I'm 74 and was diagnosed with Paroxysmal Atrial Fibulation in May '24. In the interests of brevity I'll keep it simple. The NHS was moving at a glacial pace so I paid for a private consultation with a cardiac consultant who told me I needed an ablation. I could wait 14-18 months for NHS or 3 weeks if done privately.
The 18 months wait was unacceptable. I have plans! I proceeded with a privately funded procedure 2 days ago at Spire Hospital in Manchester.
The facilities and care at the hospital were first class. The procedure went well. I was taken into theatre, anaesthetised and the next thing I knew I was in the recovery room. I had no pain or soreness around my heart, my groin was sore where the entry was made and there was a Femstop device strapped on the wound to apply pressure. I had a slight sore throat.
The consultant visited me post-op and said, "it couldn't have gone better." He identified the problem areas and treated them. I'm not familiar with the technicalities of the heart muscle - that's his job - so I can't disclose exactly what he did.
I had an issue when I first stood up after lying down for 8 hours. Despite the groin wound looking dry, blood poured from it and the floor looked like the set of a horror movie!
I'm now home, taking it easy and feel virtually no discomfort anywhere. My heart feels much calmer, no arrythmia or racing, just the very occasional flutter, which I'm told is normal in the first couple of months.
I'm hoping this will be the end of AF but I do realise it's unpredictable and erratic. Fingers crossed. I write this to put minds at rest. The whole process was well managed with very little discomfort. I realise I'm fortunate to be able to go private but at my age, there a no more sensible ways to spend money than keeping oneself active and free from distressing health conditions.
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Onkaparinga
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Thank you for sharing your experiences and giving encouragement to those of us who may be thinking of following you. There is so much apprehension when one has to have a surgical procedure. It’s good that yours went well and you are on the road to a better quality of life. Take it easy and wishing you well.
Great to hear. I am now 4 days post Pulsed Field Ablation. Sore throat is gone, however still have a slight sore left jaw, from being held open I guess. Bruising around groin looks bad but zero groin pain.
A little tired as I am stating to get restless and doing things.
I had a similar situation, a plastic stopcock was removed, and whilst lying there 4 hours post surgery I coughed and started to bleed out. Small issue and resolved in 5 minutes.
Thank you very much for sharing. So helpful to those of us waiting ! So pleased for you all went well , hope you can get on with the rest of your life AF free !
It was £15k. A lot of money, I know but at 74 I don't want to spend 18 months feeling ill with a deteriorating heart condition. Who knows what time we have left? If money isn't for keeping yourself healthy and active, what's it for? It's a shame the NHS isn't able to deal with things more efficiently but that's where we are.
My ablation back in 2019 was covered by my wife's then health insurance and that was, I think, £12k at an NHS hospital. In the USA, such an operation would have been into six figures. And as for your reasoning, I am with you 100%.
Let's hope it gives you what we all need - a stress free hearty life!!
I had a PF ablation here in the USA back in June and it went beautifully. No symptoms since! BTW, it didn't cost anywhere near six figures with insurance....
Well done and let's hope it is permanent. I am waiting for the same. I have only read online of the costs in the USA being so high. Do you mean that the cost to the insurance company was not six figures, or the cost to you? In the UK, we do have private health insurances from various companies, but only the minority of people can afford this, forcing most to use the government scheme, called the NHS (national health service).
I hope it's permanent too! Thanks! I don't know what the cost to the insurance company was, but because I have insurance it cost me nothing out of pocket. I believe Medicare (which is the age 65+ low cost government insurance available to everyone) took care of most of it. Most folks do have insurance here, although costs vary.
I have read of Medicare and it sounds similar to our own (universal) system called the NHS (National Health Service). As a nation, I think we are told little of American health care systems except that they are expensive and that Obama and Biden's attempts to widen free health care met with great resistance.
I hope your ablation went well and that you remain free of arrhythmias. I am on a waiting list for mine which I expect will be early in the new year.
There is no “free” healthcare in the world. It’s paid by higher taxes than in the US. The money has to come from somewhere. I would prefer paying and know have secure healthcare. Medicare is the securest, but it has a deductible and it gets paid Social Security. But there are certain forces in the United States that have a profit motive. There was a time when private health insurance was very affordable. But in the 19 70s some business men got the idea that they should run these things for profit. You then have a conflict of interest; you have to deliver healthcare but you got to make a profit. Someone’s going to suffer and it’s not the profit.
Yes, indeed. The profit motive has much to answer for, especially when it inserts itself into areas that are indispensable parts of life such as health and housing. I used the term "free" in its usual sense in this context, meaning free at the point of use but I do take your point.
I don't wish to debate the publicly funded versus private health services.....but....the NHS is 76 years old and the demands placed on it in 2024 couldn't even be imagined in 1948. Only recently have its outcomes been shown to be poor compared to other country's mixed funding systems.All I can say is that getting NHS action on my AF was slow, uncoordinated and inefficient and I eventually gave up. My private treatment was speedy, efficient, very well managed and effective. But it was expensive!
I don't know what the answers to UK healthcare are, that's way above my pay grade, but changes are essential and overdue.
PFA so much safer if a procedure! Outcomes are similar to stats for regular ablation. And the skill of the doc makes such a difference. Good luck I hope all remains stable.
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