New Generator/Battery

Everyone/s different

by AgentX86 - 2021-02-05 20:08:12

It sounds like everything went smoothy and you're doing well.

I'm with you.  I wouldn't take my monitor on vacation with me unless it were reporting in every noght and then I'd want the cell phone app so I didn't have to lug the thing around.  Mine's only used twice a year, unless I feel something strange.  It's not really "monitoring" me at all.

There is no reason why your wife's unit has to transmit constantly.  Her cardiologist obviously isn't worried about any major events and is just using the device to follow her progress a little closer than most.

Yes, the data goes into a data center at the manufacturer's location.  They all do this.  The data is then sent to your doctor's office.  It's not just the VA.  That's how it works.

Seven years?  So far mine has reported (a total of)10 years each time and some models even go longer!  If you had a better one you wouldn't need it replaced until you were 98, or even 100!  ;-)

Think We Have The Same Set-Up

by Marybird - 2021-02-06 18:31:21

Hi Bzam,, sounds as though your newly implanted generator is a St. Jude Assurity MRI+ dual chamber ( model # 2272) type, and the nightstand monitor is a Merlin@Home wireless transmitter, using a cell phone adaptor to transmit to the Abbott/St. Jude Merlin.net site. That is what I have as well. And like you, the Abbott/ St. Jude rep had already paired and set up my pacemaker and transmitter before the pacer was implanted so all I had to do was plug it in when I got home. 

It's worked flawlessly, far as I can tell, with the pacemaker's transmitting its data to the transmitter ( at night when you are sleeping, I'd guess), and the transmitter sending your data on to the Merlin.net site which in your case is accessible to the VA and your pacemaker clinic/doctor there. At least that is my understanding of how that works. 

We're also a two pacemaker family here. My daughter, who lives with us, also has a pacemaker, ( had it since 2012), though hers is a Medtronic Azure dual chamber type. She had a generator change last summer, and they set up a nightstand type wireless monitor for her at her 1 week wound check. Hers is also set up with a cell phone adaptor of some type -this must be built into the monitor as nothing is visible outside, and the monitor resembles a rather large cup holder with a green light in the middle. 

As for frequency of monitoring, as I understand it that is set up on a schedule according to the wishes of the doctor/clinic. Many people have pacemaker transmission reports checked every 3 months, generally by personnel in the pacemaker clinic or docs' office, but these monitorings can be more frequent, or can supplement in-office checks, depending on what your doc feels is best for you. I think they told my daughter her remote monitoring would be done every 6 months, with another in-office check with a doctor.

I'm also on a 3 month remote monitoring schedule, though I had no idea when ( or even if), these were done or who was looking at them, but I figured no news is good news. I recently have had occasion to learn that indeed, those reports ARE monitored and read, when I was notified by my cardiologist's office of pacemaker alerts for me indicating "excessive mode switching", ie, relative to tachycardia. I've also been told the reports indicated some a-fib, prompting increase in medication and more monitoring for that. 

It sounds as though your wife's pacemaker reports may be monitored by her cardiologist monthly ( on Mondays), or maybe that is when he/she is looking at a bunch of them. She might ask when specifically he gets to hers.

I don't think it would be immediate, but there is capability for these pacemakers/transmitter/  manufacturer's sites to notify a provider in the event the pacemaker picks up a serious or abnormal event. From what I have read on the Abbott website about these devices ( including instruction manuals, though there was much I didn't understand), the transmitter can send data from the pacemaker each night to the manufacturer's site, though whether it does this every night routinely I don't know. That might be a question to ask the Abbott customer/ patient services people- they are available at that 800 number pasted on your monitor, and I have found them helpful and very courteous. They can't give you medical or information specific to your pacemaker data- other than it transmitted ok, but they are helpful in providing general information about how the system works. 

. There is also a set of abnormal or actionable data that will be flagged for review, and even direct notification of the provider depending on their indicated preferences ( set up when person is enrolled in this system). I was informed that there was also an "atrial tachycardia alert" on the St. Jude Assurity models, the desired threshold for notification is set up by the provider. Mine is set at 140 BPM. If your wife is concerned about notifications to her doctor about abnormal events, it might give her some peace of mind to ask either the pacer reps or doctor where her settings are.

So best of luck, and hope things continue to go well with you.