"You're almost out of breath and sometimes when you go into AFIB, you get out of breath and it's like racing. Your heart is just racing."

A variety of non-drug treatments are also available to help control symptoms of atrial fibrillation. They include permanent pacemakers, implantable cardio-defibrillators, surgery and a technique that's now available in Southwest Florida called ablation.

Dr. Cuello explains, "Ablation means destruction of tissue. The origin of atrial fibrillation is in those cells that fire rapidly from the left side. We then identify where those cells are, specifically where and then we burn them."

The ablation procedure is considered minimally invasive and it doesn't require open heart surgery. "Once you eliminate the cells that cause atrial fibrillation, it may be permanently cured," says Dr. Cuello.

Irene's artrial fibrillation took her to the hospital on numerous occasions and even though she was a little nervous of having the ablation procedure performed, she was really looking forward to the end results. "When I heard the word cured. In this day and age, cure is a wonderful, wonderful thing to hear."

Just last month, Irene was the first patient to have this procedure done in the Fort Myers.