Ablation or no ablation ?

I would like to share with my experience :

I am a 57-year-old male, very active, I go to the gym on daily basis, I smoke and drink.

On June 22, 2017, I woke up at 7:00 in the morning, as I normally do to go to the gym, but this morning with an abnormal very strong heart palpitation. I thought that I would wait before I take any decision. I had my normal morning American coffee, I lit a cigarette, I went to the toilet, ect.. but things were getting worse and the palpitations becoming stronger. I decided that before going to the gym, t I should visit the emergency at a nearby hospital. I went there walking, alone,  I don't know how I was able to reach the ER.  Once inside, a bunch of Drs and medical staff came to my rescue. They thought that I was having a heart attack. They proposed that I go for catheterization of the heart and asked me if I do have a cardiologist . Of course not! I don't know anyone without a heart problem that has a cardiologist! they proposed a name which in my situation sure will not argue. I ended up in the operating room. The catheterization took around 1 hour, where the Dr discovered that there was nothing wrong neither with heart nor with arteries. He had to give me an electric shock in order to regulate my heart beats. Since I have a good insurance, the Dr. asked for an echo of the heart.Nothing there too. He then prescribes for me Flecaine and xalerto . I informed the Dr. that I am a smoker and a regular drinker and I go to the gym on daily basis. He said that what happened to me has nothing to do with my life style and that I can continue with my normal life! So I did ! the episodes started coming on a regular basis, almost daily,  stronger and longer ... I decided on my own to stop drinking, smoking and even I went vegetarian. I decided to go for a self-body cleansing. The episodes started to be less and less frequent and much weaker. I also decided that I cannot live to wait for the episodes to come and control my life and that I should definitely go for ablation. I did my own researched and went interviewing many Doctors " electrophysiologists". I finally found the right one, the one that made me feel that I am in the right hands, the one who read well and in the tiny details ALL MY FILE and LIFE, the one who was not in hurry, the one who went and explained in detail what is happening with me and what would be the procedure, the one who is not materialistic .  I decided that I will go with this Dr. and will take my chances. I had the ablation last Wednesday, it took 9 hours, I stayed in total 2 nights at the hospital,  I feel relieved. I am back in control of my life. The Dr . said that he is confident that on the majority of cases I will have no more episodes and in case I would it will be very weak. 

From my experience, my advice is the following : 

1- Don't go for google searches about what you have, it will only make you weaker and you will read about the 0.001 percentages of death and the 5% of failure and you will imagine that this will happen to you. Unfortunately, you will not see the 95% of successes. 

2- Stop all the harm you might be doing to your body (smoking, alcohol, junk food, etc...);

3- Don't wait too long before you take the decision before you go for the ablation, this will only make you weaker physically and emotionally.

4- Shop around for the best available Dr. and ask about his reputation to 3rd parties. Choose a Dr. that will make you feel safe, the Dr. is much important than the hospital. 

You need any other advice or more details, just ask. I wish someone else has shared his experience with me after the ablation, it would have been a relief. 

Thank you 

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