checkup by phone?

I have an appt. to have a checkup by phone next week. Since this is the 1st time ,I am not sure what it is that is being checked. The battery of the pacemaker or me ? If they are checking how I am pacing can they also change settings by phone? I am asking because I have been experiencing extra beats since my new lead was implanted on May 22. I had a holter monitor test about 10 days ago but so far have not gotten the results. The extra beats are annoying but I am not sure whether I should be patient and wait for the holter monitor results to prove that the extra beats are real or be more aggressive about my care and go into the office instead of waiting for my checkup by phone. I would appreciate any input .
Thanks, Bonnie

4 Comments

Thanks for the feedback!

by bonniefox - 2008-06-19 06:06:39

Thanks Smitty and Zombie for the really helpful info. I am learning little by little!!!!
I checked today the "polls" and the "links" section of this site. Great info also! Iknow that the poll on satisfaction with post op care has already been done but my 2 cents would be that I am only in the "satisfied" group. I definitely will have to do a lot of self education and advocacy. I am grateful to the Pacemaker club for helping me to do that with support and information.
Bonnie

phone check-up

by coryi711 - 2008-06-19 08:06:17

Just like Smitty said some home phone monitor units and pacemakers only check simple things. I just had the rolls royce of pacemakers installed in December '07, [according to The Florida Heart Institute]
I've got the Guidant atrial pacemaker and ventricular pacemaker, defibrilator and built in 24/7 heart monitior. The implant manufacturer sent me a home monitoring unit, I hold a little disk over the implant once a week for about 3-5 seconds, then it automatically sends back "everything my Doc. would need to know just like if I was in the office.", if something is wrong my doctor can go online at any time and see the last test result from anywhere in the world. If the Doc. wants another test done the monitor can talk and will tell me to retest.
No they cannot change your implant settings over the phone, only your doc. or the implant rep. can change settings ,and that has to be done at the offfice.
I felt really wierd after the implant and I called my EP's office and they were able to check one of my own home monitoring strips online, and said they seen what I felt but nothing to worry about - they charged my insurance company for the phone call, just like it was an office visit.. These Doc.'s are getting really high tech, and greedy.
Zombie

Phone Checkups

by SMITTY - 2008-06-19 12:06:16

Hello Bonnie,

I have been having phone checkups every six months on my PM for 8 years and always had questions similar to yours. Well last week I had an office checkup by a talkative nurse/tech and I asked what did a phone checkup tell about my PM. Surprisingly, it is very little. Since you will have only two leads there is not much that can be revealed abut your heart's function, other than you have one that is still beating albeit maybe with the help of a PM. Also, they can see if the PM is functioning as expected. Just what "as expected" means I'm not sure. When you place the magnet over your PM you will probably notice a difference in your heart rate. In my case, since my PM low setting is 70 BPM my heart rate goes up to 85 BPM if my battery is still "good" or my HR will drop to 65 at that time, if the battery is weak. This is the only battery check they can get over the phone on my PM. In the USA FDA will not allow changes in PM settings during a phone check. These must be done during an office checkup.

I'll have to admit that I always thought a lot more information was obtained during the phone checks, but apparently when it is all said and done they can see if the PM is still working as it should and if the two-lead EKG shows any irregularities in your heart function that need further checking.

Now let me wrap this up by saying that I have a Medtronic KDR-703 series PM that was implanted in 2000 and my particular PM is what we were discussing. Phone checkups of newer PM may be different and show more or less about everything.

As for the extra beats, should any occur during the checkups I would guess they will show up. That you can ask about at the end and expect an answer.

One last word, relax. It will all be new to you and in the event you don't get something exactly rightthe first time it can be repeated until it is right. I'll admit I was a little nervous at the beginning, but I think it was more a case of my not wanting to look dumb or stupid trying to do something that seemed so simple. So don't be like me.

Good luck,

Smitty

telephone checks

by shockbox340 - 2008-06-30 09:06:20

Telephone checks have come along way in recent years, and newer devices from most of the companies can give more than their predecessors. However, one thing to understand is that no device can be reprogrammed or changed via a telephone check. All it does is give the office a 'status report' of how your device is currently functioning. The newest devices can give almost as much information as an in-office check, due to internal device testing and transmission like cory referred to, but even with a 'Rolls Royce' you would have to come into the office for reprogramming if they found an issue. The EKG that older trans-telephonic monitors (or TTM's) provide frequently catch things like the device not sensing properly or ineffective pacing, etc. They have their merit as well.

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