Any experiences with Watchman Implant for A-Fib?

I read your description carefully (I believe you are the contributor who described his surgery in great detail) and I. can't tell you how grateful I am for your going to the trouble to do so.

I made notes of what to ask of my surgeon and team (jello or pudding after I come to - NOT a dry sandwich! That was you, right?) and am mentally preparing myself for considerably more pain and discomfort than I had otherwise expected. (To team _- please get LOTS of warm blankets ready post surgically!! Catheter too owing to my urge incontinence and other urinary issues neurologically based.)

What I'm wondering is how different is my experience apt to be if I go to a local surgeon as opposed to the Cleveland Clinic which is a four hour drive - thinking more safety and consideration. Heart surgery IS heart surgery and besides there are several steps of surgery, right - even if the first device tried is. a good fit.

Thank you again for you help to your fellow patients! A. good deed.

First...as I understand it, only doctors that have been certified can put in a Watchman. If your local area has a doctor who is certified, then I see no problem. The procedure is done in a cath lad. After the procedure, you will go to a recovery room and then spend one night in the hospital. The first procedure that failed, I had very little pain after the surgery. The second procedure went very well however, they had some issues closing the vein when they took out the cath and had to use a device to close it up. That was very painfull. I had a lot of pain afterwards. I was very sore for weeks. Second, on the successful procedure, they used both sides of the groin. Instead of doing a normal TEE during surgery, they used the left groin with a cath. When you arre prepped, they will shave both sides of the groin.
What I wanted most after coming out of surgery was something cold to drink. Once in your hospital room they will come in very often to check the site for bleeding. My second surgery, I had some super nurses. All were very nice to me. Can't say much good about hospital food. After surgery you will spend a lot of time lying flat on your back......something I don't like doing, but it is necessary.
If you are taking any meds, I would bring them with you. They messed up on my meds both times. Some hospitals will allow you to bring your own meds so please ask if that is OK.
It is normal to be nervous about any surgery. but these Watchman procedures are really easy. You should have no problems. You will be asleep during the procedure. Remember, these people are all professionals and do this all the time. If I can be of any more help. please feel free to ask. One just can't get too much information when it comes to their health. Good luck with your procedure. Let us know how it went.

I just got off the phone with my son, and we were mostly discussing this procedure and the info I was collecting about the experience itself - your info in particular. Now you've given me even more to psych myself up for! Thank you. As I recall your first op didn't succeed because the device didn't fit (and you had to wait for new sizes to come out?).

It's both good and bad that we're having these things done when we are. The very first patients were kind of guinea pigs if only because the surgeons were new at it. Now they're better, especially the ones who specialize (just found one an hour away). I HAD hoped the Cleveland Clinic docs and staff might have a more fine-tuned way of attending to patient comfort to the extent possible, even if it isn't a 5 star hotel! Plenty of warm blankets post-op if needing them then is expectable, seems like a basic.

The pain (inevitable and possibly extra if one's situation leads to it) is more daunting than when I just went by the la-de-da version presented on the Watchman web page, but at least I don't have to worry about embarrassing erections LOL! (Ha, I remembered). The insertion of the catheter in the femoral vein (possibly both sides - hope not!) , the post op cold, the nudity, and urinary retention - considering my special problems - are not pleasant prospects. I'll ask for accommodations in advance, though, thanks to your advice (THE WARM BLANKETS. especially. Also, catheters.)

Still wondering about the Cleveland Clinic especially as the more I think about it, the more I think my cardiologist is (however nice) sub-par, and that I need a thorough cardiac work up. My sibs and I inherited cardiac problems (I thought until recently, it was almost exclusively a lipid disorder), but as we age I am identifying more areas in need of supervision. One of my two brothers died suddenly in his sleep a year ago, and that certainly gave both survivors food for thought about our self-care including the best possible cardiologists. My brother's in a good area (Sarasota FL) but my rural PA area is definitely "medically underserved" . I think it would be a good idea to have a better going over heart-wise. even though the other certified surgeons would probably get me through alive. I had a 9 hour spinal surgery six years ago, and I decided to go with the head of the spinal clinic at the NY Hospital for Special Surgery - supposedly the best orthopedic hospital in the nation. (That was after eight consults!). He made rather a hash of it (looking into revision surgery elsewhere), so I know the biggest names aren't necessarily a guarantee of the best results.

May I ask where you had your Watchman implanted? My son thought you must have had an especially bad experience perhaps owing to where you went, but I said I had the feeling you were just "telling it like it was", not that it was unusually rough treatment. (Just remembered another thing I need to check out thoroughly - insurance. You DID say the cost of the failed first op had cost ~$176K and still counting? I may be mixing up replies on CONNECT. I have Medicare + Medigap Plan F (no longer available) but I'd better dot my I's and cross my T's there too.

Many thanks again for your kind efforts to prepare me. Somehow I'm getting almost as psyched up to it, as before the spinal operation though the frequency of serious side effects from that are known to be much greater. (I believe about 300,000 patients have acquired Watchmen, with a total of ~300 deaths resulting.).

Sorry all for going on so! Perhaps I took your invitation too literally.

Was happy to read your reply to my reply.....lol. I had my second Watchman done at TCAI in Austin Texas by Dr Horton. This doctor was in on the ground floor of starting the Watchman procedures and is VERY good at what he does. He has patients come in from all around the world to get their procedure done by him. He has several other doctors who do the same work. The day I had my procedure, the lady ahead of me came in from WI and another patient was from HI. Both flew in just to have their procedures done at TCAI. Google TCAI and it will direct you to their website. I live about 90 miles from Austin. Drove in the morning of my procedure, and came home next day. So travel was not an issue for me. I for one, do not get concerned about traveling when it comes to my medical I go with the doctor/hospital that I feel is best for me. My wife was allowed to stay in my room all night on a couch.
For insurance, I am on Medicare and Tricare for Life (retired military) and between the two, I had NO co-payments.
I agree with you about the Watchman website....it is not all that good and does not give that much usefull information. I did a lot of research on this and read many articles from different websites and hospitals trying to get as much info as I could. It looks like you are ready to get this done. Go for it. I can not vouch for the clinic you are taling about as I know nothing about them other that the internet.
My best advice: Once you decide to get the Watchman and select where/who is going to do the procedure, go for it. Do not try to second guess yourself. It sounds like you are mentally prepared for this and you should be fine. At any time, if you do have a question, call your medical team and ask. And always remember, YOU ARE IN CHARGE! Once the Watchman is in place, you will not feel it at all, Give yourself plenty of time to heal, do not rush recovery. Best of luck.

Debating whether to travel four hours to Cleveland for the Watchman procedure (there's a surgeon nearer but my son and I would prefer theCleveland CLinic as I really need a total quality cardiac work-up - my home area is medically sub-par overall.

However, I wonder how many trips to the treating surgeon and facility would apt to be involved in having this procedure (not counting the annual post-up check-ups). It's sounding like at least 1/2 dozen even without complications.

I should add that his father recently died of a cardio-vascular issue, and my sons are especially worried about me now - saying "we don't want to lose our only remaining parent." However, they live far from me (the one who's pressing me to the Cleveland Clinic is in SF while I'm in Central PA), and can't fly here to help to drive me for procedures and check-ups more than a few times. - and it would be quite a hardship to drive myself to and from Cleveland. I'm not even sure I could manage it.

Can anyone help me, please?

Yo.u will need to do a TEE before the procedure. This will take about one hour or less. For the procedure itself, if you do the Cleveland Clinic, I would suggest you go the day before the procedure and stay a night in a motel then go to the clinic the morning of the procedure (that is what I did for my first procedure). The Watchman procedure itself will take about one hour to do. I had to report to the hospital at 7 am.Once the Watchman is in, you will spend about 2 hours in the recovery area. You will be flat on your back the whole time and not allowed to move your leg. Then you will spend the night in a regular hospital room. The next morning, they will remove the bandage and replace it with a clean one and send you home. You will have to have someone drive you home as you will not be allowed to drive. If you are four hours away from home, you will need to do several "rest" breaks on the way home to get out and move around a little bit.
You will have to do another TEE at some point after the procedure to see how you a re healing. After that, if all went well, you will be done. I am not sure what your doctors will want to do before the first TEE as to what test they want to do. They might want to do a stress test on the treadmill and some x-rays. It's a bummer you are so far away from the clinic.
For both TEE's, you will need someone to drive after the test.
I will also add, when you get the procedure done, take a good robe with you as you will be required to get up and do some walking at some point. A good robe is a lot better than wearing two hospital gowns.

Thank you again, @phoenix1647 As I read through your prompt reply, it seems to yield the same six visits I got counted after talking to a nurse at the nearby (an hour) surgeon's office: 1). consult 2) testing 3) TEE 4) Watchman procedure 5) TEE either right before or. after the procedure to make sure there are no clots 6) some kind of check-up after ~45 days to ensure the device has been sealed in by new cardiac tissue .

Of course, that presumes no complications or need for additional testing.

As I said before, that's not even counting post-op check-ups (6 months, after one year and thereafter annually.)
Distance is a super major problem for me for out of town procedures (and for anything remotely complex that's necessary) . I've traveled three hours driving alone (not counting anything where I've had anesthesia). If I can't make it alone, I need to pay for travel expenses (airfare, taxis, hotels and possibly hiring drivers). And as a singleton, I also need post-op help for recuperation (unless I can go to a rehab center.).

That major spinal operation (9 hours) involved numerous trips before and after the actual surgery and the auxiliary expenses mentioned above added up to a LOT even though insurance covered all the actual medical part. (As I said, I had 8 consults to choose the surgeon as the operation is so dangerous.
That was about the same distance from home (NYC). The older I get, the harder it becomes to travel to another location. After all, my only problem isn't. AFIB.

I. certainly regret moving to this location because of the lack of quality medical care. At least, one son has been there for every surgery (the surgery itself) but one - knee joint replacement. -. I managed that entirely alone.

I suspected the Cleveland Clinic would be hard for me and now I'm thinking it's probably not going to happen because of all the visits required. I see there are three specialists there who perform the Watchman and even though their reviews were stellar, all patients commented on having had to wait a LONG time to see the surgeon. Three months on average - and even the local surgeon can't fit me in for two months for the consult. Meanwhile (confession), I've stopped taking Xarelto owing to fear of the other disease which is aggravated by oral anticoagulants.

Specifically, I was recently diagnosed with "wet" macular degeneration, an incurable blinding eye disease.. It involves. small, fragile capillaries growing into the retina and leaking - the blood scars your macula and destroys your central vision bit by bit. Naturally, I don't want to accelerate this process by taking a blood thinner which effectively turns me into a hemophiliac! FWIW. all this research has been done on my own.

What fun - choose between a stroke or blindness (and besides, strokes themselves often lead to blindness)! But oral blood thinners carry risks too, besides which they can make hemorrhagic strokes immediately deadly - extra likely for anyone like me who's a fall risk. (Thank YOU - sarcasm - spinal surgeon!). Besides, other things can lead to ischemic strokes (AFIB is behind only ~ 15%), and apart from my age (75) and gender, I'm pretty OK in those regards: normal BP, weight and regular aerobic exercise.
Aging is NO FUN especially when you can't count on decent medical care to soften the blows!

Sounds like you are between a rock and a hard place. Not sure I have a solution to your situation. Perhaps a friend or neighbor can do the driving for you. I am fortunate in that I have a neighbor that would do that for me without question. My wife still drives so it is no issue for me. Not sure if Medicare would provide transportation or not, worth checking. Last resort is you will have to pay someone to drive you there and back. No easy solutions.
Yes....just getting in to see the doctors is a big issue too. Maybe they can schedule all the test for one day. It is possible. Would be a very long, hard day for sure. You might be able to do the TEE in your area and have them send the results to Cleveland Clinic. Getting the Watchman put in is fairly routine, it's all the before and after stuff that makes this so difficult. My 6 month follow up was done be phone. So will my one year follow up unless I have some problems (which I don't).
Hope things works out for you.

Thank you so much again, Phoenix! @phoenix1647

Unfortunately I've become very isolated in the years I've been here. As for neighbors, there are few remaining from when I came, the present ones are strangers. My limited social circle, is rooted in my sons' serious problems beginning in early childhood - first the one, then domino effect - the other. And it lasted a long time.

At least, they have grown up in that they're now loving, appreciative, and remorseful for past pain. Also, worried. (about me). Just got off a ZOOM call for my birthday - (they waited until midnight). Then tomorrow, we'll get together again between the older one's ambulance calls. I have a mountain of gifts to open.

Yes, I've had to hire drivers to John Hopkins. There used to be a volunteer driver service through the Office of Aging but they dropped it because of expense. With the exploding price of gas, it's. all the more daunting. A. great many people here die prematurely because of being unable to access competent doctors and services. It's really awful. None of the big wheels - professors (it's a uni town), lawyers, dentists, and - of course - doctors - go out of town for their own care.

It cheered me to hear one of your TEE check-ups was electronic. As for the tests, I've been ASSUMING I'd have all the tests in one day. How many are there anyhow - individualized I'm sure, but on average?? If I had to I'd just stay in a hotel hoping they'd at least not take more than two days (and that they could be lined up).

The real question, is whether it's worth it to go to the Cleveland Clinic instead of the surgeon "only" an hour away.

Both jof my TEE's were done in hospital. My follow ups after the last TEE was by phone.
I would call the doctors office and see if they can get you scheduled for a complete heart check. For me, my doctored ordered a treadmll, Necular Medicine test, ECG, blood tests. I did the Nculear, ECG and blood test all on the same day. Did the treadmill a week later. After those, I got approved for the Watchman and was scheduled for my first TEE to see what shape my heart was in and if there wes anything in there to preent putting in the Watchman. A few weeks after the TEE, I was scheduled for my first Watchman attempt. That one failed, and I got a referral to Dr. Horton. My cardiologist sent a copy of my TEE and all other tests to him so I would not have to do them again. Two weeks later, I had the Watchman put in. Went back for my post-procedure TEE (took a little over two hours to get all done). My 6 month follow up was done by phone.
If you are able to do so, I would go to the Cleveland Clinic. If it works out all in one day that would be great but would expect two days in a motel. The Clinic can work with you on scheduling. Just let them know of your situation with traveling and such, I am sure they will do all they can. Getting in for the initial visit will be the biggest job. All this is not going to be a one day deal. It will take some time so be prepared for that.
Have your doctor send all their info to the doctor at Cleveland Clinin, that should save a few weeks.
I would start with contacting the Cleveland Clinic and try to get things started. Ask them what you need to do to get this going.