Very Happy Thanksgiving!!!

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Posted by Mike Ware on November 28, 2002 at 16:47:27:

Friends, I hope all of you are having a Happy Thanksgiving - I am!

I had my PVI by Dr Natale at CC on Monday. It was a "piece of cake". It was a 4 hour procedure, but I was sedated to the point that it only seemed like 5 minutes. I don't even recall seeing the doctors. Except for a little nausea afterwards, I felt fine after the procedure.

They put two catheters in one side of the groin and one in the other side. There was a fourth catheter in my neck. A ultrasound device went down my esophagus for high detail echocardio imaging. But, as I said, I felt none of this.

Dr Natale used the new 8mm RF tip instead of the traditional 4mm cooled RF tip normally used for ablations. I was about the 40th person to have a PVI using the 8mm tip. The PVI included the superior cava.

I was kept in the hospital for 23 hours after the ablation for observation and a surface echocardiogram before release. After all the tape was pulled off me, I was surprised that all of the catheter insertion points were barely visible. There was no bruising or hematomas like I had after the cardiac catheterization in September via my arm to check for arterial blockages. I was really pleased with my outstanding condition was after the PVI.

I was told to get a CT scan in 2-3 weeks to check for any stenosis. After that, I go back to CC in early March for a follow up scan with them. So far, I am still in normal sinus rhythm. I guess I won't know for sure if I am cured for a few months. However, Dr Natale has had excellent, short-term results to date using the 8mm tip.

Dr Natale's approach of doing all the PVs and superior cava greatly reduces the change of having to repeat the ablation procedure as compared with ablating only those foci that are active when the ablation is being performed. One doctor at a conference earlier this year referred to Dr Natale's approach as equivalent to "carpet bombing" instead of doing a "precision strike". I think it would be more accurate to say that Dr Natale attacks a mountain by surrounding it and choking it off. This is faster and probably more successful as opposed to trying to identify all the individual enemy caves in the mountain and doing precision strikes against each one them.

If anyone is planning on going to CC for a PVI, feel free to contact me for more info. It was the people on this board that got me pointed towards CC and gave me the courage to skip anti-arrhythmia drug therapy in favor of a Maze or ablation. Thank all of you who spent time in emails or phone calls sharing your experiences and advice. You helped me overcome my fear of surgical intervention to cure my afib. The staff at CC was great as were the doctors - just as you said!

Happy Thanksgiving, M.

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