Just out of curiosity, is this really a problem for you? I've had blood tests regularly (supposed to be monthly, but I've been stable for a long time and tend to space them out) since 1987 or '88. The needles still slide right in. I've heard stories about the scarring, but I dismissed them as needlephobia. Maybe I've just been lucky.

Earlier this year I went though the cardioversion with the TEE procedure and had to take coumadin/warfarin/rat poison for a couple of weeks prior and after, but the blood was taken by a small prick on my finger and put on a slide which was put into a device which gave an instant result.

I had my first A-fib experience about 15 years ago and for about 10 years I had one per year which lasted about 12 hours. They have become more frequent in the past couple of years, but typically last <24 hours. I can't take any of the "ol" or "il" drugs as they reduce heart rate and my normal resting is 41-45.
I thought the causes of the "attacks" were vodka-related, but I stopped drinking that and still get them. My cardiologist told me last week that there is a new drug to control A-fib, which does not require a hospital stay as tecosyn(sp?) does. I don't remember its name. I am choosing not to take it, nor to have ablation, but to make sure I am adequately hydrated. It's frustrating to have A-fib, but it should not be ignored because of the risk of clots forming.

I ynderstand that Medicare will pay for that machine. When I was taking Coumadin, the cardiologist would just use a drop of blood as you explained. Of course, all that is behind me now - I hope!!

Good to hear about the Maze. My cardiologist has mentioned it, but I really don't have much trouble from the fib and it's not worth the risk of cracking me open unless there's some other reason to be in there.
FWIW, I also had a valve problem, with the mitral. Never gave me single symptom; they found it while they were looking around for whatever caused the fib. It's not serious enough to fix, either, unless my symptoms get much worse, but they suspect there's some relarionship among that, genetics (mom spent 20 years in fib, and my brother went into it at 44) and 15 years of pretty serious running.