Cardioversion uses an electrical shock to stop the heart. Once that is done your heart should return to normal sinus rhythm. My husband's was done using twilight (conscious sedation) and he went home the same day. Unfortunately, his cardioversion did not last. He was back in Afib. He started gaining all of the fluid weight because his heart function was low and then he went into Vfib which is why he needed the ICD (implantable cardiac defibrillator). The ablation is being done using cryosurgery rather than heat cautery because cryosurgery is more effective and less damaging to surrounding tissue. The doctor threads a catheter into the heart and uses electrical impulses to find where the bad signals are coming from and freezes them to form scar tissue. That will be done under general anesthesia and he will be able to go home the same day. We have a great electrophysiologist and we are confident that this will take care of the problem. Please let me know how you are doing. Take care of yourself.