@dnvrFox
I'm glad you did your research and learned some on your own about the alternatives relating to your situation. One thing to keep in mind though, is that there is alot of controversy regarding Afib. The big question is whether to convert you to normal sinus rythym or to keep you as symptom free as possible and retain you in Afib (To convert or not to convert, that's the question). Ablation is what is considered a conversion technique. Some doctor's prefer not to convert for many reasons and i'll quote you a very minor portion of some text to back up their reasoning:
"COMPLICATIONS — The potential risks and benefits of the procedure, as well as alternative treatment strategies, should be discussed in detail with the patient prior to proceeding (show table 3). Patients must be aware that there is a small risk of heart block requiring a pacemaker as well as emergency cardiac surgery, stroke, and death related to the procedure.
Incidence — In a report of 1050 patients who underwent catheter ablation using a temperature controlled system, a major complication occurred in 3 percent and a minor complication in 8.2 percent [50].
Those complications include the following : Death (0.1 to 0.3%), heart block requiring pacemake (1-2%), complications like bleeding, infection (2-4%), cardiac trauma including valve damage (1-2%), pulmunary hypertension due to stenosis and last to mention, radiation exposure.
So besides costs, there are other risks and considerations before trying to 'convert' a patient. The cost of not converting a patient is high as well so i'm not soo sure that would be the final determinant.
I'm glad it was successful for you and that you found the option. I'm sorry your doctor may have seemed to brush you off when making this choice but he could have been avoiding the option for other reasons.