Pacemaker replacement

I'm a Dane living in the US. I got my first pacemaker in Denmark in 1993 at age 33. I'm now on my third (2013) and second set of leads. I'm being monitored once a month (remotely) and was told I have 2 months left on the battery that was10 days ago. My 2 prior replacements were emergencies. What I don't understand is why my doctor can't get me on the schedule for a new battery. Any suggestions on how to speed things up?

2 Comments

Diagnosis

by Penguin - 2023-11-17 14:49:44

I'm not in the US, so this suggestion may not be helpful, but 1 month and 20 days (approx 7 weeks) remaining seems to be to be cutting it a bit fine to me! Not sure what your diagnosis is (no info in your bio), but I can only assume that your doctors are pretty relaxed about it and that you must have a fairly reliable native rhythm / rate. 

I'd be jumping up and down and on the phone to the insurance company if this has happened twice before.  Have you tried to phone them or outlined your bad experiences to your EP?  Could she/he put forward a case to the insurance company for prompt replacement. 

Pacemaker replacement

by ScubaAnnette - 2023-11-17 16:30:52

Bradycardia (sinus node dysfunction) when I had the first PM in 93, I had 21BPM. I'm totally dependent now. However, doing a little research, my pacemaker (Medtronic) supposedly enters an ERI mode when battery is depleted and once that happens they'll hopefully schedule the replacement. 
 

Thank you for your comment.

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