Battery Life

I live in a third world country by choice. I am from South Florida. In 2017 I had my St.Jude pacemaker/defibrillator implanted and 90 days later I moved to Philippines.I found a Cardiologist at Makati Medial Ctr,Manilla who read  & printed out my reports every 6 months for 6 years now.  (cost @ $36.00)  My Rythem specialist in Florida told me to track the battery life and when it got to 6 Mo. remaining to plan on returning for a battery devise upgrade. About 2 years  ago I had: 11.5 months, 6 months later: 12.7, 3 months later: 9.6, 3 months later 10.3, 3 months later 9.7,3 months later 5.4 , I spoke with my implant Dr. today who told me, check back in 2.5 months & it will probably be time......... My wife is now in anxiety mode; not trusting the pacemaker and is in fear that in 2.5 months it will be at 0. My Dr. said even at 0 we still have time. This is nerve wracking to say the least.  Any one else had similar inconsistent battery read outs all over the map & now do not trust the devise?

 

2 Comments

replacement time

by Tracey_E - 2023-12-20 18:20:21

I've had it do the same thing. Frustrating, but not unusual.

0 does not mean going to stop! Depending how they're calculating it, 0 can mean that's when it switches to elective replacement. This lasts about 3 months and it will still be fully functional, like when the gas light comes on in the car. It's still running but you know you need gas soon. Or they could be talking about end of service, which happens after elective replacement. At this point, it cuts back and paces at a steady 60bpm. If we pace a lot, this will not feel good, but it is safe. This one also lasts 3 months. 

So, 0 actually can mean either 3 or 6 months. You can ask if you are in elective replacement yet. 

Battery life

by piglet22 - 2023-12-21 04:48:13

Your figures illustrate nicely the uncertainty introduced when small changes are amplified in a formula then extrapolated onto a theoretical battery discharge curve.

The error gets worse as the curve gets steeper towards end of life.

The figures we get should come with a calculation of the degree of confidence or a straightforward error probability.

The device changes it's power consumption all the time and batteries (cell) don't always perform according to plan.

Personal experience tells me not to rely on anything that comes out of the now infrequent checks.

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