Nine Year Ablation Update

9 years coming up since my Natale ablation. No ablation meds except adult aspirin daily, went from 1 year of continuous 24/7 AFib to NSR for 9 years now.

Here is my 6 months update.

So, I turned 74 in November, and will turn 75 this next November.

I continue swimming 4-5 hours weekly, bicycling 100 miles per week (generally 20-30 mile rides), walking several miles per week. I have given up my plan for the Sprint Triathlon due to a severe bout of bursitis in my left hip, for which I am undergoing PT as of today.

I continue TRX training, also, and am getting more advanced. I looked at the P90X program - but I think it is a bit too much for me.

Other things:

I do 150 pushups (3 x 50) pushups, bench presses, planks, curls, rows, am doing a lot of balance exercises on the BOSU ball, balance board, etc., and a lot of stretching. About 180 minutes of exercise daily. I do regular (4-5 times per week) bicycle rides this summer followed by a 40 minute swim, and lots of walking.

I am still active in the gospel singing group I started 8.5 years ago, We sing all across the state. We are now welcoming ladies into our group..

[www.xyzingers.info]

and my advocacy activities continue. [www.pad-co.info]

I m writing this to provide hope to some of you, and to show that a good life can still go on in your 70's

Best of luck to all of you.

Denver

So how did you go fron a solid year of AFIB, to a solid 9 years of NSR?

Drugs?
Carioversions?
Ablations?

Congrats and that is very amazing and I wish you many more years of NSR.

Hi Anti-AFIB,

DenverFox is a long timer here who, as noted in his post above, had his 24/7 persistent AFIB put to sleep in a single ablation by Dr Natale in what must have been 2005, is that the right year DenverFox?

Shannon

All I can saw is wow! Beyond impressive! He had me at 9 years of post Natale ablation NSR....but his daily activities and work our regiment...that's awe inspiring at ANY age. Way to go Denver!! Thank you for the inspiration!

Craig

This is the most encouraging post I've read in a very long time. I'm in awe of your exercise regime. To have gone from permanent AF to 9 yrs NSR is amazing. Do you take any kind of blood thinners or supplements?
You are an inspiration to many, and a hero to me.

Denver,

Congrats. I recall your ablation. I wish you continued NSR!!

George

Denver,

That is so awesome. Do you ever have ectopic beats at all. Just wondering. I have had several ablations, one for afib. I just wonder is the definition of success no odd beats ever ...at all, or no afib?
Congrats
Tim

DavidPrice Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This is the most encouraging post I've read in a
> very long time. I'm in awe of your exercise
> regime. To have gone from permanent AF to 9 yrs
> NSR is amazing. Do you take any kind of blood
> thinners or supplements?
> You are an inspiration to many, and a hero to me.

" No ablation meds except adult aspirin daily"



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/22/2014 09:29AM by dnvrfox.

tsco Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Denver,
>
> That is so awesome. Do you ever have ectopic
> beats at all. Just wondering. I have had several
> ablations, one for afib. I just wonder is the
> definition of success no odd beats ever ...at all,
> or no afib?
> Congrats
> Tim

My EKG's are just as smooth as can be. No strange beats, no AFib.

The Anti-Fib Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So how did you go fron a solid year of AFIB, to a
> solid 9 years of NSR?
>
> Drugs?
> Carioversions?
> Ablations?

"9 years coming up since my Natale ablation"

You Are LUCKY!

tsco Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You Are LUCKY!

Yes, but I spent months researching and choosing Natale.

Denver - so glad to see your wonderful report. So glad you decided to see Dr. Natale.
It's been just a pleasure reading your success stories year after year.

Best to you,
Jackie

Denver, you make my 2 and 1/4 years of NSR post ablation seem like a cardioversion. Keep up the good work. It gives me something to strive for.

Jim

Denver

Congratulations! Good to hear from another old timer. I am just ahead of you on this road - 76 years old and have had 11½ years of nsr since my ablation and touch up in Bordeaux, no medication, though I do get a lot of ectopics sometimes. I can't match your exercise routine but I do work out three times a week and do lots of stretching.

I am currently in Cozumel scuba diving.

Long may it all last!

Gill

Gill Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Denver
>
> Congratulations! Good to hear from another old
> timer. I am just ahead of you on this road - 76
> years old and have had 11½ years of nsr since
> my ablation and touch up in Bordeaux, no
> medication, though I do get a lot of ectopics
> sometimes. I can't match your exercise routine
> but I do work out three times a week and do lots
> of stretching.
>
> I am currently in Cozumel scuba diving.
> > Long may it all last!
>
> Gill

Hey, wish I could join you. It sounds like so much fun. We (me and my wife, who bicycles at age 76) will just have to satisfy our outdoor urges with bicycling on the Rio Grande Trail which goes from Glenwood Springs to Aspen, and we almost saw a bear (other folks did) between Carbondale and Basalt. We did see their poop!!

Keep on going. In two years I will have caught up with you - that is the way it works - right??



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/22/2014 10:35PM by dnvrfox.

I have seen Natale also, but more than likely you must have had a straight forward case.

There are a lot of great EP's out there other than Natale that are very efficient.

Evidently me and many others have very very complicated cases that require the skills of an extremely talented and experienced doctor like Natale. I think this demonstrates there are varying degrees of complication and severity of afib and other disturbances.
I just did ablation number 4 and hope I dont need #5 but if I do I'll go back to Natale again.
I am 52...look 35 in great shape (genetics), eat good, never smoked, not overweight and so on but suffer with this crap since age of 36.

Enjoy Im glad you are out of the ruff!

tsco Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have seen Natale also, but more than likely
> you must have had a straight forward case.
>
> There are a lot of great EP's out there other than
> Natale that are very efficient.
>
> Evidently me and many others have very very
> complicated cases that require the skills of an
> extremely talented and experienced doctor like
> Natale. I think this demonstrates there are
> varying degrees of complication and severity of
> afib and other disturbances.
> I just did ablation number 4 and hope I dont need
> #5 but if I do I'll go back to Natale again.
> I am 52...look 35 in great shape (genetics), eat
> good, never smoked, not overweight and so on but
> suffer with this crap since age of 36.
>
> Enjoy Im glad you are out of the ruff!

I wish you the very best and good LUCK!

Someone spray painted Clapton is God in an underground railroad years ago in London Town and his Legend grew...............Need to go spray paint something near St Luke's in New York City on West 116th Street subway station.......Does Texas have a subway?

McHale



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/23/2014 10:59PM by McHale.

dnvrfox Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> tsco Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > You Are LUCKY!
>
> Yes, but I spent months researching and choosing
> Natale.

I WAS a persistent affiber also. Dr. Natale did my Ablation on Feb. 27,2014. I have been in NSR ever since and your post inspires me.

Hurray!

______________
Lone paroxysmal vagal atrial fibrillation. Age 62, female, no risk factors. Autonomic instability since severe Paxil withdrawal in 2004, including extreme sensitivity to neuro-active drugs, supplements, foods. Monthly tachycardia started 1/11, happened only at night, during sleep, or when waking, bouts of 5-15 hours. Changed to afib about a year ago, same pattern. Frequency increased over last 6 months, apparently with sensitivity to more triggers. Ablation 6/27/13 by Steven Hao.

tsco,

r Natale did your procedure many years ago as I understand it before if progressed to AFIB from the SVT/right flutter you had suffered with earlier and his was the second or third ablation you had ( He did this while still at CC correct?) As I understand your story that ablation held a good long while until AFIB itself started to manifest.

What has been learned over the last 5 years or so, and largely from many challenging cases like yours, is that if a person has significant on going episodes of CTI flutter it will almost always progress to AFIB even if you ablation the CTI flutter successfully.

This is likely what happened to you to some degree if Ive followed your story correctly. This day and age were you to show up on Dr Natales door with your original condition he would have doing a complete PVAI at a minimum in addition to the right sided CTI flutter or even an right SVT if that was involved early too. It is close to a 100% certainty that if your arrhythmia starts out as a right sided flutter like that or right tachycardia, its almost a waste of time to only ablate that particular flutter circuit when you could have made much better headway and eliminating the whole show much earlier by going after the whole enchilada from the beginning.

Dr Natale was one of the pioneers whose work, align with many other long time elite experts have demonstrated this fact and it has become very clear in recent years such that their are hoping to have enough compelling evidence now to force insurance companies to pay for a full PVAI to cure a right sided CTI flutter and likely prevent AFIB from every getting started.]

In other words, going through multiple right-sided procedures as you did, no matter how skillfully they were done ... and I imagine Dr Natale likely did perhaps your most successful of those right sided ablations ,, while they lasted ..., but you were fated for that not to be enough as the underlying progressive nature of your condition was bound to progress to AFIB possibly mixed as well with flutter or tachycardia as well, regardless of what had been done earlier in the right atrium.

That is the nature of some of these more complicated cases but we have learned not to chase the dragon one step at a time but to jump ahead and head him off at the pass by doing a full PVAI in the same ablation in which the CTI circuit in the right atrium is address too for much better effect.

II too hope number 4 you did last February is the last but if not, I strongly urge you to let DR N finish up for good, he to has evolved tremendously in his knowledge, skills and the great new tools at his disposal in the years since you saw him as a referral at CC to address the pesky right sides arrhythmia you were having at the time.

Be well,
Shannon