Doctors & patients are saying about 'A-Fib.com'...
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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
Update: My Post-Abaltion 2-Month Checkup
It’s been almost two months since my catheter ablation August 1, 2019 at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, CA. And I’m feeling fine.
Just had a check-up with my EP, Dr. Shephal Doshi, on Wednesday. I haven’t had an A-Fib episode for a month.
My ECG looks perfect (see below). Notice how good the P-wave looks which often disappears when you have A-Fib. (Want to learn how read an ECG? See my article, Understanding the EKG Signal.)
My ECG on Sept 25, 2019 by Dr Doshi. Verdict: all is normal!
My Reveal LINQ Loop Heart rate Monitor Report
When you look at the report from my Reveal LINQ inplanted monitor, you can see I have had some tachycardia (marked in blue). But I think that may have come from the intense 100 meters sprints I do at the track. (Tachycardia is anything over 100 beats/minute.) Not to worry. Tachycardias do sometimes occur after an ablation. But one’s heartbeat usually returns to normal, as did mine.
My implanted LINQ heart monitor report 9-25-19. Note: Tachy and Pause.
As I reported before, during my first month post-op, I had one three-second pause at 2:00 am which isn’t of concern to me (marked in red).
Though my EP suggests putting in a pacemaker, I’d rather wait till after my blanking period is over. And even then, I’m against having a pacemaker unless I’m dizzy and feeling faint. Who wants to be burdened with a pacemaker for the rest of one’s life if it isn’t really necessary?
The Best News of All
And perhaps my best news is I don’t have to take my anticoagulant (Xarelto) any more. Yea!
Now it’s just one month to go in my 3-month post-ablation blanking/healing period. If it’s smooth sailing this next month, I’ll report again then.
For all my reports about the return of my Atrial Fibrillation after 21 years, see the following posts:
• Sept 2018: Has My A-Fib Returned? I Get an Insertable Wireless Monitor
• Oct 2018: Part 2: My Medtronic Reveal LINQ loop recorder—21-Day results
• Nov 2018: Part 3: PVCs/PACs but No A-Fib; False positives from my LINQ Monitor
• July 2019: My 20-year Warranty Ran Out! My A-Fib is Back!
• Aug 2, 2019: My Catheter Ablation was a Success—I was Home the Same Day
• Aug 5, 2019: My A-Fib RF Catheter Ablations: 1998 vs 2019
