BTW, Natale put me on Xarelto.

Svenska,
You might consider going out and buying a Big Game ticket this evening. You already won the lottery once, you may as well try for twice! So, in reality, this will be your first ablation for afib? Whatever that first guy did, it is amazing that it lasted 7 years..and now you are getting THE hot guy in this field right now. Best of luck, although from everything I have read about this guy, you can use that luck on something else, cuz you won't really need it for Natale's work!

Bill

Hi Mark,

I sincerely apologize for offending you by what I said in my response. I did not mean that you went to any EP for your first ablation. I assumed you chose your 1st EP after a good research. But, somehow your procedure did not get rid of your afib symptoms. It reminds of my knee operation that I had a few years back. After much research I chose an orthopedic surgeon who was the doctor for Phx Suns (the basketball team). I even knew several people who had very successful operation with this doctor. But, when it came to me, he absolutely messed up my knee. It took me 3 years and lots of therapies before I could walk on it without any pain.

So, based on my knee operation experience, I know what you are talking about when you say he is a very good EP and you don't know what happened when it was your turn. Unfortunately, stuff like that happens.

Really, all I was trying to convey, was may be it is better to change your EP since your 1st ablation did not turn out the way you expected it. You still know better if you should change your EP since you can talk with him face to face and you know the details of your situation.

Also, you are correct that I do NOT know what you are going through and what your symptoms are. Yes, my symptoms are very different from you.

I hope you accept my apologies. I did not mean to make you upset or to be disrespectful. I wish you lots of luck and success in whatever you decide to do. Hopefully, you will be totally symptom free after your next ablation/cleanup. I wish you the best and send you good thoughts.

Good luck,
Scott

Bill: my first EP move to another city shortly after my ablation! I had no idea this was going to happen. So my follow-up was virtually nonexistent with him! Saw the cardiologist in the same office but never did communicate well with him at all. Moved to another cardiologist that I liked better. Thanks to this site, I knew the importance of choosing a good EP this time around!

svenska,

Good luck with your 2nd ablation. I am sure you will do just fine with Dr. Natale.

Your 1st EP sounds like my EP after my ablation in Dec, 24, 2013 who left the Dodge. I have not seen him yet. I have an appt with him sometime at the end of March. Hopefully, he will show up :-)

I agree with Bill, you don't need luck since you are going with Natale and you should buy lottery ticket these days, LOL.

Take care,
Scott

I was not expecting an apology or any explanations but thank you Scott and Petey. Yes Petey that was how it sounded but if your reply did not follow Scotts I probably would have just brushed it off. What I meant by "I can see why some people get off this site" is I think some people feel talked down to and that to some on this website, they are right and everyone else is wrong and that is how they pretty much convey it. I think I'm saying what more than a few have felt. Anyway, I'm a big boy and don't need things sugar coated all the time but the replies just came off the wrong way. It is like texting which I can't stand. Someone can send you a text and it look offending because the person is not there face to face or over the phone for you to see or hear just how they meant it. I value everyone's opinion and of course I want people to be honest and I hope would always be honest. I wasn't planning on leaving the site, I was just going to be a fly on the wall which is pretty much what I do anyway.

Yes Petey, the time for each episode is less but the AFIB is switching back and forth more often with less intensity. Now the total time for the month, at this point, is sometimes the same if not more. I think you may be right in that my Doctor was very conservative as I kept stressing to him, even while they were knocking me out, to not go in there with guns blazing. But if the ablation never really took, meaning I was never AFIB free after the ablation except for one 10 day stretch, either my doctor didn't burn long and deep enough and make complete lines or the AFIB is coming from somewhere else. Maybe I should get more opinions on that from other doctors.

Yes Bill, I trust him with my life that he is not going to kill me or do any damage with the procedure. He says that he will knock it out with a 2nd one and has never had to do a 3rd. Should I trust him with the results I had on my 1st ablation? The main reason I bought my heart monitor was because the EP and his staff didn't believe me when I said I was still having the AFIB. That's because he's supposed to be that good. Yet my ablation never really took.
So I guess it's not coming down to wether or not I should get a 2nd ablation but if I should use the same doc. Maybe I should take my vacation this year in San Francisco and go see Natale. Is that the only place he practices or does he hop around the country? Thank you for all of the replies.

Mark: He is in San Fran one week a month; the rest is one week each, (I believe) in New York, Texas (I think) and SoCal.

Mark: We are all pulling for you. I never went for an ablation, but my EP always tells me to get a second opinion and that she encourages it. I like when doctors confer with each other on a case. I think it improves the approach. Good luck with your decision. petey

Good choice on 2nd ablation. I went to same doctor. He told me before hand he may have to go back a second time. I most likely had to have second one because of my abnotmal heart structure caused him not be to get as close as he liked to to my left pulinary veins. I had my second one 8 months after my first one. I'm not going to even lie to u. Ablation #2 hurt like hell. My doctor had to burn a bunch of newlines on the roof and other areas in my atrium. At least u know what to expect. Good luck.

Dear Mark.
Do hope the 2nd ablation will work for u and. you will make the right decision. When u go into a- fib is it a full blown attack, or skipped/hearbeats I am relatively new to A-fib. I had one in March (1st one). I was under a lot of stress and was trying to get over a diverticulitis episode - had not had this intestinal problem in 15 yrs. My heart went suddenly to 150 beats mind.bp rose and heart went into crazy beats! I ended up in the Hospital for 3days - nothing worked, I went down for ablation and when they gave me aesthesia it converted on its own own.To make a long story short, I took medication and Warfarin. Had 2nd one in Sept. Now on Sotalol and Warfarin. Get some sipped/ paused h.b. but no fast h.r. or the a-fib. All heart tests normal

I, many on this site, get stressed and imagine you have had enough1 So, I do prey for u success this time and try to relax u sound to be in good hands:
Hugs,Christine

Sorry - pray for your success this time.x

Mark:

I haven't had an ablation (yet) so I really can't give any advice. All I would say is go with your gut. The fact that you are asking if you should go to the same doc or not leads me to believe you're not 100% sure this doctor is the right one to do the 2nd ablation. In other words, your gut is telling you to look elsewhere. I guess if I were you I would at least go to another doctor (or two) and get their opinions as to why your first one wasn't so successful. It would also give you a chance to get a feel for some other doctors and what they might be able to do.

Can someone tell me who this Natale doctor is - like what his full name is and what hospital he practices from? And how is considered the "go to doctor" these days? I've never heard of him.

Travis

Travis:
Dr. Natale has 3-4 locations. Here is his basic info:

Andrea Natale, MD, FHRS

Andrea Natale, MD, FHRS

Andrea Natale, MD, FHRS
St. David's Medical Center
3000 N IH35
Ste 705
Austin, TX 78705
Phone:(512) 544-8186 Certifications:Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology
Medical School:University Of FlorencePractice Information:AF Ablation
SVT Ablation
VT Ablation
CRT Devices
ICD Devices
Pacemaker Devices
Device Interrogation
Specialties:Clinical Cardiology
Clinical Electrophysiology