Call from Dr. Natale’s office

I received a call this morning from Dr. Natale’s office wanting to schedule my procedure with him in November. They gave me three dates. The one that worked best for us was November 24. Although it will be a long road trip, my husband would rather drive than fly. Those of you who read some of my past posts, know I am concerned about the covid situation. Although we are both vaccinated, I still worry. Now, we will be traveling during the Thanksgiving rush!!

Thank you to those who sent me covid tips!! I appreciate every one of them.

Feel free to “talk me downl” if you have something to share.

By the way, since I have been in persistent AFlutter since June, the thought of postponing this did not cross my mind. I see no end to this pandemic anytime soon.

All I can offer is that everyone in my "real" (vs digital) life that I've suggested go to Natale has been very happy they went. This includes my best friend from childhood.

Also a local friend of a friend who presented with what 3 local EP's thought was vfib.

From my 2017 post:

"A friend of a friend presented with high rate V tach in July. They thought there might be some vfib so put a shocker vest on him. 3 local EP's said he'd need an ICD plus meds. I put him in touch with Shannon, & Shannon with Natale. He got an ablation in very short order - a couple of weeks. He could not believe it when Natale said he'd likely not need an ICD (implantable defibrillator). He called me a month after the ablation to thank me for making the connection. He was feeling wonderful and riding his bike to work. He still could not believe what Natale had told him. Natale referred him to a specific local EP for a follow up. She told him that Natale likely fixed him and he probably would not need an ICD.

I told him to trust Natale. I said, he can do things the other guys can't. He is finally beginning to trust what Natale tells him."

He contacted me a few months ago to say he's still doing well and very grateful that Natale fixed him.

As u may know he ablated me 8/6 for left atrial flutter. Im 6 wks 3 day. But who s counting. Its a wonderful atmosphere. Great staff Try to stay calm. Unlike me lol
Ive done great since cept at week 4 i had a 4 hour episode. But im back at my gym and feel great. He s a special guy
Covid: my D is 77 i take 5000 mg C and 50 zinc ea day. I take 400 mg ubiquinol plus some cod oil olive oil & udos oil
You ll be fine. Happy for you
Tom

You wont regret going to Natale. Just keep in mind that it may not be a one and done situation. Though he is most likely your best shot at that scenario.

So far as how you get there I always thought that it could make for a wonderful road trip. There is lots to see between here and there for me traveling from PA. We flew to Austin last October for my last visit without issue.

I hope you will get your husband to reconsider his driving preference.

After boating through Oregon and Washington for a week, my wife and I drove through Idaho and into Montana for several days, sort of Covid central locations, then flew yesterday from MT to Seattle to Central California. The airlines are very sensitive to masking, the quality of their air and they follow protocols unheard of on road trip stops. The airports enforce standards as well and its amazing how cooperative everyone we saw was both in the airplanes and airports.

Regardless of mask requirements and regulations we found very few mask wearers on roadside stops, hotels, etc.

Your trip will be much less risky and more comfortable if you fly to Austin instead of driving there.

I also flew after considering the drive from Charlotte. 2 full days of driving! Nope. and i flew back and forth twice! July 5 when Natale sent me home lol then Aug 5 for my ablation so 4 flights. Airports hotels eating out etc. i just try hard to stay away from people best i could. We sat outside to eat at The Loft Hotel maybe to ease the worry get the n95 mask?

I don't think driving will reduce COVID exposure. I think it will increase it unless you go to extreme measures such as renting an RV and preparing all your own food en route so you can avoid both hotels and restaurants. But renting an RV on short notice probably won't be possible, so if you're going to consider that approach you'd better get working on it now. And it's going to be quite expensive.

Since you're both vaccinated, it's extremely unlikely that either of you would become infected in the first place, and if you did it's virtually guaranteed you would not become seriously ill. I would fly.

Carey,what about flying during the Thanksgiving rush? Still less risky than driving?

Traveling during the Thanksgiving rush is going to suck no matter how you do it, but I would still fly.

The air on an airplane is safer than the air in your local grocery store because it's HEPA filtered on almost all modern aircraft, and all airlines are requiring masks. And you'll only be in airports and on planes for a few hours, and both are requiring masks.

Compare that to days of travel on the road with hotels and restaurants that don't have air filters of any sort and don't require masks. I think a road trip will result in more exposure than the same trip by air, and that exposure will be to a population less likely to be vaccinated than air travelers.

I can't prove that, but from all the things I've read I believe it's probably true.