Watchman implanted yesterday

All went well. Dr. Natale just did rounds and said that he also did a little touch-up on the coronary sinus. And—drum roll!—he said that I could now go on a half dose of Eliquis and to simply cut the 5 mg pill in half. He decides this on an individual basis though, I believe. This will save a lot of money. TEE in about 6 weeks. Yay!

P.S. My nurse navigator just came in and I asked her why they didn’t do a TEE before the Watchman and she said that he doesn’t routinely do one now as he wants to go in and map and see if anything needs touching up and when he does that he has an intracardiac echo tip on one of the catheters and can check the LAA with that.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/27/2023 11:42AM by Daisy.

Excellent for you, Daisy. You can look forward to a very nice spring and summer.

Well, here is something interesting! 4 days out from my Watchman and touch-up and the elevated HR after my November 2022 ablation suddenly dropped 20 points to a very comfortable 70. It was running 85-95 with spikes up to 130 when just walking across the room. Have others experienced this? He said that he had noted some tachycardia-like runs on my pacemaker report so did 12 minutes touch-up which included some more work on the LAA. Thoughts?

I can't imagine how a Watchman could affect heart rate so I'm sure that's due to the touch-up he did.

I would get 122 hr after my pacemaker implant from just walking to the back rooms of the house. A quick tweak of my pacemaker settings fixed that. Perhaps during the watchman procedure your PM settings were tweaked to lower your HR?

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susan.d
I would get 122 hr after my pacemaker implant from just walking to the back rooms of the house. A quick tweak of my pacemaker settings fixed that. Perhaps during the watchman procedure your PM settings were tweaked to lower your HR?

Nope, my Pacemaker settings remain the same. He said that he addressed the tachy runs in the 12 minute touchup. I was just surprised at how my HR returned to pre-ablation levels as so often rates remain elevated for many months.

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Daisy
I was just surprised at how my HR returned to pre-ablation levels as so often rates remain elevated for many months.

For a full ablation, yes, but maybe not for a small touch-up? I noticed no HR increase at all following my Watchman, which was a lone procedure.

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Carey

I was just surprised at how my HR returned to pre-ablation levels as so often rates remain elevated for many months.

For a full ablation, yes, but maybe not for a small touch-up? I noticed no HR increase at all following my Watchman, which was a lone procedure.

By pre-ablation levels I meant pre November 2022 levels. Before that index ablation my resting HR was 7O. After (until this touch-up changed it) my resting HR was 85 - 95, then the day after the touch-up it was back down to 70. So it looks like some of the work he did in November increased the resting HR and the touch-up work he did 4 days ago restored my resting HR to pre-index ablation levels. So I am just trying to understand the process.

Well, that is kind of strange and I can't explain it.

Ive had my Watchman for 15 months. Dr Natale placed mine 2-16-22. In the 2-3 months following and after my 6 week TEE my rhr went from 68-72 to 60-64 and has remained low. I did change my exercise routine to slightly less weights to more walking & cardio. I walk ea day an hour. So idk. Maybe this lowered my rhr but its lower. Never 45-50-55 but 58-62 yes