Posted by John Behle on January 05, 2004 at 11:11:09:
In Reply to: Re: Back in Afib posted by Glenn Camp on January 05, 2004 at 08:19:01:
It may seem VERY out of proportion to just read some of the more recent posts. The extremely large majority of MAZE patients are completely cured. Most of those that have problems are in the first few months while the heart heals. That is both natural and expected. Those not healed up in the first few months generally find a permanent cure with a touch up ablation.
Lately there is much more in the way of posts regarding non-MAZE alternatives and MOST of the complications that have been talked about are relating to those.
Many of those that have received a cure through the MAZE are just out living life. They come, they read, they decide, they're cured, they post their success and then run off to enjoy life. Posts from those who have had or are having complications may be ten to one or 50 to one of those who are cured.
In the MAZE stories section there are early examples of those who have come to explore the MAZE, made their decision, gone through the surgery and experienced good long term results. If every case were linked, it might reach a couple hundred.
Among 5500 posts on this forum, there is a great deal of information. If you read some sections, it would appear there is never anything but success from the MAZE. If you read others, it is clear there are some complications. If you read them all, which is a big task, you see the complications are few and usually short term while the cure FROM THE MAZE is usually long term and in most cases almost instantaneous.
I'm so sorry the search function isn't working properly, but using the GOOGLE search you can sift through the load of posts easier. When I first came to the board I read every post. It was easier then with only a few hundred, but if I were to come to it today, I would read every post. I would start from the beginning and read every one. The need for and hope of a cure of such a crippling disease as Atrial Fibrillation is far too important.
For me, I was at first stunned to find there was a cure. Then a little concerned and intimidated about what appeared to be a much, much more risky surgery than it really is. The risk of death is extremely low both during and after the surgery. The risk of the situation becoming worse is extremely low. The risk of the surgery not solving the problem is also extremely low - while the chance that it will lead to a 100% long term cure is extremely large.
I am sooooooooooooooooooo............ thrilled that I made a decision and a fairly quick one to have the MAZE. Given all that I have heard about and read here, I would still have the MAZE today. I would be careful in selecting the surgeon, the type of MAZE and facility and in my case, it would be exactly the same one. Maybe my cure would have been the same elsewhere, but after reading about surgeons, facilities and procedures, I have come to some opinions. Reading through all the posts and articles, I think others would also.
Again, the posts of the last little while do not reflect the majority of experiences.
- Re: The silent majority Glenn Camp 11:36:50 1/05/2004 (2)
- Re: The silent majority John Behle 13:01:35 1/05/2004 (1)
- Re: The silent majority Glenn Camp 15:37:40 1/05/2004 (0)