Posted , 5 users are following.
Had one of these fitted a couple of days ago.
Couldnt find any mention of them on these forums so wonder if anybody esle has one and how it is with them?
0 likes, 9 replies
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peter01729
Posted
I would also like to know when I should be marking events with the little activator as by the afternoon I have permanent palpitations, should I even bother marking these with my activator or does the implantable loop device record abnormalities anyway and automatically transfer them?
What I am asking is if I do absolutely nothing at all, will my doctor still get to see what my heart is doing during palpitations?
anglia64117 peter01729
Posted
Hi Peter,
I had my loop recorder for almost three years (implanted in 2011) and like you was a little unsure what to expect and what to do. To start, the cardiologists told me it would record whatever my heart did and I knew the cardiologist's office would take a doughnut looking thing, put it around my neck and over the loop recorder to monitor and retrieve any readings for all office visits....Then I was told to place the monitor, given with the loop recorder, and over the loop recorder anytime I felt the heart doing anything not normal such as, racing, skipping beats, pain etc. As time advanced and almost 3 years passed, I started to wonder why the heck I allowed my chest to be cut for this recorder. It looks like a flash drive you insert in your computer to save songs or other info on to later retrieve. Well, when I went into the cardiologist's office as a follow-up on Feb 19, 2014 from my January hospital stay due to fluid on the lungs, then I really was glad to have the recorder. The guy who ran the monitor came to the patent room and ran a monitoring check. Then the guy said something to my Cardiologist who had just reentered the room. The guy and monitoring computer left and my Cardiologist turned towards me to ask if I felt Ok and well enough to drive to the Cardiology and Neurology at the hospital. I felt great so that's what I told him. He said the reason he needed me to go to the hospital was the loop recorder showed me having seven tachycardias from July 2013 to January 27, 2014. He explained that tachycardias were when the heart rate goes 160 and above but if it did this too long (like 1 minute) then it can be fatal. Then he stated my longest tachycardia was 15 seconds. I looked at him and said, "Are you saying 45 seconds saved my life?" and his response was yes. I went straight to the hospital and they had me in a heart cath in 30 minutes. They put in a second stent much longer than my first in 2011. After the cath, my Cardiologist came to my hospital room on the Cardio Ward. He said, " A second stent was inserted but it's not working ". He explained that my ejection fraction was still only 20% {blood flow out of the heart} . He said that tomorrow (Feb. 20th) a pacemaker/defibrillator will be implanted to make the heart function. If it had not been for the loop recorder, then I could have lost my life. Always... Always.. Always take that hand monitor with you "everywhere" you go; ( Yes, even to another room and/ or the bathroom), out to dinner etc. ...everywhere!!! That little device can indicate an emergency....send a msg to the monitoring center asap. They will even call you if they receive a signal of something wrong. I was walking into my job and swiping my security card when my monitor went off; I was thinking it was a battery issue since I had no way to turn it off....the sound was loud. I called the toll free 800 number in the back to see how to turn it off. The monitoring center checked my info and said, "No, we are trying to contact you! "There's something wrong....go to your Cardiologist or closest ER!" NOW....
So "always" have that loop recorder monitor on your person. Oops looks like they saved my life twice!!! Hope the info was helpful and thank you for baring with the journey.....it may save your life. I do hope all is good but at least you know what to do. May God Bless!!!
peter01729 anglia64117
Posted
I wonder though if yours worked differantly to mine?, I think the little thing you carry around with you is just to mark events and emsure they dont get erased from that days recording, ready to be automatically downloaded at night and looked at by somebody the following day.
How is it that yours didnt alert them earlier to your dangerous events?
anglia64117 peter01729
Posted
Hey Peter,
Hope this finds you well and kicking your heels. .now, that would be feeling great! You have to remember that my loop recorder was implanted in 2011with a hand held monitor which I have the larger size now but it's all Medtronic. The reason it didn't pick up the Tachycardias was the monitor was not on my person but carried in the purse. That's why it's important to have it near the body like I did going into the workplace when it were off. If you call the Cardiologist they tell you what's expected of you with the monitor. You don't want to be caught blind and not have your monitor.
I've already had my defibrillator go off and thank God for it.....Most people don realize that yes heart attacks are bad and to know the signs and symptoms but so many don't realize a stroke can happen as well....So just know all the signs and symptoms for both. Just to let you know when in early stages
julie01285 peter01729
Posted
I ,too, feel it is not Revealing what it should, as I am comotosing on injestion daily when relaxed .It is not revealing the effort /dysponea on function & regular muscular spasms ?
When I try to discuss with the the cardiologists they are nowhere to be seen , or contactable to discuss,despite travelling 4-1/2 hrs each way to get there [ London] once a year .It appears to be a unit who are not in the hospital that are doing occasional 6 monthly medical sampling? I have never been followed up or had a plan of action in fact the GPs keep passing me on saying don't deal with the cardio-pulmonary/bowel etc ??!!As for testing by non medical too.So had to change surgery x2 The Reveal Device did Reveal pulmonary hypertension on being put in .I had been asking for investigation re: this ever since the MI cardiac arrest & multi chronic conditions & disability ensuing as a result of policies that do not make sense .What do I get diuretics 3 yrs later which should have been given with acute oedema 3 years prior as chronic from puberty due to hormonal imbalances.It is now lipo-lymphoedema which there is no provision or cure for except in Europe.The NHS attitude to the chronic is unbelievable as that is what most of us have & to let LAs overseee who have mishandled social services shows no hippocratic oaths have been taken.I was told of someone English living in Latvia getting much better treatment [ not heart] so not clogging up the system .When Specialists contracted in part time now GPs this is what happens.If you are solo with disabilities there appears to be discrimination happening & your safety could be at risk.
peter01729
Posted
Well it was in less than a week before I got a telephone call from a cardiologist asking me if I was alright, he had seen the episodes where I had used the little hand device and when I said I didnt feel as bad as the previous weekend where my ECG graph looked like a child had just scribled up and down along the graph, he relied, "thats what I am seeing now", he wants to bring my next appointmemt forward. One day I stayed in bed so had no episodes, I note the machine didnt send anything. On days where I did have slight episodes but didnt mark them with the little devise, I note the machine did still transmit, but dont know if a doctor still looked at the results.
paul37731 peter01729
Posted
I had mine fitted yesterday. The instructions given on use happened as the procedure was being finished so quite confusing and a lot to take in.
The unit is set up now next to my bed. It shows signal, time, date and green tick. I assume it transferred info overnight.
Question i have is i travel a lot each week with overnight hotel stays. Do i leave the unit at home and just take the Attendant key fob with me or do i need to take the whole unit with me?
Many thanks.
peter01729 paul37731
Posted
They tell you the link in your chest only holds three events, but when I had my 12 hour episode of Tachycardia, I was pressing it multiple times, when I got to the hospital, they downloaded direct from my implantable loop and it held so much data that the operator had to go and get another roll of graph paper, it just kept coming out, yards of it.
Other things I find, if it confuses itself so the screen has an orange thing and a red cross, turn it off then back on so it resets itself.
If you had events in the day that you marked, the following afternoon press the button on the big machine, it will tell you the date of last transmission, so if it didnt do it automatically, then you do it manually.
I find my machine very rarely transmits on its own now and so I do it manually when I want them to get the data.
paul37731 peter01729
Posted
Thats really useful information thanks.
I guess like all of us if your doing this all the time the explanations become so routine the importance gets lost. It would have been much better to have gone through it all back in the ward but i guess time is short.
Thanks again