Ablation anxiety may be worse than A Fib :-)

First ablation scheduled for persistent A Fib. Been in on and off for 4 years...persistent the last year and a half. Any experiences with the team at Mayo Clinic??

Keith - I don't have any experience wiht the Mayo clinic - I had mine with Dr. Natale. But I think you should know that almost everyone of us (if not all of us) who went through an ablation wonder why we didn't do it sooner. It really was not a big deal at all (in terms of recovery, etc. ) The operation room is a little intimidating, but you're knocked out before you have time to think about it. I had 2 ablations (one for Afib, and one for Flutter) and I can say that not having to worry about Afib disrupting my daily life is wonderful!

Hopefully someone else on here can give you info on the Mayo Clinic - be reassured that you are doing the right thing.

Best to you ~ Barb

The procedure is nothing especially compared to dealing with the afib and all that is related. Dont sweat it! seriously

Keith,
I met Dr Natale for the initial consultation in New York for the first time May 28 at 12:30pm almost two years ago.
Two hours later he had me under and started ablating........go figure that one out......
Run Forest run would be most patients reaction when a doctor asks you do you have any free time this afternoon so I can burn your heart....

McHale



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/17/2015 11:04PM by McHale.

We don't get very much feedback here regarding Mayo. Douglas Packer is the head guy there and he is very busy running the CABANA trial. I believe Sam Asirvatham is well respected and skilled. Mayo is a great facility and I am sure their support staff is excellent like CCF. Who are you scheduled with?

link to cabana
[www.cabanatrial.org]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/18/2015 12:14PM by researcher.

Thank you to those of you sending reassuring words. It is appreciated and really does help. (Although, being one with an admittedly irrational fear of medical procedures...I still get a bit anxious...but, with your encouragement am committed to following through. Thanks again.

Hi Keith of the AFIB universe.

Sorry for the delay I've been very busy of late, but you got some good advice as usual already. At Mayo you should get good overall care and just be sure to insist that either Doug Packer or Sam Asirvatham does your ablation and no one else and be firm on this, both are very good men and skilled ablationist and you will be safe with either. Both are very nice guys with Dr Packer heading the AFIB group there and Sam is an excellent high quality ablationist too and a very gentle and nice man and very smart too who spearheads a lot of their AFIB research at Mayo. So just confirm with which ever of those two you settle on that only he will be the only EP actually handling the catheters inside your heart and they will not allow a trainee or some other EP do a part of your ablation, and you should be good to go.

It's important not to settle for just any EP at Mayo, or any other big name institution simply because of the reputation of the hospital which is earned over many years for a variety of specialties. It's the man or women behind the catheter clung the shots and who was a wealth of experience embedded in their fine tuned motor muscle memory that you truely want most during those precious three or so hours of a first AFIB ablation.

Best wishes and keep us posted,

Shannon



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/22/2015 12:06PM by Shannon.

I am now two weeks post ablation. And, happy to report I am sitting at my desk in NSR. Mine was completed by Dr. Thomas Munger. He was phenomenal. And, the overall staff at Mayo was also incredible in their level of care, sensitivity, responsiveness, etc... I had been in persistent A Fib for several years and Dr. Munger termed some of my areas as "stubborn" but, was successful in restoring NSR. I've had a some "odd beats", which I understand is typical, but am thrilled with where I stand today. Thanks for all the support.