Atrial Fibrillation (AFib) Support Group
Atrial fibrillation (AF or afib) is an abnormal heart rhythm (cardiac arrhythmia) which involves the two small, upper heart chambers (the atria). Heart beats in a normal heart begin after electricity generated in the atria by the sinoatrial node spread through the heart and cause contraction of the heart muscle and pumping of blood.
My current cardiologist is an E.P. and I absolutely love this guy. He's very personable and sincere and has a genuine concern about me and my health. I also like the fact that he doesn't like to put young people like me (41) on drugs to control afib if he doesn't have to. Obviously when he has to he does, but he tries to avoid them whenever possible.
After my last episode, he recommended I have an ablation. Since I trust the guy, I thought I would take the plunge and have one done, but being the skeptical person I am, I got a second opinion.
The E.P. I saw for a second opinion happens to be one of the best and most experienced E.P.'s in Minnesota. He's featured in all the health magazines, newspapers, tv, etc. I had to wait 4 months to see him! He didn't recommend an ablation at all since I've only had 3 episodes in 7 years. He recommended a PIP approach for now. He said I should only be considering an ablation if I go into permanent afib or if my afib just gets worse and can't be managed effectively with drugs. I thought that made total sense.
I went back to my E.P. and told him what the other E.P. said. He said he probably would agree. What?? He just told me 5 months ago to have an ablation! Had I not gotten the second opinion, I would have had a totally unnecessary ablation!! This kind of made me angry.
The other thing that threw me was my E.P. suggested I use propafene (spelling?) as a PIP. The other E.P. suggested Flecanaide (spelling?). When I asked my EP about this, he said he usually prescribes Flecanaide as well and he didn't know why he prescribed propafene. He said he would change my prescription to flecanaide.
So now I want to use the second E.P. as my primary guy but the thing that bothers me about him is he completely opposite of my main guy. He's friendly, but he doesn't allow his patients to call or email him. And to see him requires about a 3-4 month wait!! He said it's that way because he has thousands of patients and he's usually in surgery 12+ hours per day so he only takes appointments every few months.
By contrast, my main guy gave me his personal cell phone and personal email and said I could contact him anytime. He said even if I have an attack in the middle of the night and I'm nervous, I can call him!
What I'd love to do is combine the customer service skills of my main guy with the experience, knowledge, and surgical skills of the second guy but that's not happening. I'm stuck. I really like my main guy but clearly he's too inexperienced. I'm nervous about switching to the other guy because he's clearly too busy and I would probably only see him when I need an ablation...lol.
I could go out and try to find another doctor but the thought of doing that makes me ill. I would rather have my teeth pulled without Novocaine. I HATE searching for the "perfect" doctor so for now I'm hanging with my main guy but if my afib starts getting worse, I'll probably need to switch. Do I go with the super busy (but very experienced and good) EP, or do I just try to find someone new all together?
How did you all find a doctor you trust and are comfortable with?
Travis
After my last episode, he recommended I have an ablation. Since I trust the guy, I thought I would take the plunge and have one done, but being the skeptical person I am, I got a second opinion.
The E.P. I saw for a second opinion happens to be one of the best and most experienced E.P.'s in Minnesota. He's featured in all the health magazines, newspapers, tv, etc. I had to wait 4 months to see him! He didn't recommend an ablation at all since I've only had 3 episodes in 7 years. He recommended a PIP approach for now. He said I should only be considering an ablation if I go into permanent afib or if my afib just gets worse and can't be managed effectively with drugs. I thought that made total sense.
I went back to my E.P. and told him what the other E.P. said. He said he probably would agree. What?? He just told me 5 months ago to have an ablation! Had I not gotten the second opinion, I would have had a totally unnecessary ablation!! This kind of made me angry.
The other thing that threw me was my E.P. suggested I use propafene (spelling?) as a PIP. The other E.P. suggested Flecanaide (spelling?). When I asked my EP about this, he said he usually prescribes Flecanaide as well and he didn't know why he prescribed propafene. He said he would change my prescription to flecanaide.
So now I want to use the second E.P. as my primary guy but the thing that bothers me about him is he completely opposite of my main guy. He's friendly, but he doesn't allow his patients to call or email him. And to see him requires about a 3-4 month wait!! He said it's that way because he has thousands of patients and he's usually in surgery 12+ hours per day so he only takes appointments every few months.
By contrast, my main guy gave me his personal cell phone and personal email and said I could contact him anytime. He said even if I have an attack in the middle of the night and I'm nervous, I can call him!
What I'd love to do is combine the customer service skills of my main guy with the experience, knowledge, and surgical skills of the second guy but that's not happening. I'm stuck. I really like my main guy but clearly he's too inexperienced. I'm nervous about switching to the other guy because he's clearly too busy and I would probably only see him when I need an ablation...lol.
I could go out and try to find another doctor but the thought of doing that makes me ill. I would rather have my teeth pulled without Novocaine. I HATE searching for the "perfect" doctor so for now I'm hanging with my main guy but if my afib starts getting worse, I'll probably need to switch. Do I go with the super busy (but very experienced and good) EP, or do I just try to find someone new all together?
How did you all find a doctor you trust and are comfortable with?
Travis
Bill
I tend to be a cynic just like you. When is the last time we've really cured or prevented anything - polio, maybe? It is amazing that as advanced as we are as a world, hardly anything gets cured anymore.
Travis
Besides polio...diphtheria, invasive h flu, malaria, measles, chicken pox/shingles, pertussis/whooping cough, pneumococcal disease, tetanus, typhoid fever, yellow fever, smallpox, tuberculosis... then there are surgeries for a myriad of diseases... so things aren't that bad.
Then there is the whole topic of remission... afib has been put in remission using afib ablation for some people for over 15 years, almost since the procedure was developed. And of course maze procedures have shown to cure afib (if you want to go through that operation or if you are having open heart surgery any way).
So there are cures out there.
petey