Emily and Paul Rice asks questions about the Watchman device while meeting with nurse Jill Knutson.
Dr. Jay Powers watches a transesophageal echo ultrasound of Paul Rice's heart. Powers helped guide doctors Andrew Corsello and Samip Vasaiwala through parts of the Watchman implant procedure.
Dr. Samip Vasaiwala, left, and Dr. Andrew Corsello attend a pre-operation review. Rice has been on a blood thinner medication for years to reduce his risk of stroke but it also make him more susceptible to bleeding profusely when he gets cut. In May, Rice almost died from an internal loss of blood due to issues with his esophagus.
Doctors Corsello, left, and Vasaiwala watch screens that show them the progress of a catheter as Vasaiwala inserts it in Rice's femoral artery. Rice has atrial fibrillation, which causes clots to form in an area of the heart, which puts him at a greatly increased risk of a stroke.
Vasaiwala, left, and nurse Christina Conley, a registered cardiovascular invasive specialist, prepare a Watchman device in an operating room. In May, Rice almost died from an internal loss of blood due to issues with his esophagus. The device in his heart, called Watchman, blocks off the part of the heart where the clots form and will end the need for him to take blood thinner medication.
The deployment and placement of the Watchman device is controlled by a small knob at the end of a catheter.
This fluoroscopic image shows the Watchman device after it was implanted in the left atrium of Paul Rice's heart. The dark part of the image is dye that the team injects through the catheter to test the device's placement.
Jill Knutson, a nurse who is part of the Watchman team at Maine Medical Center, explains aspects of the device to Paul Rice in a conference room at the hospital.
Paul and Emily Rice pose for a portrait in Arrowsic.Paul, 66, was diagnosed with Afib at age 50.
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