Doctors & patients are saying about 'A-Fib.com'...

"A-Fib.com is a great web site for patients, that is unequaled by anything else out there."

Dr. Douglas L. Packer, MD, FHRS, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN

"Jill and I put you and your work in our prayers every night. What you do to help people through this [A-Fib] process is really incredible."

Jill and Steve Douglas, East Troy, WI

“I really appreciate all the information on your website as it allows me to be a better informed patient and to know what questions to ask my EP.

Faye Spencer, Boise, ID, April 2017

“I think your site has helped a lot of patients.”

Dr. Hugh G. Calkins, MD Johns Hopkins,
Baltimore, MD

Doctors & patients are saying about 'Beat Your A-Fib'...

"If I had [your book] 10 years ago, it would have saved me 8 years of hell.”

Roy Salmon, Patient, A-Fib Free,
Adelaide, Australia

"This book is incredibly complete and easy-to-understand for anybody. I certainly recommend it for patients who want to know more about atrial fibrillation than what they will learn from doctors...."

Pierre Jaïs, M.D. Professor of Cardiology, Haut-Lévêque Hospital, Bordeaux, France

"Dear Steve, I saw a patient this morning with your book [in hand] and highlights throughout. She loves it and finds it very useful to help her in dealing with atrial fibrillation."

Dr. Wilber Su,
Cavanaugh Heart Center, Phoenix, AZ

"...masterful. You managed to combine an encyclopedic compilation of information with the simplicity of presentation that enhances the delivery of the information to the reader. This is not an easy thing to do, but you have been very, very successful at it."

Ira David Levin, heart patient,
Rome, Italy

"Within the pages of Beat Your A-Fib, Dr. Steve Ryan, PhD, provides a comprehensive guide for persons seeking to find a cure for their Atrial Fibrillation."

Walter Kerwin, MD, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA

Marilyn Shook Updates Her 2008 Personal A-Fib Story

Published October 9, 2015

Support Volunteer Marilyn Shook

We published Marilyn Shook’s A-Fib personal story in 2008 (story #25). She emailed me an update in August 2014. In July 2015, I added the following to her A-Fib personal story:

Marilyn was A-Fib free for 7 years after her pulmonary vein ablation in late 2007. In the last few years, she occasionally felt a weird irregular heartbeat that never showed up in the doctor’s office or with short duration monitors.

In August 2014, she had a Medtronic Reveal LINQ ICM (Insertable Cardiac Monitor) installed to identify these arrhythmias. The Reveal monitor did document 2 or 3 episodes of A-Fib. She opted to have a repeat PVA.

In July 2015 she emailed me an update. “It’s been 9 months since my repeat PVA, and there is no evidence of A-Fib. I have not felt that arrhythmia, and my implanted cardiac monitor has been negative for A-Fib.

I no longer take Xarelto or any cardiac medications. I do take a daily 325 mg Aspirin. I am optimistic that the repeat PVA will be effective, and I will continue to be A-Fib free.”

We are most grateful to Marilyn for sharing with us how effective the Reveal monitor was in identifying very intermittent irregular heartbeats that probably never would have been documented otherwise.

Not everyone would have been as aggressive as Marilyn. But she knew how relatively safe a second PVI would be, and she had confidence in her EP, Dr. David Haines, at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan.

Her personal A-Fib story is #25.

Our A-Fib Support Volunteers: Just an Email Away

Marilyn Shook is one of our many A-Fib Support Volunteers. You can find her contact information on our A-Fib Support Volunteers page. We are blessed to have many generous people who have volunteered to help others get through their A-Fib ordeal. Check our Support Volunteers page to learn more about how to contact any of our 50 volunteers.