Dentist

"Medtronic thingy" !

by Gemita - 2023-05-12 07:15:19

Oh you have a wonderful way with words Ysabeau.  Not all of us have Medtronic or other manufacturer "thingy's", to plug into our mains next to our beds.  In fact not everyone has a home monitor.  Until quite recently my husband didn't have a home monitor.  His hospital's policy (here in the UK) was to issue home monitors only to those who needed to be closely monitored, for example ICD (defibrillator) patients.   This policy is slowly changing to include elderly, frail patients who are not always able to attend their pacing clinics.

Unless your monitor is active, downloading data, for example, the eerie glow shouldn't always be apparent.   Some of us cover our monitors or even keep them under the bed if the monitor emits a light and this disturbs us, providing of course the monitor is still within the required distance range from our pacemaker.  Again you could have a word with Medtronic since they will be very good at answering all these "practical" questions and can also check whether your monitor is functioning as it should, or is transmitting data at the best time to suit you?

So nice to have you with us and I hope you continue to do well.

P.S. By the way, rather than starting a new post each time you answer a Member's comment to any post you have made, you could instead press the Add Comment red button to respond.  However I see your latest post is more about your monitor rather than the dentist, so you were quite correct to start a new thread

I have the little green glow also!

by quikjraw - 2023-05-12 07:34:00

Hi

I have the green glow also by my bed.

You can force it to send a download to your hospital by pressing the button and then staying close to the monitor whilst it does its thing!

You get a nice sound at the end when it is complete.

I have had my monitor for over two years and the light always goes out when the room is dark. Mine has a small light sensors near the button that auto shuts off the green light when it is dark. test it by putting your finger over it and it should go off.

💚💚

by Lavender - 2023-05-12 08:33:46

🟩🟢I have a Boston Scientific pacemaker. I was sent home from the hospital with a Latitude Communicator (monitor). It has a bright green button in the center which never goes out. I have it under a nightstand next to the bed to block the green glow. ✅✳️

yes normal

by Tracey_E - 2023-05-12 08:47:20

If the glow bothers you, you can wrap it in a towel and put it under the bed. As long as it's within easy reach of where you sleep, it will work. 

Monitor

by AgentX86 - 2023-05-12 12:38:42

If it's connected through the cell system, obviously it has to be in a location with cell coverage.  I barely get cell service and T-Mobile, who Medtronic uses here, is right at the edge.  The monitor had to be placed exactly in the right spot or it didn't work.  Under the bed wasn't it. 😁

I hated my monitor.  It would flash in the middle of the night.  It was so bright that I thought it was lightening on more than one occaision.  I took the hockey puck off the cradle and threw the puck into the nightstand drawer.

I've since gone to the smart phone app that will use my phone and any Internet connection (including cell system).

Medtronic

by Aberdeen - 2023-05-12 14:33:22

I too have a Medtronic monitor. The green glow goes out when my bedroom is dark. 
What surprised me was( I have said this before) it was six months before it picked up that two of my leads were failing.

I have just returned from 3 weeks in America. I unplugged it while I was away. It didn't enquire after my health when I plugged it in again!😁

St. Jude/Abbott Thingie Here

by Marybird - 2023-05-12 16:28:47

They call it a Merlin@Home monitor, and it communicates with my St. Jude Assurity dual chamber pacemaker/monitor, and the monitor sends the pacemaker info to the Abbott site automatically every 91 days as programmed, from there the information is available to the doctor/pacing clinic. The monitor just sits there on my nightstand, with only a small ( but bright) LED light, when it's on is an indication that all is well and the monitor has power. I've never seen it do anything different to indicate it's sending a transmission, there are icons that will light up in the event you send a manual transmission, but I must miss them if they do their thing in the middle of the night. Yet my medical records indicate the cardiology folks get my transmissions every 3months. I drape a long sock over the top of the monitor to cover the LED at night, it's pretty bright at night.

My daughter has a wireless remote "Medtronic Thingie", similar to yours, but she never pays any attention to it and since that circular light goes out when it's dark in the room, unless you're looking at it during the day, it's hard to tell if the power to the monitor is off or on. She also has wireless remote monitor reports sent every 90 days, and she has been notified twice via an automated phone call from the cardiac device monitoring company ( CardionetLLC) used by our cardiologists practice to read and interpret our pacemaker data  that her monitor was unable to communicate with her pacemaker- due either to monitor not being plugged or my daughter and her pacemaker being away from the monitor for 48 hrs or more. I think these calls occurred at the times a scheduled remote report was due to be sent,,and couldn't be done due  to the noncommunication of her pacemaker with her monitor.

I keep mine in the box it came in

by Persephone - 2023-05-12 17:10:50

It's a different PM mfr but I didn't want that thing staring me down at night. I check that it's still powered up periodically and also get the interrogation reports via my medical provider's portal that show it's working OK.

Monitor

by Ysabeau - 2023-05-13 14:44:51

Wow thank to all of you for replying. Its nice to know how my Medtonic thingy works.

It does turn the green glow off when its dark. I must admit I played a game with it when I first had it and switched the light on and off to try and catch it out. Technology is truly wonderful.

Thank you Gemita I will definitely press the add comment button from now on and for a new post start a new thread. Regards I do not feel so alone now .