I am a 71-year old female with a history of very symptomatic paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. I have had three cardiac ablations. The first ablation did nothing for me and I continued to have subsequent hospitalizations due to recurrent a-fib episodes. Four years later I had my second ablation. I had much better success with it and remained largely episode-free for almost five years. At that point I experienced several episodes of symptomatic a-fib and was referred for a third ablation. I underwent my third ablation in July of 2018 and have since experienced only a few brief episodes of supraventricular tachycardia. With the second and third ablations, the only effects I noticed were some tenderness in the groin and some fatigue. I was back to my normal activities within a few days of having the ablations. All three of my ablations have lasted more than six hours due to the extent of burns required; from what I understand, that is longer than the procedure is normally. I admit that initially the idea of having the ablation was anxiety-provoking, but the subsequent freedom from the a-fib episodes has certainly made the process worthwhile. I was started on dofetilide following the third ablation but was able to discontinue that in January and am now just on diltiazem once a day with the hope that I will in time be able to discontinue it as well. I am on Coumadin and will probably be on that the rest of my life as I also have coils and stent in an aneurysm in my brain. I do the INR testing at home, which makes coping with the Coumadin easier. Hope this is helpful to anyone facing the thought of having an ablation performed.

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