St Jude replacement question

My pacemaker/defibulator battery is at 2.6 . At what level does it go into ERI ? I'm being checked monthly and holding at 2.6 for a couple of months now .

3 Comments

ERI

by thomast - 2009-08-26 08:08:37

If you have them give you a copy of the readout when they check your pacemaker, it will show what the ERI is.

Manuals etc.

by pacemaker writer - 2009-08-27 01:08:58

It can be pretty tough to get your hands on the physician's manual! I could be wrong, but I don't think St. Jude Medical posts manuals online. Medtronic does, but I don't think St. Jude ever did.

Furthermore, even if you had a manual, you'd have to search it through to find out!

I would first ask your doctor for the time frame. You can also call Tech Support at SJM using this link to get the phone #.
http://www.sjm.com/globals/contactus.aspx#TechnicalSupport.

Numbers is right (I'm the person who used to write a lot of those manuals) about how batteries work. They call it a "reliable discharge curve." It means that the battery doesn't slowly get weaker and weaker. It works full-power until it plummets.

You have at least a 90-day window to get the device replaced, that is, the battery will start to signal the programmer (the device the doc or nurse uses in follow-up) that you need a replacement. As long as you keep up with your check-ups, this shouldn't sneak up on you.

Hope this helps.

numbers

by Tracey_E - 2009-08-27 07:08:48

As the others said, check out their website or your owners manual. Have they given you a time frame? The print out that has the battery numbers also has a range of time left on the battery, mine is currently 9-18 mos. That number is more important than the level in the battery.
My understanding (and I could be wrong!) is it's not a gradual decline like when your gas tank goes down and you refill before it hits empty, but a curve where it stays the same or very gradually goes down, then it plummets. That's why they have the wide range in their time estimate, so you can get it replaced well before that plummet.

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