My Austin ablation story

This is my first posting but I have read and learned from this wonderful site for many years. I have had lone afib for 17 years. The first years the episodes were 5 years apart but the last couple of years they started occurring as often as once a month. I have been on sotalol the last 6 years and its effectiveness seemed to be declining.
Armed with all the knowledge gleaned from this site, I decided in August of 2017 that it was time for an ablation. I was 70 years old at that time and felt I had held out long enough. I contacted Shannon and he graciously and without hesitation said he would help me get an appointment with Dr. Natale.
Within a week St. Davids called and we started the process of setting up an appointment. Since I was traveling from Iowa I preferred to make a one trip appointment. That makes the waiting longer than a two trip appointment but I got an appointment for an ablation January 31.
On January 30 I had the consult with Dr. Natale and met with the nurse educator who would be following my case. Having read many of the stories on this site, a lot of what was discussed was almost like a review of what has been written on this site.
The ablation procedure was scheduled for 8:00 the next day. As Shannon likes to say, your only responsibility is to show up on time. That is all there is really to it. I think I went to sleep around 8:30 and was awake around 10:00. There was a new procedure using collagen plugs to close the veins in the groin area where the catheters were inserted so I had to lie still for only two hours instead of six. I had no pain or discomfort anywhere after the procedure.
I arrived in my room early afternoon. Shannon had already called my wife to see how I was doing and said he would call again later in the day. Dr. Natale stopped by later in the afternoon and explained what had been done – what areas had been ablated. He had ablated the pulmonary veins (PVAI), the posterior wall of the left atrium, and the superior vena cava. We recorded his comments and when Shannon called we discussed what Dr. Natale had said. That evening I was ready for dinner meal and walked the length of the hallways several times.
The next morning Dr. Natale dropped in for a few minutes to see how I was doing. His nurse educator then came by and we spent an hour discussing the procedure and follow-up once I go home. I was to remain on eliquis and sotalol for several months and send weekly ecg recordings from my Kardia to the nurse educator. She gave us the report of the procedure to take home and share with my EP. I was discharged before noon. The discharge nurse removed the dressings at that time.
Shannon called the next day and we sent him a copy of the report via cell phone. He spent an hour on the phone with us explaining the report in great detail. Thanks again Shannon for all your support. It truly was incredible.
We returned home a couple days later and, now, five weeks later, have been in NSR all the time. I would encourage anyone that is on the fence, considering an ablation with Dr. Natale, to go for it! Knowledge can indeed give you confidence to proceed, and, learning from this website, talking to Shannon, going to St Davids and meeting with Dr. Natale and his nurse educator (who will give you all the time you need to understand everything), and just being at St. Davids where Dr. Natale is so respected, made me willing and eager on the day of the procedure to put this afib burden behind me.
Pete

Thank you so much for your report, Pete. I'm new here and still learning lots about afib. My journey has led me to Dr. Natale and currently I'm waiting for a date for the 1 trip. So excited as it can't come soon enough!
Genie

Great report, Pete!

I often wish this forum had a "like" button.

awesome. so happy for you.

Wow, great story Pete, and very glad things are going well!

Very similar to my story with Dr Natale. Shannon was incredibly helpful and kind to me as well.

Thanks for your story! Are you still in NSR 100%?