Who does your PM checks?

I'm curious as to what the norm is for others out there regarding PM checks. In the beginning it was a couple nurses that were trained to do PM checks, but given my complicated history they now only do my checks when a St. Jude PM rep is there. I've met with 3 various pm reps from St. Jude (my fave being the one that was in my surgery since he knows my situation the best). The actual programming engineer met with me once during my stress test as they wanted the most knowledgeable person to fix my various programming issues. After a year in a half the settings still aren't quite right. I don't question the treatment I'm receiving necessarily as my heart is anatomically different from the majority, but with all the various people I've seen I'm wondering what treatment people in other communities and medical facilities are receiving.

4 Comments

rep

by Tracey_E - 2011-09-26 02:09:12

I see my St Judes rep. I usually see the one who was in surgery but sometimes I see the woman who's under him. She's great, too, and she doesn't hesitate to call him if anything is odd. Like you, I'm a little higher maintenance than most and it's nice to see the most knowledgeable person and the one who knows my history best. I've been with him through 2 cardiologists and 4 devices

My experience

by Parrothead57 - 2011-09-26 02:09:49

I had a Boston Scientific Altrua 60 dual lead PM implanted in March 2011 for complete AV block. The morning after surgery I was checked out by a clinician at the hospital. This person could have been a Boston Scientific rep but I doubt it.

I had my 1st walk in clinic check done 1 week post op by a clinician (no rep present). She made one minor adjustment. I had another walk in check done 3 months post op by the same clinician. Again she made another minor tweek. I just did my first phone in check 6 months post op. Nothing was said one way or the other, good or bad.

I have never seen my EP since the surgery. Actual, I only "saw" the EP in the emergency room. My face was covered in the EP lab before he came in so it could have been a server from the cafeteria cutting on me for all I knew. Just kidding.
I had my implant done at the Heart Hospital of Austin. They are rated very highly.

The fact that your PM rep is present during the checks I think would be comforting. Sounds like you have a good team on your side. Hopefully they will get things sorted out for you soon.

Take care,
PH

Mine

by walkerd - 2011-09-27 06:09:22

is checked by a rep which is employed by my cardio doctor. She is fantastic, just like my carido doc. Now my GP thats another story in itself.lol.

dave

Checked by...

by donr - 2011-09-27 12:09:40

...my cardio's nurse once a yr by appt & 6 mo after that by the Medtronic rep. See my EP annually, essentially on the anniversary of the planting.

Actually, I get downloaded about every three months because of some wierd thing happening. I see the Cardio's nurse on those occasions.

Don

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