noise canceling headphones

I am trying to walk the line between practical and paranoid as far as traveling long distances for vacations. Our daughter is getting married in Italy in 2 weeks. My husband wants to buy me a noise canceling headphone to use on the flight, (I have difficulty hearing the the sound of the offered movies ) My Boston Scientific pacemaker has been reading"(less than 6 months" for 7 months and I have to wait to have it replaced until the battery officially needs to be replaced in order to have Medicare cover the expense. So, I am hesitant to wear the N.C. headset because they use a battery and have a magnet also. I am going to ask my pacemaker tech about this when I see him this week but I would also appreciate any input from any of the members.
Many thanks, Bonnie

5 Comments

Your ears are greater...

by donr - 2013-09-07 10:09:12

...than 6 inches from your PM. Buy & enjoy the earphones. ALL earphones have magnets in them. Not to worry. Don't sweat the battery in the headset. Batteries radiate nothing, so cannot affect your PM.

Just take them out of the box when you get them, put together & slooooooooooooooowly bring them near your PM while the headphones are turned on. If they are going to affect you, your PM will tell you - it will feel just like it does when you get downloaded. You feel that way, SUDDENLY move them away, put them back in the box & return them.

RELAX - you have nothing to fear but fear itself!

Don

Wear it

by PacerRep - 2013-09-08 01:09:02

NC headphones are a non issue.

Your doctor can change your device now if he wants to. Tell him you are going out of country and don't know when you will be back. Demand it be changed before you go (if you want it to be).

When the device switches to ERI. The mode will change to a ventricularly paced mode. This could make you feel crappy, not ideal if your gana be in Italy.

We change them all the time when they read <.5years. Never an issue with medicare paying.

Second Thougfhts - BUT...

by donr - 2013-09-08 10:09:31

...NOT bad ones!!!!!

Bonnie, I just went back & looked at you post/comment history. Saw the post about the East Africa safari. Did you wear a pith helmet, wrap leggings & go w/ a bunch of porters carrying your gear o their heads?

My Cardio made that trip last year & we sat & talked about it for a while during one of our famous 15 min appts that took 45 in the end.

I see therefore, that you are an adventurous soul & not afraid of life on the edge.

My second thought is that you have waited too long to schedule a PM changeout PRIOR to the trip for your daughter. Too many things can go wrong post-op to risk taking the chance that will happen & mess up your daughter's BIG DAY by not having Mom there. Based on the performance of your PM for the last 7 months, it should hold out for the duration of your trip. IMNSHO, it will make it just fine. The downside to gutting it out w/ a PM supposedly on its last legs is that you may go into ERI/EOL while in Italy.

NO BIG DEAL! Italy is NOT East Africa - it is a modern country w/ a medical system to match. PM's are as common as grass there, just like in the US. There are all sorts of articles about them & research/studies done in Italy published in refereed medical journals. Therefore, were your PM to go into its "Croak" mode while there, you would have plenty of time to make a decision as to having it changed out there or just waiting till you get back to the US for the procedure.

Here's what you do - not much different than what you did for the Africa trip! Have your daughter find a list of locations where you can go for the procedure in Italy. Check them out. Be prepared for the eventuality to give you peace of mind - just like paying the evacuation insurance before going to Africa. When you get there drive by the place(s) she selects & "Case the jernt."

What you need is peace of mind & preparing like that will help give it to you.

Last word on the current discussion - going into ERI/EOL is not a problem - you have roughly three months of battery left at that point. You can feel pretty crappy when that happens, but the PM will carry you through till you can get home. I would suggest getting a PM Download just before leaving so you can know exactly what the battery status is.

You obviously feel comfortable traveling w/ your PM - witness the African trip, which was literally "Far Out" from where you live.

Are you flying non-stop, CA to Italy? That's a long hike. Being born in 1941 (That's what your profile says) I'll repeat my Cardio's advice when we took off on a 10 hr jaunt from Atlanta to Hawaii - "Don, make sure that you get up & walk about every hour or so. You don't want to take a chance of getting DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis) from sitting still for a really long time in an uncomfortable seat."

Go and enjoy!

Don

Hi,

by jeanlancour - 2013-09-08 12:09:19

have a wonderful time at your daughters wedding! Have fun!! Jean

Thanks for the input and support

by bonniefox - 2013-10-10 03:10:38

I appreciate all the input that I received. We are back home now and I did not have a problem with my pacemaker and was fully able to enjoy our daughter's wedding.
I have an appointment tomorrow for a check on the battery but being 15 minutes from my Doc rather than 4000 miles is very different so what will be will be !

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