Dr Matthew Ginks 2019-12-09 Person 5 5 0

I had probably been suffering from arrhythmia for quite a long time before I realised that it was making an impact on my life at 67 years, but wanting to be as active as a fifty year old. In contrast to an earlier experience elsewhere, Dr Ginks took a very different approach, empathetic and one of listening and understanding of my ambition to reinstate the active life I had previously valued. Straightforward explanations and illustrations followed and questions answered: it was easy to be led through the process, building confidence that the proposed treatment could be successful and that I would ultimately be able to regain the same levels of fitness of a few years previously as I had enjoyed before. A cardioversion was performed and demonstrated quite quickly that a normal heart rhythm could be reinstated. But it was short-lived and I reverted to AF. This did, however, indicate that a catheter ablation could well work for me and having worked through the risks and the procedure, I committed to undertake the operation. Great outcome: I have maintained sinus rhythm since the ablation and my AF symptoms, specifically breathlessness when taking any strenuous exercise, seem to be a thing of the past. I hesitated to write too quickly – in the immediate aftermath it all seemed a bit too good to believe, but six months down the line, I can say that I feel great and ready for a Munro! My thanks to the whole team at the Radcliffe – but above all to Dr Ginks for his encouragement and ability to build confidence in the treatment he recommended.