Today, we had to be at the hospital early, and almost 3 hours later, they did the implant, which only took about two minutes once the cardiologist arrived. The monitor is connected by bluetooth to a receiver that sits next to my side of the bed, and at midnight each night, it sends in the information to the Medtronic company, and they forward it to my doctor’s office. The technician explained that besides monitoring heart rhythm anomalies or a-fib, it also checks my heart rate, and apparently has a built-in Fitbit that tracks my steps and exercise as well. I don’t get to see any of the information that it transmits; but if there is a problem, then my doctor can see it right away and get me in for an appointment or whatever treatment I need. The battery in the implant lasts 3-4 years; so it will go for a long time. The implant itself is about an inch or so long rectangle, and once they gave me the local anesthetic, I didn’t even feel it being put in. I can shower as long as I am careful; but no swimming for a week or so until the incision is healed up.Other than that, they said I can do whatever I usually do. Bobby calls me his Bionic Woman now.......
OH WoW!! The things they can do now...that's fantastic...and Yvonne what a brave woman you are... you go through so much....and take it all in your stride, when I'm sure sometimes you must be scared.. Bionic woman, and Wonder woman...I think...
So far, all of the procedures that I have gone through have helped me in my journey to recover my health, @Holly Saunders ; so even if I get scared (and I DO), it is worth it to me. Along with trying to eat healthy foods and exercise, the procedures have helped me a lot. The first one was the worst, because back in 2014, my heart was almost dead, working at 23%ef, and I didn’t know if I would even make it through the heart procedure; but i did know that I wasn’t going to last long if I didn’t at least try. I was terrified, and the happiest moment ever was waking back up afterwards and asking Robin if she was real or not, and she assured me that she was indeed real. The monitor that they put in today was pretty simple, and with it next to my heart and sending in the information constantly, my doctor can tell how my heart is doing, and if the medicines are working right. They need to take me back off the amioderone because it is harmful to my liver and kidneys; but the amioderone is what helps to keep my heart in regular rhythm and out of a-fib. With this monitor, they can gradually take me off of the medicine and be sure that my heart is still staying in sync like it is supposed to. If they can’t keep it out of a-fib this way, then I will have to have a Pacemaker ; so I am hoping that this will work for me.
Yvonne, I wish you the very best that this new idea in modern medicine can give you. I wish they did this procedure more here in Canada. I worry every day with hubby, a triple by pass followed by 3 heart attacks, but you just got to hope for the best, pray, and take whatever life hands us and let the skilled hands of the doctors do their work.
Thanks for that Yvonne,,,you such an uplifting spirit...I wish I had the same... @Missy Lee , oh I'm truly sorry your precious husband is going through so much with his health and the worry this must cause you both and your family, and I truly hope and pray that the Skill of the doctors can give him the best quality of life he can hope for..
You could ask your doctor if something like this would help monitor your husband, @Missy Lee . They told me that it even has a Fitbit built in, so the doctor can tell when you are exercising, and many other things besides just the heart rate, and whether a person is in arrythmia or not. I was hoping that there was an app so that I could also see what my heart is doing; but they do not have an app for this for anyone except the doctor. I check my heart rate all of the time, and also my blood pressure; but there is no way that you can tell what it is doing all of the time. My sleep tracker was showing heartrate bursts sometimes at night, but it might have been just the way that I moved that triggered that reaction for the Apple Watch. I put it on a little snugger now, and that seems to have stopped the surges; so I think it was not something that my heart was actually doing. There is also a free app called “Cardiio” (with 2 “i’s) and it works with the camera and flashlight of your phone to check your heart rate.
Yvonne, from what I see of you I admire in that you are taking the best care of yourself that you can. And that is what a person needs to do, follow orders from doctors, watch their weight, exercise in moderation....you do all those things to improve the quality of life. Some like my husband kind of give up, they are fatalists....is that the word? When someone asks him how he is his answer is always the same "still here" But I will say this for him....since I got hurt and cannot do as much he is stepping up to the plate a bit more. He even put in a flowerbed for the seasonal trailer we bought this past summer and lived to tell about it....grin So I look at my getting hurt as the silver lining, made him do things he was afraid to do before. I may have this injury for a long time....wink It's all attitude, a big part of it.