It's been a while since I last checked in. I am feeling very grateful and thought I should share it with the people who have made it possible. Today is my first day back to work after spending a week at the Jersey shore with my immediate family. There were 18 of us in a 8 bedroom house. My, wife and children, their spouses and 10 grandchildren had a very active week. I was right in the middle of all the activity; body surfing with the kids for hours, played football with the teenagers. Even practicing, with them, making spectacular catches as we crashed into giant waves. After the lifeguards left for the day I dug holes in the sand, with the little kids until we had to go back to the house to have dinner.
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About halfway through the week I thought about my cardiac history and how lucky I am. In between my two ablations by Dr Natale I had part of my aorta replaced by a great surgeon in NYC. The aorta surgery turned out very well and I am forever in debt to this very skilled surgeon.
I had afib for about 7 years before my first ablation with Dr Natale. During that time, thanks to the expert information I got on this web site, I had reduced the number of afib attacks from 18 a year to 3 in the 12 months prior to my ablation. I used supplements and lifestyle modifications to keep afib at bay. When I had an afib attack I used the PIP protocol which almost always converted AF to NSR in a little over an hour. I have to repeat all of the above I learned on this web site. Nothing from the cardiologist nor the local EP. They are both good doctors and good guys but from them it was Sotalol full time and increase the dosage if I had a break through.
Even with my apparent handle on the number of afib attacks I was constantly working at it to avoid afib. I slept with half a dozen pillows every night. I couldn't do any work or recreation outdoors on a warm day. If I did I almost always got an attack that night. No, stressful situations, no alcohol, no strenuous activities. Travel was always a concern. I didn't want to go to a hospital in a foreign country. I did have an afib attack in Paris but the PIP came to my rescue. However while I was traveling I was always concerned about the possibility of it not working. My world was shrinking. I had gotten used to it but it wasn't fun.
It finally hit me that I had fairly easy access to a world renown EP in Dr Natale. Two ablations later everything has changed. All of the things that concerned me are about travel are gone. Everything above with a no in front of it is now a yes.
If I had not found this wonderful web site I wouldn't have known about supplements, the PIP, and have gotten to know as much as I did about Dr Natale. He is exactly how he is represented here.He is great EP and a compassionate and humble person. He is the person most responsible for my return to a full life. Many thanks for the expert advise and guidance from, Hans, Shannon, Jackie, George, Peggy and Sharon and all the others who have shared their experiences here over the years. Cheers, Dennis.
