Back to traveling after AFib treatment at Medical City Heart Hospital
Jan Duggins was admitted to Medical City Heart Hospital’s ER while on a long layover in Dallas in 2023. On her way home to McAllen from a trip to Europe, she began feeling unusually fatigued and short of breath.
The ER team quickly identified that Jan had atrial fibrillation (AFib), an irregular heartbeat that can lead to blood clots, stroke and heart failure. She stayed at the hospital for a week as doctors worked to stabilize her heart rate. That’s when she met expert arrythmia specialists at Medical City Heart Hospital.
“From that moment on, the care I received was nothing short of extraordinary,” Jan says. “Dr. Javier Sanchez and Dr. Kamala Tamarisa became my trusted guides through a frightening diagnosis. Their compassion, honesty, and accessibility were unlike anything I’d experienced. I wasn’t just a number to them.”
Over the next two years, Jan worked closely with both doctors through telehealth visits. Benefitting from HCA Healthcare’s extensive system of care, Jan also was treated by a cardiac electrophysiologist in McAllen who collaborated with the specialists at Medical City Heart Hospital to manage her AFib.
She made major lifestyle changes, significantly reducing sodium, caffeine and alcohol from her diet, and exercising regularly. This helped her reduce heart medication dosages and delay the need for a cardiac ablation, a minimally invasive procedure to correct an irregular heart rhythm.
Eventually, Jan’s AFib returned and persisted. So, she returned to the team she trusted in Dallas to have an ablation at Medical City Heart Hospital.
Since the procedure, Jan’s heart rate has been steady. The avid traveler no longer hesitates to board a plane for fear that altitude changes might trigger AFib.
“I had been hesitant to travel by myself. That meant not being able to see family in Denver or go on trips with friends,” Jan says. “I just came back from a trip to the Pacific Northwest, and I didn’t have to worry. I felt great.”
Learn more about AFib and other arrythmia treatment at Medical City Heart Hospital.