Guest guest Posted July 28, 2004 Report Share Posted July 28, 2004 Hi all, Thanks for your words of support. There were a couple of inquires about my mother's general status, so here are some answers: My mother is a wonderful, 57 year old woman who has been in good health all of her life, but has been facing AF issues for about 2 years now. She has no heart disease or any other heart problems aside from the AF. She lives in the Seattle area and has been seeing some local doctors. I'm afraid I don't know much about her meds, but I do know that she took Adiodorone (please pardon my spelling) and now is having liver problems. A recent bout of double pneumonia put her in the hospital for almost a week and scared the dickens out of me. As awful as it was, it seems to have galvanized her medical team. The surgeon who did the last ablation is suggesting she have a third, but that he not be the person to do it and has recommended Dr. Jackman in Oklahoma City. Apparently she is one of the more difficult cases in the " Upper Left Hand Corner! " After reading your suggestions and discussions, I am thinking she should check in with Dr. Natale, if possible. Oddly enough, she and my father have a trip to Italy scheduled for October, and I wish she could see the Italian doctor who is supposed to be so wonderful. She also has an appointment at the CC with Dr. Burkhardt; does anyone know anything about him? Thank you again for all your kind words and thank you also for welcoming me into your group! You are clearly a caring, supportive group of people and I have encouraged my mother to check out this board. I know that she feels very lonely and doesn't know anyone else with AF in her area. Thanks for being there for me, and hopefully soon, for her. > > Hi, > > > > I'm new to the board. I'm the daughter of a woman with a-fib and I > want to > > understand better what she's going through. After 2 ablations, she > hasn't > > gotten any better and I am feeling frustrated and angry. > > > Hi, > > I'm sorry your Mom is having a hard time of it. I am concerned that > she'd had two ablations and not improved significantly - it makes me > wonder about the quality of her doctor. > > I don't know about Oklahoma city, but the top doc in the U.S. is Dr. > Natale, who primarily works out of the Cleveland Clinic but who also > does ablations once a month at Marin Hospital in Marin, California. > If I were having an ablation, he's the doc I'd queue up for. > > Not to say that there aren't other good docs in the U.S., but he's > the tops. > > Can you tell us a bit about your Mom? How old is she, does she have > any other heart conditions, what medications is she on for afib and > which other medications for afib have they tried in the past? > > Hang in there. It is extremely unlikely that nothing can be done to > fix this, or at least improve it significantly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 29, 2004 Report Share Posted July 29, 2004 Gorp. It is always unsettling to realize I'm the age of someone's mother (or grandmother :-) , my own situation is very similar to your Mom's - 60 and having had afib episodes for 3+ years. No other heart conditions. I don't like hearing that your Mom was put Amiodarone, with its potentially damaging side effects. It does take several months to get out of a person's system. Has the doc said if her liver problems will be okay? (I have heard of vision, lung, and thyroid problems from it, liver is a new one on me.) This makes me think her doc is not the best. I would certainly suggest she see Dr. Natale. Each ablation creates some scar tissue, if I understand it correctly, and has risks, so she doesn't want to mess around with anyone but the best. Or if she's going to be in Europe, Dr. Haisseguerre in France is as good as Dr. Natale. He has patients come from all over the world. I believe it was he who first discovered the current state of the art technique for ablations. Also, she might consider trying a med called dofetilide, which has been very helpful to various members of the group in terms of keeping them in normal rhythm. Her doc may not be up to speed on it. I hope your mom will post to the group. It is a great comfort to me to know that other people are out there and understand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 29, 2004 Report Share Posted July 29, 2004 In a message dated 7/28/04 11:18:09 PM Eastern Daylight Time, afibdaughter@... writes: > Thanks for > being there for me, and hopefully soon, for her. > , Your Mom sounds like quite a woman and she's lucky to have you. First, I was led to believe that Dr. Jackman was not doing PVA's anymore. You may want to check on that. He is one of the best. Dr. Natale is also one of the best if not the best. Also your parents will be in Italy. Dr. Pappone is in Milian. He is said to be Dr. Natale's peer. Both are Italian! You have some excellent choices. I'm sure the end result will be successful with any of them. BTW, Dr. Pappone's email is pappone.carlo@..., drop him a line. He speaks excellent english. Rich O Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 29, 2004 Report Share Posted July 29, 2004 In a message dated 7/28/04 11:18:09 PM Eastern Daylight Time, afibdaughter@... writes: > Thanks for > being there for me, and hopefully soon, for her. > , Your Mom sounds like quite a woman and she's lucky to have you. First, I was led to believe that Dr. Jackman was not doing PVA's anymore. You may want to check on that. He is one of the best. Dr. Natale is also one of the best if not the best. Also your parents will be in Italy. Dr. Pappone is in Milian. He is said to be Dr. Natale's peer. Both are Italian! You have some excellent choices. I'm sure the end result will be successful with any of them. BTW, Dr. Pappone's email is pappone.carlo@..., drop him a line. He speaks excellent english. Rich O Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 29, 2004 Report Share Posted July 29, 2004 In a message dated 7/28/04 11:18:09 PM Eastern Daylight Time, afibdaughter@... writes: > Thanks for > being there for me, and hopefully soon, for her. > , Your Mom sounds like quite a woman and she's lucky to have you. First, I was led to believe that Dr. Jackman was not doing PVA's anymore. You may want to check on that. He is one of the best. Dr. Natale is also one of the best if not the best. Also your parents will be in Italy. Dr. Pappone is in Milian. He is said to be Dr. Natale's peer. Both are Italian! You have some excellent choices. I'm sure the end result will be successful with any of them. BTW, Dr. Pappone's email is pappone.carlo@..., drop him a line. He speaks excellent english. Rich O Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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