Kathy, good luck at Clinic tomorrow

Hi Kathy from Columbus,

I'll be thinking about you tomorrow --hope you don't have to wait as much as some of us have for Dr. Natale.

I did manage to get my followup moved up to Friday. I am apprehensive. Since this arrythmia has been going on for 5 years, I have learned not to get my hopes up. But I would really like to kiss it all goodbye. I think my biggest concern is the possiblity of pulmonary stenosis. Secondly, my heart rate has been about 95-105 (without any heart meds), so I'm concerned about that. While in sinus rythmn & on meds it used to be about 75.

It's been brought to my attention that I need to beware of being in the ring to much. So, I've been trying different tactics.

I too had trouble with those sticky electrode things. And most tape.

You may email me if you'd like--njbrewer@adelphia.net.

NJB

njb,

I'm curious. Are you in NSR now? Have you been in AF very much of the time since your ablation? How are you doing??

Jim W.

Hi Jim -

I'm confused about how I'm doing. My pulse without any heart meds is running about 105. With 25 mg atenolol it drops to about 85-90. Everytime I've called in an ekg, they tell me I'm in sinus. Sometimes with PACS, extra beats, or PVCS. I feel better when doing fast walking, but seem to have less stamina with light weight lifting.

I'll let you know the results of tomorrows follow-up. Thanks for asking.

njb

Hi NBJ,

Thank you for thinking about me. My appointment yesterday at CCF went VERY well. Since I was being fit into their schedule yesterday, I didn't at all mind the 1.25 hour wait. I spend from 12:10pm till almost 3pm with the staff, about 1 1/2 hours of which was with Michelle and then Dr. Natale. I was amazed at Michelle's knowledge, helpfulness, and depth of concern. I had brought all of my records from my cardiologists office, but since the 30 day event monitor and 24 hour holter monitor were both within 2 months post ablation, the information may not be truly representative of what I'm dealing with now. So, I understand now why CCF doesn't have ablation patients where these monitors so early. Starting Tuesday, I'll be wearing a new monitor that transmits events immediately via cellular and also transmits all events each night via regular phone line. I'm going to wear it for 2 weeks. Then Dr. Natale will review the information and make his recommendations. Based on the data, and my descriptions of my current symptoms, Michelle is blocking off a date in January for an ablation. We're very sure that this will be the final recommendation after the monitor data is read. Dr. Natale said that drug therapy isn't recommended for people with no heart disease (like me) and are in my age range (I'm 46). He said betablockers are too fatiguing and meds are not effective long term because their effectiveness dimishes over time. Since I am SO against meds (since I always get the side effects), this was "refreshing" to hear from Dr. Natale. Overall, I was very impressed with how all of my questions were answered, how I was treated, and how well they truly listened to what I said. I have hope now

NBJ - Good luck tomorrow. Let me know how your appointment went when you get time. I'm thinking about you