Opening Video from Get in Rhythm. Stay in Rhythm.™ Atrial Fibrillation Patient Conference — Mellanie True Hills
December 10, 2013
In this opening video of the Get in Rhythm. Stay in Rhythm.TM Atrial Fibrillation Patient Conference, StopAfib.org Founder Mellanie True Hills provides an overview of the day. Video watching time is approximately 6 minutes.
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Knowing how important this information would be to those living with atrial fibrillation, we committed to do a two-camera video shoot of the entire conference—a very expensive undertaking—in hopes that you, the afib community, will be willing to help us defray those costs through a donation (instead of us charging you for these videos, which many of you said you were willing to pay for). You can make a secure tax-deductible donation here, or click on the red Donate Now button.
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Video Transcript:
Mellanie: Good morning. It’s great to see so many bright faces here this morning, and I am just absolutely thrilled that we’ve had the opportunity to bring the afib patient community together this morning. Welcome to the Get in Rhythm. Stay in Rhythm.™ Atrial Fibrillation Patient Conference. I’m Mellanie True Hills, I’m the founder and CEO of StopAfib.org, and an atrial fibrillation patient and survivor. Once I was afib free from a procedure, I couldn’t stand on the sidelines and watch other people suffer. I started StopAfib.org to help those living with this difficult condition, and to help people get their lives back. Today, I have been afib free for eight years, one month, and twenty days. Thank you.
Our goal today is to help you find your personal solution and find a way to keep your afib under control and maybe even find a way to be afib free. We want you to find a way to get in rhythm and stay in rhythm. We’ve assembled an amazing panel of speakers today. Our hope is that we will educate you, and we will provide you with information that will help you to manage your afib. We hope that this will be the first of many such events.
[2:03] Here is what we are going to cover today. This is an overview of the schedule. Let me let you know that it is the first page inside of your program book, and it is also the back of your program book. It is there for easy reference wherever you are in making your notes. After my welcome this morning, we’ll hear from Dr. Shapira who will provide us with an overview of afib and why it is a problem, and that will be followed by a brief Q&A session. Then, Dr. Prystowsky will talk about treating afib with medications and avoiding strokes. That will also be followed by a Q&A. Then, Dr. Kowal and I will talk about what doctors you should see and how to communicate with them. Then, I will talk about living with afib. Then, we will go into a break. After a 30-minute break, we’ll talk about treating afib with procedures. We will have presentations on catheter ablation from three electrophysiologists: Dr. Rizvi on radiofrequency catheter ablation, Dr. Franklin on cryoballoon ablation, and Dr. Kowal on some of the new ablation procedures such as FIRM and laser balloon, and also on left atrial appendage procedures. Then, we’ll talk about surgery. Dr. Brinkman will talk about the various surgeries for afib and include left atrial appendage procedures that surgeons do. We’ll have a Q&A with the panelists, and we’ll close at about 12:45.
The exhibits will be available for you at the break, as well as during the 15 minutes after we close the program so you’ll have an opportunity to visit with our sponsors. So, following the agenda in your packet, in your program book, we have ads from our presenting sponsors and as well as our industry sponsors and others. Let me recognize, at this point, those who have made this event possible. Our presenting sponsors are the Baylor Heart and Vascular Services at Dallas and the Heart Hospital Baylor Plano. We have industry sponsors: Boehringer Ingelheim, Sanofi, and Medtronic. We have an official mineral water sponsor, Gerolsteiner, and you have bottles of Gerolsteiner mineral water on your tables.
So, let me mention that we’re videotaping today’s program, and we have a video producer that will be editing as we go. When we start and end each presentation, I will hold up for a few seconds to allow them to stop the video, save it, and start the next video. There may be a few seconds pause between each presentation. We appreciate your patience with that. This will allow you to watch the entire program on the internet so that you can share it with family and friends and get things that you may have not gotten completely in your notes as you go through this morning.
Some logistical items: First feel free to move around, get some water, go to the restrooms. Restrooms are across the hall from the main entrance. There are also some out the side doors and to your left. So with that, let’s move on to our first presenter, and I am going to stop for a few seconds.