Re: i'm back

[Guest guest]

Welcome back Joanne. And you did a great job staying low carb. I had a

mini eating binge on Monday and I am very tired from it. It is just not

worth eating carbs anymore. Now it will be another week to get back feeling

right again. Right now I feel like I could sleep for a week and I have to

hop in the shower and get reaady for work.

a

I'm back

> Hi y'all (that's Tennessean for " I'm back a day early) LOL I have

> just finished reading 293 e-mails. Sounds like everyone was busy

> while I was gone. Had a great time in North and South Carolina.

> Visited Low Carb Nexus. Belinda was great and we had a nice visit.

> Bought a bunch of low carb products. This morning we visited Low carb

> Connoisuer (sp?). What a darling store they have. Also lots of very

> friendly staff. Bought lots more low carb products. Had a nice

> leisurely trip. We ordered low carb lunches and took half back to the

> room for supper. I had a Grilled chicken Ceasar Salad at Olive

> Garden. It seemed togrow bigger as I ate it, so was easy to eat

> second half for supper. Then I got Smothered chicken and salad bar at

> T.G.I. Friday's. Salad bar was great and brought most of chicken back

> toeat for supper. We also carried a cooler with lunch meat, cheese,

> and other low carb goodies. So my only cheat was lunch yesterday at a

> Chinese buffet. Not a terrible cheat, but not totally legal either. I

> will weigh in the morning and see how I did. I will post Smoothie

> recipes tomorrow - afraid I am too tired to try to type correctly

> tonight. Welcome to Glenda. BTW, I took low carb pancakes and Keto

> Maple Syrup for breakfast. I packaged them in baggies. We found that

> Extended Stay America and Studio Plus are great hotels - cheap and

> have a mini kitchen, which really helps eating out on the road. Past

> bedtime for me. Till tomorrow. Joanne

>

>

> Please visit our homepage at http://members.xoom.com/AChallengers

> You will find information, recipes, before and after pictures.

> To contact any of the the list moderators, you can email them at:

> Joya (joya7@...), Kari (kari@...), Norma

(norwood@...), JJ (cybercat@...), Dianne

(lambert1@...)

> Visit our 2000 Train Tour Site -

http://www.brunnet.net/k & l/web_site_train_tour/actraintour.htm

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Welcome back, Barb!!!! Feels like you've been gone way too long. Glad you had a good time but I know the computer probs were the last thing you needed. What exactly are they doing on the 27th??? Knee replacement???

Kari

Hi everyone. I feel like I've been gone forever. Jerry and I had a ball at the coast and Mozart festival. Returned to find no computer ( but after many a day we learned it was just a case of needing a new cable. Anyway, here I sit with over 2,000 messages to delete, enjoy or answer.

I had my pre op on the 10th and things are going ahead on schedule. Surgery will be the 27th. The good news is that I will be able to start weight bearing again after 3 months, The bad news is that I stepped on the scale for the first time in a year and I am up over 200 again ( Neither the hospital nor the convalescent home is set up for low carb menus ( but I'll try to be good,

I hope everyone has a great day.

Barb

_________________________________________________IncrediMail - Email has finally evolved - Click Here Please visit our homepage at http://members.xoom.com/AChallengersYou will find information, recipes, before and after pictures.To contact any of the the list moderators, you can email them at: (jocee131@...)Kari (kari@...)Norma (norwood@...)JJ (cybercat1@...)Dianne (lambert1@...) Visit our 2000 Train Tour Site - http://www.brunnet.net/k & l/web_site_train_tour/actraintour.htm

[Guest guest]

Sue, don't forget to try the protein drinks to help with the

hunger feelings, and drink a LOT of water, even if you feel

real soggy.... you're a strong person and your future is so

bright! You can do this!

Cheers!

Sharon in D.C.

I'm back

I lift the group on the 11th not thinking I wouldn't be able

to say see you all after surgery.

Well I had my surgery Dec 17th. Every thing went well

except I couldn't get any gases out at either end. Which

made me sick to my stomach. But Doc took care of that, and

after 6 days in the hospital I'm home.

I did have a lot of complaints about the hospital staff.

But that is another story.

I go back to dr. Dec 31st. So I kind of feel like I will

really be starting my year brand new. I am still so existed.

I am having a hard time fixing food for the kids and

doing the adds for food bargains. Also not eating any thing

is hard some times. But I remember from the group it is just

mind hunger and I have to change my mind. sue

[Guest guest]

Hi Sue,

Congratulations on your surgery and may you have a Blessed recovery.

Marilyn

Lexington, KY

I'm back

I lift the group on the 11th not thinking I wouldn't be able to say see you

all after surgery.

Well I had my surgery Dec 17th. Every thing went well except I couldn't

get any gases out at either end. Which made me sick to my stomach. But Doc took

care of that, and after 6 days in the hospital I'm home.

I did have a lot of complaints about the hospital staff. But that is

another story.

I go back to dr. Dec 31st. So I kind of feel like I will really be starting

my year brand new. I am still so existed.

I am having a hard time fixing food for the kids and doing the adds for

food bargains. Also not eating any thing is hard some times. But I remember from

the group it is just mind hunger and I have to change my mind. sue

[Guest guest]

Sue - congrats on making it to the other side. Yes, it can be rough in the

beginning. You need to make sure you are getting plenty of rest. Are you

drinking enough water? How about protein drinks? If your doc doesn't

recommend them, you could try them anyways to see if they help to boost your

energy level. It can take weeks to get over the exhaustion. Your body

realizes it is starving so it throws you into hibernation mode which makes

you very very tired. This is totally normal and natural but not a whole lot

of fun to live with. We tend to be impatient after having our surgery

because we are so eager to get on with our new lives. So give it some time

and things will get better. I promise. Take care.

Jeanne in WI

Age 39

Open RNY 05/21/2002

314/ 231/150-175

5' 8 "

djgraves@...

[Guest guest]

Hi Jeannie,

Welcome back and congratulations to that cutie pie granddaughter!!! See you

around the PLS strip.

God Bless

Yolanda

I'm back

Hi Group,

I haven't posted for some time, it has been a busy summer. I have been

catching up on reading my e-mail. Glad to hear you are improving Dale. Sorry

to hear Geo left group, hope he comes back to us. Very sad to hear of Annie

Hill's passing, I will keep her and her family in my prayers. Sorry to hear of

your fall Eva, and June-bugs scare too, and if I've missed anyone, I apologize.

Remember back in the winter I was asking if anyone knew of a way I could get

down to the waters edge if I went to the beach, Cause I knew I couldn't walk in

the sand and M. in Florida posted about the handicapped wheelchairs they

have available at the state beaches in Florida. Thank you so much . We did

some research up this way, and found some N.J. beaches also offer them. We went

down and met my daughter and grandkids. She got one of these beach wheelchairs,

no cost for the day, put me in and off we went down to the waters edge. In came

the first little wave of water and touched my feet, it was so cold it took my

breath away. Here came the next wave across the top of my feet not as cold as

the first, and then the next and it felt great! It was a wonderful day, granted

I wasn't out there jumping the waves with the grandkids, but I was never very

good at that before I had PLS!!!!! I highly recommend this to anyone that

needs a spirit lifter. Ronnie you gotta try this if you haven't already (I'm

glad your Mom is home). P.S. My grandaughter made it to Nationals for roller

skating and took first place out of 22 girls in her event. Made the cover of

the USARS magazine..tomorrow she has Ice skating competition.......gotta

run...Love to all.....Jeannie/N.J.

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

Good to hear from you again, I was wondering what happened to you. Well, I'm

glad your near family. It makes a lot of difference to me anyway since I am so

family oriented. Hope you will enjoy your new move for many years to come.

Take care and...

God Bless

Yolanda

i'm back

for the few people that might remember me, i'm paul from hollywood

ca. i've been away for about 4 months because my family and i moved

back to rochester n.y. in april so i'm just trying to settle in. we

moved back east to be closer to family and raise our son jack in a

better and safer environment than hollywood. most of my family is

hear and my wife's family is in pennsylvania. my brother just moved

back to rochester from new hampshire in june and they a boy 6 months

younger than jack, so as you can see it's all good.

as some of you might remember im 37 and have pls and my wife has MS

and i've had symptoms for over 6 years knowand was diagnosed in 8/01.

in los angeles we just felt isolated from our family and felt we

were missing quality for jack and the family. my wife, molly just

got a job if all goes well, at the university of rochester as an

event coordinator so that is good news and i applied for ssdi in

january and just started to recieve checks last month. i had a

workers comp. settlement so my check isn't as much as it should be,

but the offset period ends this month so hopefully i'll get " the

full shot " as they called it. thats it for now, i'm glad to be back

and hope that everyone is doing good.

God Bless and take good care.

paul #11

[Guest guest]

Welcome back !

i'm back

> for the few people that might remember me, i'm paul from hollywood

> ca. i've been away for about 4 months because my family and i moved

> back to rochester n.y. in april so i'm just trying to settle in. we

> moved back east to be closer to family and raise our son jack in a

> better and safer environment than hollywood. most of my family is

> hear and my wife's family is in pennsylvania. my brother just moved

> back to rochester from new hampshire in june and they a boy 6 months

> younger than jack, so as you can see it's all good.

>

> as some of you might remember im 37 and have pls and my wife has MS

> and i've had symptoms for over 6 years knowand was diagnosed in 8/01.

>

> in los angeles we just felt isolated from our family and felt we

> were missing quality for jack and the family. my wife, molly just

> got a job if all goes well, at the university of rochester as an

> event coordinator so that is good news and i applied for ssdi in

> january and just started to recieve checks last month. i had a

> workers comp. settlement so my check isn't as much as it should be,

> but the offset period ends this month so hopefully i'll get " the

> full shot " as they called it. thats it for now, i'm glad to be back

> and hope that everyone is doing good.

>

> God Bless and take good care.

> paul #11

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

#11, Glad you are back on. there is nothing more important then

family. Being close is important and your children will reap your efforts to

be

that close to family. Hope your wife gets that job......Flora Brand/Florida

[Guest guest]

hey paul, glad you are back, I was asking about you a couple of months ago,

if anyone had heard from you. Glad all is well and a big welcome to the

east coast !!!! jeannie/nj

i'm back

> for the few people that might remember me, i'm paul from hollywood

> ca. i've been away for about 4 months because my family and i moved

> back to rochester n.y. in april so i'm just trying to settle in. we

> moved back east to be closer to family and raise our son jack in a

> better and safer environment than hollywood. most of my family is

> hear and my wife's family is in pennsylvania. my brother just moved

> back to rochester from new hampshire in june and they a boy 6 months

> younger than jack, so as you can see it's all good.

>

> as some of you might remember im 37 and have pls and my wife has MS

> and i've had symptoms for over 6 years knowand was diagnosed in 8/01.

>

> in los angeles we just felt isolated from our family and felt we

> were missing quality for jack and the family. my wife, molly just

> got a job if all goes well, at the university of rochester as an

> event coordinator so that is good news and i applied for ssdi in

> january and just started to recieve checks last month. i had a

> workers comp. settlement so my check isn't as much as it should be,

> but the offset period ends this month so hopefully i'll get " the

> full shot " as they called it. thats it for now, i'm glad to be back

> and hope that everyone is doing good.

>

> God Bless and take good care.

> paul #11

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 6/25/2005 7:26:31 AM Pacific Standard Time,

tom_ubl@... writes:

My schedled PVI with Dr. Natale is about 90 days out. I continue to

prepare for it and to get myself in the best possible condition (mind,

body, soul) to do whatever I can to ensure best results.>>

I am very interested in your progress in this regard and hope you will keep

us informed. I am taking a road trip in September across the

country to see friends and places...and I plan to set up in advance a second

opinion with Dr. Natale or one of the good CC doctors in Cleveland for some

time during that trip ... I guess the sooner I send off information and set

up the appt the better so I will do this next week. Who knows, I might be in

the area when you are getting ready for your PVI.

Lil in Ca

[Guest guest]

This field needs and deserves more research money and

> attention.

******

Lil,

In the past 10 years, the field of treatment of afib has gotten much,

much more attention that it had previously. My EP told me when I was

first diagnosed 3 and a half years ago that effective treatment of

afib is the last frontier in cardiology, and with the emergence of

catheter ablation techniques, it is now possible to cure it. But, of

course, as we all know, it doesn't always work.

But as many people have pointed out, Salwa most recently, in the

hands of a well-trained and VERY experienced operator, most cases of

afib CAN be cured.

As far as more research and money, it was recently announced by the

State of Ohio that they were giving $23,000,000 to the CC for

establishment of a center for research and development of new

procedures to treat afib. I'm assuming that this center will go into

their new heart center which is already under construction.

I'm sure that other centers are also investing in finding new ways to

treat afib. Sure appears that no one is going to lack for patients in

the coming years, as us baby boomers get older and older!

[Guest guest]

>

> > The last question to answer is PVI or Maze. The bottom line is I

> > skepical about the integrity and presentaton of the statistics

> > regarding PVI. While stats came out of Japan quoting 45%-70%

cure

> > rates for persistent AF, the Cleveland Clinc continues to quote

80%-

> > 95% with touch up. What makes the difference? i have never

recieved

> > a straight answer. Is Andre just a better aim, use the source

> > powered by kryptonite, burns incense? been removed]

>

> *******

>

> Tom,

>

> I just had a successful ablation performed by Dr. Natale in Feb.

Just

> went for my follow-up appointment. No pulmonary vein stenosis, my

left

> atrium has shrunken from an all-time high of 5 cm down to 4.2 with

more

> shrinking expected. I'm off all meds except comadin, which I will

go

> off in a couple weeks, as soon as I get the results of my 24 hour

> holter. I feel great.

>

> Natale, MD. As he told me, it is difficult for an operator

to

> gain the necessary skill in performing PVI if the operator does not

do

> them everyday. I do three per day, everyday.

>

> He also told me that 20% of his practice is people who have had

one,

> two or more procedures at other centers. So his stats are not

skewed by

> him taking just the easiest cases.

>

> I had consults with 3 nationally known EPs, before deciding on Dr.

> Natale. In the end, I decided on Dr. Natale based upon my consult

with

> him, successes I had read about on these afib sites, and the fact

that

> he has done more ablations for afib than anyone in this country,

over

> 2000 now, I hear.

>

> I, too, was worried about going forward with the PVI. But I am so

glad

> I did. I have my life back. Just this morning, when I woke up, I

> thought,here I am again, waking up in normal sinus rythm! I went

to

> sleep in NSR, slept soundly all night, and here I am again in NSR!

Day

> after day, week after week and month after month. Seems almost too

good

> to be true, but there it is.

>

> I was in paroxysmal afib, not persistent. But there have been

several

> people on this site who have had all-the-time afib who have

reported

> success after an ablation with Dr. Natale.

>

> I don't know why you are wasting your time reading stats from

around

> the world. You want to go to the EP who has done the most,

successfully.

> If you can. And that appears to be Dr. NAtale.

>

> Good luck to you.

>

>

-

My time is mine to waste, especially when it comes to my life. There

is no doubt Dr. Natale is one of the best, maybe the best at PVI's in

the world. However, the hospital he works for as do all the other

fine EP's we review on this site are money making machines driven by

bottom line. If anyone thinks different than this they need to put

down the Dr. Suess books.

Your reply, which I very much appreciate, is skewed from the vantage

of paroxysmal. It may have been updated, but show me anywhere on the

Cleveland Clinic web site that breaks out AF statistics as persistent

or paroxysmal, then I wouldn't have to go all over the world looking

for stats.

I do not trust the stats and I beleive it is with speciffic intention

that most hospitals omit or refrain from specifying persistent from

paroxysmal. I wonder how many persistent AFers have based a final

decision on information that was not specific to their condition. I

think it is borderline fraudulent, but that is only my opinion.

It really ranks me that people like you act as a poster girl for best

practices and want to toot the horn as a fix all, it is misleading.

I am glad, authentically glad for you, and wish you best health for

life. The best the West can do is fix a symptom not cure a cause.

The answer is vagal related. With that, I will give Cleveland a

chance to respond to a request for data that I will submit after the

July 4th holidays.

If they can respond with the following:

1) How many PVI's has Dr. Natale performed in his life as of

month/year?

Breaking out the cases by:

2) persistent or paroxysmal

3) Gender

4) Age

5) Month and Year the PVI was performed

6) they can replace with a number or just first name to preserve

identities, but a month/year when each established nsr or the

month/year they had a 2nd pvi, then month/year for nsr.

7) month/year the cases were most recently confirmed to have

maintained nsr.

8) any deaths

9) any strokes on the table (this one is my favorite).

10) is this self certified or verified by an independent source

11) some possible other data points - all are welcome to suggest more

questions.

If the data results with no diffrence between the persistent and

paroxysmal has independently verified and if nsr has been maintained

to most recent date in 95% (the touch up rate stat) of the cases

reported, then I will be a believer.

[Guest guest]

> It really ranks me that people like you act as a poster girl for best

> practices and want to toot the horn as a fix all, it is misleading.

*****

Tom,

Gee, I never thought about becoming a " poster girl " for the CC. I might

look into that!

But, of course, I am enthusiastic about the treatment I recieved from

Dr. Natale and the staff at the CC. Of course I am. I don't have afib

anymore!

There are, of course, other excellent EPs doing PVIs. Jim just

mentioned his success with Dr. Kay. And there are a few more, for

instance, Dr. Marchlinski and Dr. Callans at Penn, and others whose

names don't readily come to my mind at the moment. There are also Drs.

Haissaguere and Jais in France, and Dr. Pappone in Italy. Both of those

groups have, I'm sure, done more than Dr. Natale. Dr. Haissaguere (

spelling probably incorrect) was the first EP to do a catheter ablation

in a human, in the 1990s. I do not know their success rates, but expect

their rates are very high. But at this moment in time, there just

aren't a whole lot of others.

I didn't really understand your point about hospitals being money

making machines. That would probably be news to a lot of hospitals! But

I think we all understand that medicine is a business. My GP is in

business, and expects to get paid. The CC and the doctors there expect

to get paid. If you can find a hospital or doctor who doesn't pay

attention to their bottom line, they are probably not very good

business people, and probably won't be in business for very long.

I thought I had read that you already had an appointment for a PVI with

Dr. Natale. But I might have been thinking about someone else.

You might want to do what I did, if you haven't already, and go and

interview several EPs. It takes time, can cost some money if you travel

very far away from home, but I think it was worth every penny. I took a

long list of questions along with me and I asked all of them. I was

very surpised at some of the answers I got, while chatting face to face.

I understand that you are concerned about different success rates for

persistent versus paroxysmal. That was not a question on my list. But

easily could have been, had I waited much longer.

Good luck to you, Tom. Hope that you will let us know when you get the

answers to your questions.

Best,

[Guest guest]

> >----------

>

> Aha! Maybe it was from you that I had that 50% figure. Was there

any

> indication as to whether eventually all the scar tissue could be

gotten, or

> whether it was just 50% even with follow up? Does the mini-maze work

> better with post-bypass afib? Is that when you first got afib,

actually,

> after the bypass?

>

> So many questions -- you don't have to answer them!

>

> Judy

>

.........................

I really don't know if that 50% figure was with a follow up.

I don't know about the mini maze. I got afib after both of my bypass

surgeries and was converted with drugs. The persistent afib pooped up

7 years after my second bypass.

BTW, I've been given a tentative date of 7/11/05 (my wife's B-Day) for

my PVI.

P

[Guest guest]

> >----------

>

> Aha! Maybe it was from you that I had that 50% figure. Was there

any

> indication as to whether eventually all the scar tissue could be

gotten, or

> whether it was just 50% even with follow up? Does the mini-maze work

> better with post-bypass afib? Is that when you first got afib,

actually,

> after the bypass?

>

> So many questions -- you don't have to answer them!

>

> Judy

>

.........................

I really don't know if that 50% figure was with a follow up.

I don't know about the mini maze. I got afib after both of my bypass

surgeries and was converted with drugs. The persistent afib pooped up

7 years after my second bypass.

BTW, I've been given a tentative date of 7/11/05 (my wife's B-Day) for

my PVI.

P

[Guest guest]

>

>BTW, I've been given a tentative date of 7/11/05 (my wife's B-Day) for

>my PVI.

>

>

>----------

This is the freezing type of ablation? Good luck -- we'll all be rooting

for you.

Judy

Judith B. Currier

Fairfax, Virginia

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 7/5/05 7:53:48 PM Eastern Daylight Time,

susanr20z03@... writes:

> Good luck to you, Tom. Hope that you will let us know when you get the

> answers to your questions.

>

> Best,

>

>

>

Well said .

Rich O

[Guest guest]

Judy,

Excellent point and definitely a data item that should be included in

the schema. Regarding 50% it may have been from a whitepaper post

someone had provided here a few months back that came out fo Japan.

It was in the format of a clinical testing summary.

Tom U

>

> >

> >Your reply, which I very much appreciate, is skewed from the

vantage

> >of paroxysmal.

>

> I was told that ablation was less successful if you were

persistent --

> however no stats were given. Somewhere in my head I have it as

50%, but I

> have no idea where that came from. Certainly your question of

breakdown

> between persistent and paroxysmal is legitimate, and one would then

wonder

> whether the method of doing the ablation would enter into it also.

As I

> understand it there are several different methods.

>

> Perhaps you were the one that pointed out earlier that since Dr.

Natale

> considered a person's second ablation, if it were done by someone

else, a

> first ablation -- that skews the stats also. It would be

interesting to

> have them further break down stats as to which ablation it was for

the

> patient (not the doctor).

>

> Judy

>

>

>

>

> Judith B. Currier

> Fairfax, Virginia

>

>

[Guest guest]

>

> >

> > I was told that ablation was less successful if you were

persistent --

>

> > however no stats were given. Somewhere in my head I have it as

50%,

> but I

> > have no idea where that came from. >

> > Judy

> >

> ...........................

> Judy, I have persistent afib and have been told by three top EP's

that

> my chances would be about 70%. But the famous Dr N from the CC

also

> added that it could drop to 50% depending on how much scar tissue I

> have from two previous heart bypass surgeries and he wouldn't know

> until he " got in there. "

> P <MI>

P -

Your stat is most interesting. Is that 70% with touch up or first

round? That % is more in line with the whitepaper out of Japan a few

months back. Did you have AF before bypass? If so, then why didn't

they -Maze you while they had you opened up? For us

persistent/continuous AFers it would appear a full open heart -

Maze is achieving the best results in mid ot high 90%'s. Mini-Maze

slight edge over PVI. Real question we continuous AFers need to ask

ourselves is

" Do we approach treatement incrementally with less invasive the key

factor or go for the gusto with cure rate the key factor. "

and there my fellow continuous/sustained AFers is your bottom line.

Tom U

PS - what we once called chronic is now persistent, which from my

perspective lacks in definition and opens the door for

misunderstanding...because a person with intermitent or paroxysmal

conditions can experience persistent bouts, whereas the term

continuous or sustained or something that implies and expresses

that " it never goes away and there is no NSR moments " would really be

more applicable, words like continuous or sustained are really more

applicable.

[Guest guest]

>

> This is the freezing type of ablation? Good luck -- we'll all be

rooting

> for you.

>

> Judy

>

>

No, it'll be a burning radiof frequcecy abaltion...if they ever call me

about the scheduling and instructions.

[Guest guest]

>

>

>

> > It really ranks me that people like you act as a poster girl for

best

> > practices and want to toot the horn as a fix all, it is

misleading.

> *****

>

> Tom,

> Gee, I never thought about becoming a " poster girl " for the CC. I

might

> look into that!

>

> But, of course, I am enthusiastic about the treatment I recieved

from

> Dr. Natale and the staff at the CC. Of course I am. I don't have

afib

> anymore!

...............SNIP

,

I am while direct, happy for you and hope you continue to sustain the

fix to your symptom.

The single most point I can ever stress on this or any other board or

forum is that the difference between paroxysmal and continuous AF is

so signicant they should really be segregated and considered as two

very different conditions. I met with Dr. Natale, he is a gentle

spirit and most definitely capable. The question is not fiscal

solvency, but the seemingly circus acts that resemble used car

dealerships, whereby hospitals present less than the full picture for

the purpose of attracting business.

If anyone should be pitching for CC it would be me, I was born there,

lived there, father was on the bar and received his JD there, I know

Cleveland better than anyone on this board. All I am stressing here

is that ALL data regarding AF should make every effort to quantify

and qualify variances as applied to continuous or paroxysmal AF.

I have tracked your progress more than almost any other person here

with great interest for you have undergone what I will soon be facing.

Best Regards,

Tom U

[Guest guest]

>

> > >----------

> >

> > Aha! Maybe it was from you that I had that 50% figure. Was

there

> any

> > indication as to whether eventually all the scar tissue could be

> gotten, or

> > whether it was just 50% even with follow up? Does the mini-maze

work

> > better with post-bypass afib? Is that when you first got afib,

> actually,

> > after the bypass?

> >

> > So many questions -- you don't have to answer them!

> >

> > Judy

> >

> ........................

> I really don't know if that 50% figure was with a follow up.

> I don't know about the mini maze. I got afib after both of my

bypass

> surgeries and was converted with drugs. The persistent afib pooped

up

> 7 years after my second bypass.

> BTW, I've been given a tentative date of 7/11/05 (my wife's B-Day)

for

> my PVI.

>

> P

-

I will be keeping you in good thoughts. I am in your corner Mr.

Tom U

[Guest guest]

>

> >

> > This is the freezing type of ablation? Good luck -- we'll all be

> rooting

> > for you.

> >

> > Judy

> >

> >

> No, it'll be a burning radiof frequcecy abaltion...if they ever call

me

> about the scheduling and instructions.

-

Take it on yourself to get the instructions. Also, CC just built a

hotel as part of the hospital, you may want to check into staying there

to have the convienence and to eliminate any potential of getting lost

amongst all the construction and to avoid possibly geting lost in some

not so nice areas.

Tom U

[Guest guest]

> In a message dated 7/5/05 7:53:48 PM Eastern Daylight Time,

> susanr20z03@y... writes:

>

>

> > Good luck to you, Tom. Hope that you will let us know when you

get the

> > answers to your questions.

> >

> > Best,

> >

> >

> >

>

> Well said .

> Rich O

Thanks and Rich for your kind thoughts. It is a long lengthy

process, mostly one of elimination. I have been on schedule for a

PVI with Dr. Natale for months, it will be close to a year when I

finally get on the table.

In the interim I prepare and more importantly seek alternatives to

avoid having to address fixing a sympton and not curing the cause.

Personally, I feel fine and find it odd that I do not have the

anxiety or the stress of going in and out of AF because I am in it

all the time, a strange luxuroy I guess.

I have really apporoached addressing my continuous AF with the most

comprehensive approach that I could engage.

H. Pylori = neg

CRP - fine

Triglicerides = high - treating with diet, excercise and 200

micrograms of chromate.

I will let you know the answer when i get the answers to my questions

as follows:

I need to continue to lose weight and increase metabolic functions to

get a detemrination of effect of overall wellness.

I need to get a read on the effects of Uric Acid and Gout as appplied

to AF.

I need to know the apena answer for myself.

I need to have that second and thrid opinion from the professionals I

have lined up.

I need the answers to my very detailed statistical questions

regarding Dr. Natale sucess rate as applied to continuous AF.

I need to determine if being on the meds is ok.

I need to determine what is more important - less invasive or cure

rate.

I need to take an in depth, scientifically based look at AF,

specifically vagal, with others who have AF that want to go

there....for discontent is the catylist to change and who is more

qualified as discontent than those who have AF?

I assure you that I will provide you my findings to the above as they

present themselves.

Thanks Again,

Tom U