Ablation this Friday with Dr. Natale

I am scheduled to have an ablation this Friday, 4/6/18 by Dr. Natale in Thousand Oaks, CA. I've had afib (what for years I simply called an arrhythmia) since I was 40. I'm now 56. For years I only had it now and then and it didn't last for more than a few hours. But over the years, and especially in the last couple years I have it more often and it lasts longer, like 2-3 days at a time.

In January of this years I had a stroke. Thankfully, I had friends visiting my home when it happened or I'm afraid to think what would be the outcome now. The stroke wasn't that awful of an experience. It felt weird, yes, but not painful at all. My friends noticed that I was drooling and called my son into the family room. Right away he said, mom, something's wrong and I'm taking you to the hospital. In the ER they did a CT scan right away and saw a clot in my brain. After a brief discussion of the options, the neurosurgeon chose to thread a catheter through my femoral artery in my groin into my brain and pulled the clot out. Amazingly the only deficit I have is a slight limp on my left side, but I'm not even sure that's from the stroke since I have a bad left knee. BUT, the gift of all that was that I was in Afib for 3 days while in the hospital for my stroke. I know, doesn't sound much like a gift, but it was the key to finding out what was happening inside me!

Years ago I had gone to a cardiologist about my arrhythmia and did a stress test, wore the monitor a few times, but he could never catch it. He didn't even act like it was all that big of a deal. Just sent me on my way. My regular family doctor also didn't act like it was something to be concerned about. So for 16 years I just got progressively worse. Until my stroke. And it was finally the neurosurgeon who explained to me the connection between my arrhythmia and the stroke! I had never even heard the term Afib.

Since January I have done so much reading and thank everyone here for so much information. I read about Dr. Natale and figured, well, if he's in my insurance maybe I need to go to Texas (I'm in California). I was very surprised to see he was in my insurance network and the number they listed was in Thousand Oaks, CA which is around 1.5 hours from me. I thought it was a mistake but called and they said he practices out of their office once a month. So I made an appointment and qualified for the ablation.

I'm pretty nervous about the procedure. Of course, mostly I'm concerned that it won't work. But in a practical way I'm concerned about the laying still for so many hours afterwards. I had to do that for the brain clot procedure too and it was pretty tough. But mostly I'm trying to stay positive and know that this is the route I want to take. I have a lot to be grateful for.

Good for you to have it sorted out and wish you best of luck! I'm in CA as well and debating whether I should head for an ablation. 37 year old with very young kids, it's hard to make the decision.

Good luck to you. I have had 2 ablations looking towards my third and have only ever felt excitement. NSR is a wonderful thing and you will be fine.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/03/2018 12:12AM by rocketritch.

Great that you're getting things sorted soon and from everything I've read on this forum for the last 15+ years Victoria, with Natale you're absolutely in the best possible hands.

You will be in amazing hands - take a deep breath and know that if anyone can fix it, it will be the man you are seeing on Friday. I had my one year anniversary a few weeks ago, they're an incredible group. And you may get the added benefit of the new collagen plugs where you only have to be still for 2 hours instead of 6! Pretty sure they're using them in Texas, not sure about his CA practice. All the best and keep us posted.

Good luck tomorrow!!!

How did your ablation go? Hope it was smooth and successful.

Wanted to give you a quick update. I had my ablation with Dr. Natale on 4/6. I took a week off and just rested and relaxed at home. Back to work as of yesterday and feel fine. On day 5 after the ablation I did have a 5-hr go of afib. I was a little disappointed but knew that this is to be expected during the blanking period. Since then I'm doing good.

After my procedure Dr. Natale did adjust my meds to Metroprolol 25 mg 2x day/Eliquis 5 mg 2x day/Multaq 400 mg 2x.
(Previously was taking Metaprolol 50 mg 2x day/Diltiazem (Cardizem) 100 mg 2x day/Eliquis 5 mg 2x day).
So he dropped the channel blocker and lowered the beta blocker by half. Eliquis remains the same for at least 3 months. The new addition for me is that this is the first time I've ever taken an anti-arrhythmic (Multaq). I understand the reason why but I'm eager to get through the blanking period and off it. I have some other Kidney issues so have some concerns.

I think one of the main things the first 2-3 days after the procedure was the amount of body soreness I felt. It felt as if I had just gone to the gym and worked out every single muscle in my body. I wasn't expecting that and it surprised me. But that went away pretty quick and, as I said, I'm feeling amazingly good physically.

I'm so glad to hear that you are doing well.

Had ablation with Dr Natale May 14 th .
This week I am having many AFib experiences . Perhaps a cardioversion is in the coming days .
Am disappointed but understand this can happen .