Dr. Natale just came by to give me a brief report. He said that he needed to do a fairly aggressive ablation (he had warned me of this in the telemedicine appointment). As well as working in other areas, he said the he had to isolate the LAA as it was one of the sources of my arrhythmias. He pointed to the monitor showing NSR saying “aren’t you glad of that?” I certainly am — it feels blissful calm after going into Afib daily for some time.

I’ll learn more tomorrow when he does rounds, but it looks likely that I will be joining the Watchman club!

Wonderful to hear, Daisy! I'm sure there will be bumps in the road over the next few weeks, but doesn't NSR feel wonderful?

This is good news, and I'm happy you feel good about it. May the healing continue.

Great news, Daisy! So happy to hear it. As Carey says, there may be a few ups and downs. But mostly ups, I'm sure.

--Lance

Yes, Daisy, very good news! FWIW, Dr. Natale had to cardiovert me twice when he was isolating my LAA back in 2016. The Watchman club isn't a bad gang of reprobates and it's great to be on nothing more than a baby aspirin every other day.

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JayBros
Yes, Daisy, very good news! FWIW, Dr. Natale had to cardiovert me twice when he was isolating my LAA back in 2016. The Watchman club isn't a bad gang of reprobates and it's great to be on nothing more than a baby aspirin every other day.

Wow, cardioversion during an ablation —how do they do that—the regular way with pads or internally? Question for the watchmen club: do you wait to reduce or eliminate your anticoagulant until after the three month TEE green light, or can you do it right after the Watchman procedure? I am trying to choose a part D plan for next year and would like to be able to figure in how many months approximately I will need to pay for the full dose of Eliquis. I’d guess you need to wait until after the three month TEE. By the way, they are reading my pacemaker remotely every couple of weeks and while I had a few short arrhythmias in the first four days after the ablation, I have had nothing in the last two weeks.

The cardioversion is done externally.

No, you cannot stop the anticoagulant after the implant. The protocol is anticoagulant PLUS aspirin or clopidogrel for 6 weeks. At 6 weeks they'll do a TEE to verify that the Watchman is properly seated and leak free. If it is leak free, the FDA protocol is to stop the anticoagulant and remain on aspirin for life, but Natale prefers 1/2 dose Eliquis to aspirin for most people. However, it's common practice in Europe to stop everything after the 6-week TEE. It will be your choice.