Posted by Carl Plaskett on July 29, 2002 at 22:25:40:
In Reply to: Second step coming posted by David Hover on July 29, 2002 at 17:32:20:
David: You've sure got a full plate in the next two weeks! We will be thinking of you during your daughter's wedding (save the BIG celebration for NSR!), and during your pre-maze testing.
While I wish everyone with afib could be rid of it as easily as I was, HOWEVER they manage to do so, I really hate to hear of those who are living as I was 2 years ago (actually it wasn't living, it was existing). As you so aptly said, many of us just can't stand the afib and drugs controlling our very being and just decide the opportunity for a "cure" is too inviting, and we go for the maze.
Some, including "Mary in WA" are fortunate enough to have their afib under "control". I hope they don't end up like Terry's dad, after years of treating this "benign" condition.
Most mazers end up like Bob McKee, Dave Funderberg, and so many more: thrilled with "new" lives. A few, like Jim Roff, Roger Meyer, Henry Alken, and a very few others, have needed post-maze "touch-up" ablations or even a pacer.
I can't help but THINK that some of the more recent maze line creation techniques are perhaps less risky to the patient because of less "pump time", but more of these (albeit few) need these touch-up visits. I know I would have been distressed if I had not been cured so quickly!Just remember David, that way less than 5% of mazers still remain with an arrhythmia after a year, even those who have "touch-ups". Don't dispair if you don't have the "instant" cure.
Thumbs up!!