Hi Cindy!
Great news on the smooth Watchman procedure!! I'm very happy for you.
Sounds like a big success to me if there are no leaks at all right after installation it usually stays that way.
I am set for my confirmation TEE for my Lariat two weeks from today on Monday Sept 23 at CPMC in San Fran with learning the final verdict the next day in my meeting with Dr Natale.... And yes he is a genius in this field without question and so many of us are very fortunate to have hooked our stars to his.
Regarding the clerical error in reporting that you had been taking Amiodrrone right up to the day of your second procedure is surprising! I believe that was at the San Fran office right? That rarely happens as both Austin and San Fran are very well oiled machines these days, but when ever many human beings are involved in a process, even someone in an experienced team can drop the ball on occasion.
As Dr Natale indicated, being on Amio right up to the ablation day could have suppressed some of the weaker trigger points such that he may not have been able to zap them all during that procedure as he normally would have had you been off Amio for at least 3 months before the ablation. Amioderone has a Very long half life and that is why ablationist are reluctant to do ablations unless it is fully cleared out of the system. Still, you already had an LAA isolation ablation and so even if there is still one remaining trigger that pops up from time to time, as long as it self converts and is not too frequent or too much of a nuisance you could either try to keep it quiet with the nutrient protocols or a milder AAR drug for a while or let Dr Z go back in for a 'quicky' to nail it all down for good.
I do want you to understand that unlike the Lariat Procedure, the Watchman does not provide full electrical isolation of the LAA, so it will not, by itself, prevent an AFIB or Flutter originating from the LAA from happening. However, since you already had an LAA isolation the odds are high that this is a moot point anyway and its far more likely that if you should ever need a touch up that it would be from someplace else in the Left atrium such as the Coronary Sinus perhaps, and that Dr N could easily finish off with a relatively quick and straight forward second touch up and third ablation overall.
In any event, you may well be finished now as it is and Im sending out best wishes that this is so. But one thing is for sure after your 45day confirmation that you can stop Coumadin and you will never have to go on those blood thinners again to prevent an AFIB related stroke, no matter what else happens!
Take care Cindy and keep us posted!
Shannon
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/10/2013 01:48PM by Shannon.