Posted by Jack Drum on August 18, 2002 at 22:19:21:
In Reply to: living with a-fib for 6 wks thinks of maze-help posted by Margie on August 18, 2002 at 19:42:51:
Margie, I'm sorry that your husband has started this bothersome ailment. I had AF most of my life and started medication a little younger than your husbands. The treatment choices was not available then, but now you do have different choices to consider.
I would suggest that you and your husband take time to learn about the different treatments available and make a decision with the knowledge that is available if you take the time to go through all the information available.
The maze (my cure), has been, and is probably still the best cure, (percentage wise), available. There are different variations to the maze, which makes it differ from surgeon, to surgeon, but most all them have a high cure rate.
Ablations which I noticed your doctor didn't list as a choice, is getting better, especially the PVA(Pulmonary Vein Ablation). I would only consider the ablation at a hospital that does it with other than RF energy to ablate the cells.
You will probably get a lot of feed back from other posters on this board, and most of them will be from happy cured people who had the maze procedure. There are a few that have had the PVA and are just as cured, and happy as us mazers. There are also many people who have had more than one ablation and still had to have the maze.
Just don't make any treatment decisions, (maintain the medication needed for now), until you feel comfortable with the knowing you have done your homework, and can make a informed decision.
Best wishes and prayers.