Any experiences with Watchman Implant for A-Fib?

It doesn’t mean they won’t do it, it simply means they won’t do it till they dissolve the blood clot with a special medication. Because of several blood problems, I’ve made 4 blood clots over the last year, one nearly killed me when it went threw my heart and lodged in my right lung triggering what’s call a pulmonary embolism. That’s a very, very serious and life threatening situation.

So with you having a blood clot, it’s probably stuck somewhere in your body. So your doctors won’t do anything to dislodge the clot but try to dissolve it before it damages your heart, lungs or brain. You’re a very, very lucky person that they discovery it before it possibly could have killed you. Good luck. @becky1024

Hi-- Brand new to this group (today!) and trying to navigate. I'm an 83 yo techno-nerd. I have heart failure and was recently told, VIA echo, that I have leaking heart valves. Further TEE shows I have a heart blood clot, so no operating procedures can be performed. I'm very confused. Can anyone help me sort this all out?

I was to have a watchman device implanted on Dec 22.2020. The procedure was a failure in that out of 3 devices, none would seal off the opening. Very disappointed in this. Surgeon said the rep from the makers told him they are coming out with newer devices that will be more flexable sometime in Feb, Mar, Apr timeframe. I am on the list to get one of those. The procedure itself was full of surprises for me. Please make sure you know what is going to happen in your procedure.

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.

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 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!

I was to have a watchman device implanted on Dec 22.2020. The procedure was a failure in that out of 3 devices, none would seal off the opening. Very disappointed in this. Surgeon said the rep from the makers told him they are coming out with newer devices that will be more flexable sometime in Feb, Mar, Apr timeframe. I am on the list to get one of those. The procedure itself was full of surprises for me. Please make sure you know what is going to happen in your procedure.

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?

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.

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.