Hello Everyone. I do not post on here often but read regularly the daily postings. I want to say a big thank you to you all for being there as I have learnt so much from you all.
As Bob often says Knowledge is power and he is certainly right regarding AF. I recently had a trial ablation at the Royal Brompton Hospital headed by the wonderful Dr Sabine Ernst it was called the Ganglion Plexus ablation. I have to say that I have not felt as well for a long time in fact I feel wonderful . I am AF free with lots of energy and life to catch up on the difference in me is just amazing. I have started to cut back on my meds which means I will within the next six weeks be almost med free , although I have been told that I can stop if I wish my anticoagulant which is Apixaban. I have because of my age 68 decided to stay on this medication for the rest of my life as my safety net.
This new type of Ablation will be I think rolled out to be used by all Electro physiologist, Cardiologist within two years or less. I have been told by Dr Ernst at my six week check up recently that if by October next year I am still in sinus rhythm I can consider myself back to where I was before I was ever afflicted with the dreaded AF and in her words cured and, I know many have said there is no cure for AF but those were her very words to me.
There will be another trial headed by Dr Ernst which I believe is going to take place over a period of the next two years with 200 participants so as to make the comparisons between standard ablation and the Ganglion Plexus Ablation coupled with the standard ablation, so anyone interested contact the Royal Brompton, but the trial is only for those who have never had an ablation before. I could not have asked to be looked after any better than I was under Dr Sabine Ernst at the Royal Brompton and I consider myself very fortunate to now have Dr Ernst as my EP consultant.
Good luck everyone in your journey with AF I know what it is like to live with the monster but I think there is now light at the end of the tunnel for there are dedicated people out there devising continuously ways and means to try and eradicate the monster that affects so many lives. I have found my light at the end of the tunnel and it is all because of this wonderful forum that first showed me the way and gave me the courage to look further afield and fight. Thank You.
A Happy Christmas to all of you and a AF free 2017
Thank you for the update Barbara, I wondered how you had fared with Dr Ernst. What wonderful news for you and what an utter relief it must be. Well done for going forward with a new procedure and I do hope it is the beginning of something better in the treatment of AF.
Thank you too for your Christmas wishes. I hope you have a very Happy Christmas and a peaceful 2017.
Hi Barbara and Merry Christmas and a Happy new year to you also,.
I am glad you had such a good result with Sabine. I was never her patient but have met her a few times and always felt she was a formidable lady. I have followed her progress for a number of years and she has always been at the coal face of research in AF. She assisted in the first RF ablation in Germany back in '94 I believe and did a lot of work at Royal Brompton using rare earth magnets to steer the catheters so reducing time and stress for both patient and EP. Not bad looking either! Did somebody mention Valkyrie?
Bob
Hello Barbara....really pleased that everything went so well for you and you are feeling so good. Wishing you all the best for 2017. It would be interesting to hear regular updates from you.
Sandra
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Hello Yatsura thank for your kind wishes for 2017.
I am not one to rock the boat and waited to make sure that I could give a positive report on my ablation and I have. Like so many have said on this forum once having been through an ablation there is nothing to fear and they are right. I do apologise for leaving feed back so late but I did want to make sure that the feed back I gave was positive as I believe so much in what Dr Ernst is doing and so much wanted it to work to be able to give confidence to others who maybe seeking treatment for AF. I hope with all my heart that what stems from the Ganglion Plexus Ablation is one of hope and belief that we are a lot further along the line in dealing with the monster because when this type of ablation is rolled out probably across the world it will be embellished on, honed toned and perfected, meaning there will be no need for people to keep going back for what is termed tidying up it would be the one off ablation, that is the aim of the trial. As for me until now I had forgotten what it was like to feel normal what it was like to have a normal beating heart and now I love to hear the silence of my heart but knowing it is beating in rhythm tick tock, tick tock. Once upon a time I used to take that sound for granted not anymore.
Thank you Barbara you have made my Christmas. what a positive post and so good to know about the progress that is going on regarding AF I wish you a happy and peaceful Christmas.
Thanks Barbara for the update it made very interesting reading. I was getting quite excited until I read that this new procedure was only appropriate for those who had not previously had an ablation. All the same it is very good news.
Hello Pete, thank you for your post. When The Ganglion Plexus Ablation is rolled out after all the trials are finished it will be used for all and any regardless of whether you have had an ablation or ablations before. It is only for the trials that Dr Ernst is requesting participants who have never had an ablation so eventually this type of ablation will be for everyone who wishes to take the ablation route to combat there AF so please stay excited for the future of this type of ablation because it could be what all AF sufferers have been waiting for.
I did look up Ganglion Plexus Ablation on the internet as I had never heard of it.
I read that some of the specialists say this procedure is not suitable if the patient has had a previous ablation. Not sure why - need to read more, but probably for me with having had 5 ablations and my age any new treatment is going to be unlikely.
All the same it is good to see progression in techniques.
Pete
Hello Pete from what Dr Ernst has told me at my six week check up was that she does not ablate all of the Ganglion Plexus from the sympathetic nervous system but balances them out so that they can not trigger AF as she believes they do and are the main cause of Atrial Fibrillation. that is what the trial is about and the next trial is to distinguish between the standard ablation and the ganglion plexus with the standard ablation so far the stats are good with only one candidate out of 20 going into AF after the ablation which she rectified .
I do know of the ganglion plexus ablation you are talking about but hers is slightly different in as much as she does not ablate all of the ganglions but just a chosen few to rebalance.
It would be worth speaking to Dr Ernst office to find out if you would be able to have such an ablation in the future.
I hope you will be able to finally boot the AF out of your life with the new techniques that are coming forward in the near future.
Great to hear a positive story, so well done you and long may you enjoy your new freedom.
I talked to a cardiologist last week who kept referring to "when you are back to normal", which was an option I had never been offered before. You have reinforced my determination to get there and get my marathon running, grandchild babysitting, life back.
Just one thing. Could you take back your storm which is perhaps preventing my four 30 something babies and their partners from getting back for Christmas from Glasgow, Lincoln and Geneva?
Have a great Christmas, and thanks for reminding us that dreams do come true.
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