Great advice by nksneuro! The single most effective remedy (not a cure!) for atrial fibrillation (AF is the abbreviation in the N. American medical community) has been catheter ablation, and this was determined scientifically just in the past few months. In fact, the new saying is that catheter ablation is now the 'gold standard' of care. The single most important act the patient, his or herself, can do is to take great care in choosing the best EP (electrophysiologist). The best EP will be among the busiest locally, if not THE busiest, and will be middle-aged or approaching middle age and be doing between 6-10 ablations every week. Also, he/she has been doing this for at least ten years, often longer. They will also be secure enough to admit to their rate of failure for index (first) ablations. In my EP's case, he admitted to a success rate of about 75%, which means he was admitting that he has a statistical failure rate of about 25% for index ablations. I appreciated his disclosure, and trusted him immediately. I was in the unlucky bunch, unfortunately, but I gave him a second chance (LOL!) and he managed to successfully close off the affected area with scar tissue. It was, as he suspected, a small gap he missed in the first set of lesions he had caused around my pulmonary veins.
Choose the best EP you can drive/fly/cycle/walk/boat to and can afford. Their experience and skill is your best bet of walking out of the hospital later that day feeling like you have your life back.

You are in inspiration, & it sounds like you've found the "Yellow Brick Road" to living with AFib.
Reading your post (above) the Key Element in your advise is: "... in finding a skilled, experienced electro cardiologist ..." I live in a community where a State University Medical School is located. My GP suggested we use the Cardiology Dept. there. From the time I checked in they kept shuffling me from a Dr. to a PhysicianAssistant to another Dr. ... over the span of 2 years each appt. was with a different person (on their Cardiology Staff). Each one would change the medication, order a new medical test, etc., until I finally (Slow-learner-ME) came to the Conclusion "they're just using me as a human Guinea-Pig!" After Asking my other Dr.'s for recommendations (Their suggestions were "All Over The Map), I told my Daughter who lives in a a much larger city to find a Cardiologist near her. She found A Cardiologist at a Fine Reputable Hospital in Her City, Went there & Finally felt confident she found a Cardiologist who Will Be treating ME! Maybe Other people have had better luck being treated at Medical Schools, but my experience was a failure!