I'm Back From My Ablation In Austin With Dr. Natale

Hey Ya'll. Chris and I (Chris is my Partner) flew out to Austin from Jacksonville FL. on Feb.23rd. (we live in Gainesville FL) for the Feb.26th ablation with Dr. Natale.

A little background: This is my third ablation. I was in untreated afib for 3 years from 2003 to 2005, due to lack of insurance. My afib was continuous and became persistant. In 2005 I was finally able to see an EP at Shands Teaching Hospital in Gainesville. He put me on a loading dose of Amiodarone and did a DC conversion a few weeks later. I remained on Amiodarone for 8 yrs. and finally decided to get off it and find a qualified EP who specialized in persistent afib patients.

Two ablations later, one in Dec.'13 and the second in July '14, with the same "persistent afib trained doctor", located in Sarasota, I experienced 2 breakthroughs and decided to try to see Dr. Natale. First, I spoke with the Director to the TX Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute, Barbara Thomas (512) 544-4329. She is an awesome lady who helped me through the entire process. She put me in touch with Shirley Seever (512) 476-7111 who scheduled me for a consultation with Dr. Natale on Feb. 25 and the ablation procedure to be done the next day on Feb.26th. I want to say that Dr. Natale's entire staff impressed me as the best support group I have ever encountered. I collected all my medical records from both Shands, Gainesville and the EP in Sarasota and sent them off to Dr. Natale. In order to gather the latest information on the status of my heart and especially my left atrium, Dr. Natale ordered a cardiac echo and a CT scan to be done on the Feb. 25th.

On the 25th, Dr. Natale was not available for my consultation. I was ready for this possibility, as I had learned that Dr. Natale travels the world and attends so many conferences and does so much training of other doctors that on any specific day one may ask "Where in the World is Dr. Natale?" That was ok with me. Shirley Seever and others in the group spent as much time as was needed (over an hour) to explain to me EXACTLY what was to occur the next morning, and assured me that I would be visited by Dr. Natale after the procedure. I felt great about the care I was receiving prior to the procedure.

I was scheduled for Dr. Natale's first procedure of the day on Feb. 26th. Chris and I arrived at 5:30 am and I began the process of getting ready for the procedure to begin at 7:30 am. Have I mentioned that Dr. Natale's team is THE BEST!? Kind, professional, funny, they even suggested the best restaurants to visit in Austin. The echo tech recommended Abuelo's Mexican. It was the Best Fajitas Chris and I had ever enjoyed. The waitress was so nice she even compted us an awesome Flan. The Nurse Practicioner student recommended Satsuya's Ramen, Asian noodle restaurants are the BIG THING in Austin right now. So we went there as well. They make a special broth that takes 3 days to simmer to perfection. We had never tasted anything like this. It was really, really tasty. But, I am getting ahead of myself.

The procedure went along without incident. I was in for about 2 hours and the flouroscopy part took about one hour. That is considered a moderate procedure time these days. Some are longer and some are shorter. I came out in nsr and I have remained in nsr till now, March 3rd. I stayed overnight on the cardiology floor in a private room. I think all the rooms on this floor are private at St. Davids. Also, I want to tell you that this is the quietest hospital I have ever stayed in. I mean, it is not only quiet during the night but during the day also. I guess the busiest time seems to be in the morning around 8 am. After the procedure I experienced 2 short episodes of tachycardia lasting about 10 minutes each, just after I was in my room. After that nothing, only very,very few ectopics. Now, as of March 3rd, I experience only a very occasional ectopic.

Dr. Natale did come to see me in the early evening around 6 pm. He is quite the dignified gentleman. In a very friendly manner, he explained to me just the work he needed to do to isolate the needed areas in my left atrium. He re-isolated my pulmonary veins, he isolated my left atrial appendage, and he did further work that I will have to read in the procedure notes that Shirley Seever will soon send me.

For now, I will end by sharing with you all that the most important thing in treating afib with ablation is choosing your electrophysiologist. There are many, many hospitals and eps that are wanting to bring in patients. The problem is that there are actually only a few facilities and physicians with the necessary knowledge and skills in the top tier; possibly only 5% are in this category. If it is not possible for you to visit Austin or San Francisco to see Dr. Natale, my suggestion is to consult with Shannon for a recommendation to an ep near where you are able to travel.

I welcome your comments and private messages. I will answer you.

HI John, Welcome to the DR Natale fan club. Continued NSR to you. Dennis

John,

Excellent report. I'm so glad it went very well for you. My experience on 1/27/15 was very similar to yours---awesome.

I think Dennis said it perfectly---"Welcome to the Dr. Natale fan club!"

When you have a choice, why not choose the best? That's what I did also!

Best wishes for continued NSR.

Ken

John:

Congrats on the succes of your most recent ablation with Dr. Natale! Glad to hear you had such a positive experience. I'm sitting in an airport right now on the way to Austin to have my ablation tomorrow morning with Dr. Natale!

Travis

Great report John.
Thanks for sharing it and best wishes on the speedy recovery that sounds well underway.

And best wishes to you Travis and Grady and Wayne (George's close friend) all three having their ablations on what looks to be 'Afibbers.org Thursday' with Dr Natale's at St Davids tomorrow with his full ablation schedule tomorrow filled with folks who got at least a good deal of their inspiration to go there from so many here that have gone to Dr N where ever they found him previously with such consistently good outcomes.

You are all in the best of hands from the tech's to the EP.

Cheers!
Shannon

Thanks Ya'll.

It's one week today since my ablation. I am still dropping water weight, at 2 lbs per day for the last three days. That's done with the furosemide (40 mg) and the potassium replacement at 20 meq. (that's about 800 mg. potassium) both per day.
Feeling good but still no endurance. My heart rate rises rapidly with any moderate exertion. I have about 95% nsr with occasional skips, short runs and an ectopic now and then. I know this is par for the course in the recovery period, so, no worries.

I am continuing my weight loss program, mostly along the lines of the program outlined by Dr. Furman in "Eat To Live". In the last 5 years I have dropped 75 lbs. I am going to continue to my goal of 180 lbs. Most probably this strategy will eliminate my need for blood pressure medicine.
With my continued weight loss and recovery, in the coming weeks I will begin to incorporate exercise into my program. It will be a cross training program with both aerobic and strength training. I will start out very slowly and proceed ahead to make very regular exercise a part of my daily life.

I am 69 years old now. My goal is to be off all pharmaceuticals!

All the Best to the threesome on Dr. Natale's schedule today: Travis, Grady, and Wayne. We look forward to glowing reports!

John B

Hi John,

The exercise can wait right now, let your heart heal and stick to nice walks alone at this point and yoga stretching moderate plates type stiff or mild body weight resistance training for the next couple weeks to keep toned. Wait for at minimum 6 weeks before ramping up a bit and don't resume full tilt levels until well after 3 months. You can do a robust program after 6 weeks or so, but just not pedal to the metal while the heart continues to heal.

Molecular cellular healing changes still happen out to 6 months but you will be well back in the saddle before then.

Ectopy and the short runs which are likely short ectopic runs are par for the course as you know during this early healing period and will generally slow to a trickle or stop all together by the 8 week point post ablation and should be gone for good by end of 12th week.

Great about your efforts at weight loss with doing it the right way with permanent changes to one's eating habits rather than a flash in the pan quick loss diet that almost always rebound when the diet stops.

Few things are more inherently anti-arrhythmic than shedding a lot of excess baggage.

Cheers!
Shannon

Congratulations John! I too had an ablation in Austin with Dr. Natale and found the whole team to be top notch. I was also surprised at how quiet the hospital was - you could actually sleep!

I will be attending the Electrophysiology Conference where Dr. Natale and a number of other top EP's will be presenting various Afib related topics this Saturday. I believe Dennis and a few others from the NY area will be there too (I had my first ablation by Dr. Natale when he was in NY temporarily)...we are Dr. Natale's NY ablatee alumni group (now that's a mouthful!). DNNYAAG? hmmm...maybe not.

Wishing you continued NSR and the peace of mind that comes with it ~ Barb

Chiming in late, here, John... so glad all went well for you. Be kind to your heart while you are recovering.
I certainly wish you well in your continuing project to lose weight and get into a healthy exercising habit that will serve you well for the rest of your long life.

Best to you,
Jackie