Pacemaker Monitoring

[CDreamer]

Just an update - and thanks to @Fantasyfanuk for the advice!

My PM is now monitored via an app on my smartphone so no need to go into the hospital providing all the data is satisfactory of course. I am blown away by the inventiveness and the technology and that it was such an easy process. To anyone concerned about PM checks being postponed or cancelled, don’t be. It seems as though C-19 has some positive spin offs!

The only tedious bit was being on hold for 35 mins to get to talk to an operator but the clinic warned me about that and it was a free phone number so no cost.

[jeanjeannie50]

Technology certainly is amazing!!

[Crystalbowl]

Hello CDreamer. Is this an app anyone can use to monitor their PM? I would be interested if it is.

[CDreamer in reply to Crystalbowl]

No - it’s very specific to your make of PM - mine’s Medtronic RST type. Your clinic needs to be signed up to the programme as it downloads to your phone, then transmits data to your clinic, you get a confirmation that all the data transferred. You don’t see the data but you can track BP, weight, exercise etc on the app.

[Crystalbowl in reply to CDreamer]

Thank you, CDreamer. I thought it would be specific to the PM but thought it worth asking. Mine is a Boston Scientific CRT. I have a box with a dongle by my bed which monitors the PM and from which checks can be carried out by someone at the hospital and any adjustments made if necessary so I suppose that is the equivalent to your app but it doesn't allow me to track BP, weight, exercise, etc. although I do have another app on my smartphone which does that if I want. I can also track BP and weight on the MYGP app from my surgery.

[Coco51]

Thanks for sharing this. I will check online to see if mine can be monitored remotely. Mine is Biotronik but I haven't had this option offered. Just a June appointment for a PM check postponed till September. But they will see me straight away if I am an "emergency". I am a bit worried that the same will happen in September.

[Sunny-fl]

Do you know if your new monitoring is the same as the Medtronic CareLink?

[CDreamer in reply to Sunny-fl]

Yes, that sounds similar MCLHeart

[Vonnieruth]

Hope all is going well for you know

[opal11uk]

Can you tell me more please , I have a dual wire Medtronic 2 wire and this would be great, although I only go for check up once a year.

[CDreamer in reply to opal11uk]

My PM clinic wrote to me about a week before my due check-up offering me the opportunity to sign up. The manufacturer developed the App but the clinic that you use must sign up to the programme. That’s really all I can tell you, I didn’t initiate anything, the clinic did so perhaps they are the best people to contact. I gather this is all quite new but I can see it developing as the future of monitoring.

[Hidden]

Nothing really all that new. From 2007-2010 my mother in law would call in to a monitoring service from her landline. She held the phone up to the pacemaker and the information would be transmitted. Her doctor's office got the information and called her within hours. If she needed a change in pacing the rep from the company came to her home with a laptop and made the changes.

She also had CHF and had to weigh herself daily. The scale was connected to her landline as well and any change in weight was reported to the doctor.

And please don't tell me it was connected to the internet - she did not have internet, nor a cell phone, EVER.

The pacemaker never went off until the day she died. It tried to shock her back and ran out of battery in the process. She was found unconscious on her front lawn and pronounced dead at the hospital. Sadly, according to the doctor it was a painful death. The grimace on her face and her hands clutching at her chest told the tale.

[CDreamer in reply to Hidden]

So sorry to hear that. I have heard that the shock from an implantable cardiac unit which can shock the heart is a very painful experience but it can also save lives.

Mine is just a standard pacemaker. I know that monitors which were compatible with land lines have been around for a long time and know a few people who have had them.

The technology I am describing does not involve having any physical monitor in the house which is why I found it so amazing. Although this technology has also been around for a while, I believe there has been a resistance to using it possibly from clinics, as with many things new. I believe that current concerns about bringing people into hospital for regular checks has accelerated the roll out of this facility.

I posted originally in response to quite a few posts expressing concern about needing to go into hospital for annual checks and having their appointments cancelled.

[Hidden in reply to CDreamer]

Yes, she had an ICD/Pacemaker. It paced her heart as well as having a built in Cardiac defribrillator. Nasty way to go! Her internist was furious that the cardiologist put it in. He was not consulted.

Her heart function was so poor to begin with. He stressed to my wife that it would have been kinder to just let her slip away during sleep with a fatal arrhythmia.

He listed the ICD as a cause of death. He said neither the cardiologist nor Medtronic should have gotten away with implanting it because she definitely was not a candidate with 20% heart function. Just a play for more $$$$$.

We found out later the cardiologist had 5 successful medical malpractice suits against him. My wife could not find a lawyer to take the case because her mother was always a stay at home mom, and as such had no economic value that they could claim.