excess alcohol, drugs, or a poor lifestyle is reasonable, but physicians would like to you to enjoy exercise and caffeine and the occasional wine. For a young person without heart disease, I would consider therapy with Flecainide. It tends to work well with fewer side effects. If this fails, then consider ablation. The time to consider ablation is after failing medical therapy, when you feel that the symptoms warrant further treatment understanding the risk of the procedure. The only caveat to waiting is that if you do transform to persistent a fib (meaning you require medications or a cardioversion to stay in rhythm, the success rate of ablation is diminished.

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It is very unlikely that a heart rhythm disturbance is the cause of all of your symptoms. Some of your symptoms sound more neurologic in nature. I would consider performing a 24 hour Holter monitor to see how much your rhythm may be contributing. The most important part of the monitor is to record your symptoms in the diary and trigger the monitor at those times. It will be the best way to see if there is a correlation.

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It is not clear why you have popping sensation when you breathe in. If the pain or popping sensation increases with taking deep breaths, not associated with sweating, dizziness and not related with exertion, it is unlikely that it is related to heart. It could be either be musculo-skeletal pain (related to muscles and bones in the chest region) or a condition known as costo-chondritis. Treatment will involve taking anti-inflammatory medications like ibuprofen as and when needed. If the pain continues to recur, I would recommend you to follow up with your primary care doctor.

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The symptoms that you have described are not known side effects of influenza. It is not clear whether you are taking any pain medication like morphine which can cause abdominal distension, flatulence, GERD. Symptoms do not appear to be related to heart. Since you are having symptoms within 4 weeks surgery, I suggest you speak to the primary care doctor.