Patient Stories
James: “Successful Treatment of A-Fib”
James Moore has a full life. As an executive with a global corporation he works hard, logging in excess of hundred thousand miles each year to manage Guardian’s European business. He also plays hard, downhill skiing throughout the winter and biking 150 miles each week during the warmer months. He moves quickly, with purpose, and enjoys every minute. But atrial fibrillation threatened to put the brakes on Moore’s active lifestyle.
“Four years ago, I began having days when I could hardly go biking at all without feeling very tired and run down,” says Moore. “Naturally I went to my doctor, but everything checked out fine. What I know now is that I was going into A-Fib during my biking trips, but by the time I was done biking, I’d go right back out of it. I didn’t realize exactly what was happening. I just knew something wasn’t right.”
One morning in late 2006, Moore woke up with his heart rate fluttering non-stop, at a rate of 200 beats per minute. “I felt exhausted, as tired as I had felt before going to bed the night before,” he remembers. His primary care physician sent him directly to UMHS, where doctors acted quickly to try to restore his normal heartbeat. Electric cardioversion only worked for a few moments. A combination of heavy medications helped keep his heart at a steady rhythm, but this was no long-term solution for Moore.
“The medications keep your heart from increasing in speed, even when it should. So I could walk up a flight of stairs and get winded. At the end of the day, I was tired and ready to go to bed at 8:30 every night. I knew that wasn’t going to work with my lifestyle. That’s when Dr. Morady told me about the ablation procedure.”
Dr. Oral spent time educating Moore about the procedure—the risks, benefits and details about recovery. “They were also up front in telling me that I might have to have this procedure more than once before the A-fib would really be corrected.”
Moore had the procedure performed three times, and the third time proved to be a charm. Not only was recovery swift—Moore was back on the ski slopes within weeks following the procedure—but he has not experienced a single episode of atrial fibrillation since. Now Moore is experiencing a lifestyle that reflects his goals and ambitions, and he is thankful to the team of doctors and nurses that he freely acknowledges, “gave me my lifestyle back.”
