Home monitor

[Billiewizz]

I have a CRTD implanted last August. I am going to be given a home monitor. Does anyone know what it actually does? What does it measure? Grateful for any advice.

[17Nevil]

Hi

It just sits there in the corner and you don't realise it is doing anything but it is registering everything that your heart does and shows any irregularities and they can download it at the hospital every day . If at any time you feel bad you can sit in front of it and press a button on it and it will register what is going on you then phone them and ask them to check it and if there is anything wrong they will ring you back

[Billiewizz in reply to 17Nevil]

Many thanks. Do you take it with you if you go away overnight?

[Alison_L in reply to Billiewizz]

Hi Billiewizz. I don't take mine away with me. It's your CRTD that does any work. The monitor is just that, a monitor. If you're worried, you can download to it when you get home. Mine lives in my sitting room. I have no idea how often the hospital connnects with it, so I download about once a week.

[Billiewizz in reply to Alison_L]

Thanks 😊

[not2worry in reply to Billiewizz]

If we travel to a stationary location for 2 weeks or more and are staying in the States we take the monitor with us. We have the wifi module on the monitor and we just plug it in and it works. There is a phone number you can call that can help you if you have any issues. We just called to make sure they were receiving the signal and they confirmed that they were.

Our electrophysiologist told us that the monitor can not only detect afib but can also detect build up fluids on the lung before we even would have symptoms and it can also detect certain precursors of an oncoming heart attack. If these events occur they doctor will call and have you come in for further testing. So far no problems.

We are astounded by the scientific research that was happening that made all this possible and had no idea about the advances in medical technology.

Science is Amazing.

Yours from across the Pond

[Billiewizz in reply to not2worry]

Very helpful thanks

[Driver11]

Hi, I've had mine since Sept and it sits on the side in the bedroom. My first and second downloads were done at Harefield but since then the others have occurred at night whilst being asleep. They contact you after to hopefully say everything is ok. We go the the States on a regular basis and leave the machine at home as advised by the hospital - good luck

[Billiewizz in reply to Driver11]

Thanks 😊

[not2worry]

Also forgot to say that my husband goes in every 6 months and they can titrate the PM to make it more effective based on the data that they collect. They will also test to see what the battery life is. At the last check my husband has 7 years left on the battery. He had his PM procedure in September and got the bedside monitor in October. Some of the older PM require a scheduled telephone call where you hold the phone up against the pacemaker and it downloads the information on the off site monitoring computer.

The PM bump in your chest is a mini computer and records any unusual heart events 24/7 so your doctor gets a lot of information beyond the PM pacing your heart.

[Billiewizz]

Great thanks