Post Wolf Minimaze - 11 days - I am off Eliquis for life since my surgeon Dr. Randall Wolfe at Houston Methodist Hospital clipped my Left Atrial Appendage. The LAA is where blood pools during afib and can cause a stroke. What a relief to have this done. I am currently AFIB free since 2/21/20 and was taking Eliquis, Metoprolol 12.5, and Rhythmol 225. This cocktail has worked well for me. I did have a cryoablation in July 2018. The EP couldn't complete the procedure due to my heart block and I had to be paced about 5 minutes until my ticked off heart decided to beat again. The cryoablation probably has helped reduce the number of episodes.
The Wolf Minimaze is an amazing procedure and I am feeling so good post surgery.I am still on meds mentioned above during the healing process for the next month.
Written by
ArkyGirl
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That's really good news to hear. Please report back here every few months to give us all your positive feedback.
Jean
It’s not a procedure (operation) we hear much about in the UK but after a great deal of (excuse the pun) heart searching, Bambi65 had it done earlier this year and seems highly delighted with the outcome. If you are not aware, click on her name or search for her under “members” and you will be able to read all her recent contributions which I think you will find encouraging……all the best
Arkygirl, are you from outside Texas? Arkansas? Did your health insurance pay quite a bit? Dr. Wolf's secretary told me the operation is around $146,000 without insurance. Did you have any trouble getting your insurance to cover these 2 procedure codes, if you used insurance? Would love to know how you set up this surgery since I'm looking into it now. Any insight from start to finish would be greatly appreciated. I'm from out of state, and have had trouble in the past getting my insurance to approve it since I've only been on PIP, with no ablations. They want you to try meds, then ablation first in my case. Hope to see you elaborate on your experience!
We could ask our PM for the money. If he regards £250,00 as peanuts, he wouldn't mind paying out $140,000 which to him is half a peanut. Regards, Maxim.
Hello, most insurances pay for the mini maze and Medicare certainly does. Some advantage plans do not allow you to travel out of state and some have been changing insurances during the open enrollment time to one that has Dr Wolf in network. You would set up a virtual interview with Dr Wolf to determine if you would be a candidate but there are very few reasons one would not qualify.
I'm from Illinois unfortunately, and my Bluecross Blue Shield HMO has been fighting me wanting me to try everything else prior to covering the mini-maze procedure. I don't understand why they don't want a patient to attempt a possible cure first. Guess I'll have to May for open enrollment to attempt to find a plan Dr. Wolf accepts.
Thank you for your posting. Prior to the LAAO procedure, were you aprised in detail of the four main types of 'umbrella' - Watchman, Amplatzer, Minimaze, Atriclip? Advantages/Disadvantages? May I ask where you had your procedure done - Oxford, Birmingham?
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