In September 2024, I had the Watchman surgery at Mayo Clinic; everything went perfectly. Eventually I was taken off of blood thinners and taking only a baby aspirin. On June 1, 2025, I woke in the morning and could not read my iPhone clock, not get up on my elbow to take a closer look. After two attempts and falling flat on my bed with my world spinning, my husband called 911. I was not paralyzed and could talk, but could not get up as I would fall over immediately. I was seeing double and could not read anything because of my vision and reading comprehension loss. Several CTs and MRIs determined that sometime in the night, I suffered a very rare stroke in the Hippocampus (yes, with a Watchman in place). My doctors at Mayo said this was an extremely rare event, both the location of the stroke and because I had a Watchman in place….the blood clot was very small to reach the inner-most brain tissue, deep within the brain (which is why it bypassed areas of the brain which typically cause paralysis etc). After 2 weeks in the hospital and daily neuro rehab afterwards for almost two months (at home, and then at a Neuro Rehab Center), I am on the path to recovery. The Hippocampus is responsible for knowing where one’s body is in space; short-term memory; and word retention. I’m still dealing with these issues but have improved to 90% or so. My husband jokes and tells me I am where he is with memory and word retention, without him having a stroke. I have progressed from a walker plus gait-belt to walking on my own, but when I’m outside I hold my husband’s arm or hand for better balance….its getting close to normal, but I still feel “off” at times. (I explain that the room is not spinning, but my brain seems to spin inside my head!) If I can eventually get back to walking confidently on my own, I will be happy at where I have ended up. (I have the Watchman implant, which doctors confirmed is seated perfectly in my left atrium, they don’t know how the stroke happened since I have only mild to moderate plaque in my arteries (heart & carotid). I have stopped taking Estrogen therapy < patches> and am back on Elliquis plus a baby aspirin. I see my Mayo Cardiologist this week to determine if I continue with blood thinners, just stop the baby aspirin, or stop the Elliquis as well. My #1 goal is to not have another stroke, so I will do anything to drastically lower my risk. Yes, I am still very happy to have had the Watchman surgery as another preventative measure to guard against future strokes.