Guest guest Posted March 3, 2001 Report Share Posted March 3, 2001 Your Mom is certainly blessed to have someone so close. I have been told that some patients have actually asked to be shocked, but my Docs. tell me there are other ways and they wouldn't think of doing this.....you might want to ask about the side effects of this, ask about complcations...and then decide...You have a right to question your Drs. if they seem hesitant to answer of you don't feel confident then ask for a second opinion. Blessings, Stephi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 3, 2001 Report Share Posted March 3, 2001 ÿþ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 4, 2001 Report Share Posted March 4, 2001 Hi Sheri; Yes, this test is necessary. I tried to talk my Doctor out of this one to, but no luck! Mine however was a one month check. It is scarry, but the alternative is scarrier! They do put your heart in cardiac arrest, to make sure the unit is programmed propertly to bring you out of cardiac arrest in a timely manner. Remember this is in a controlled environment with all equipment there. That is also why it is done in a hospital under anestisia, so you wont remember the shock! It is a fast procedure, I was only in the hospital about 4 hours and then home for a nap! Remember the alternative is not a good one.... If you find yourself on the street and the unit is not programmed properly to safe your life, it could mean your life! Good luck, everything will be fine., guin Talk2meSP@... wrote: Hi! My mom received her ICD in Nov. 2000 after sudden cardiac arrest (and 50 yrs. of smoking). She lives alone (widowed) and right before she went down, she called her next door neighbor who is a doctor. It was midnight and he came right over and found her face down, not breathing. He started resuccitation and called 911. To this day, it freaks her out that she never remembers placing that call! A call that saved her life, it wasn't her time. Not to mention I'm eternally grateful to her neighbor. Anyway, my question is this. She's kept her appts. with the cardiologist and hasn't been zapped, however, they want her to get a 3 month check. From what I understand they make her heart go into cardiac arrest to see if the defib is working? I have to check her into the hospital for this. Isn't this awful dangerous? Is this a normal procedure? I'm petrified for her as her heart is only working on a ten percent ejection rate (she is 69 yrs. old). Those years of smoking abuse severly damaged her heart. Is it necessary to do this procedure, can't they tell if the ICD is working properly from the computer? The doctor who put it in says this is normal procedure. Would appreciate anyone's input. Thanks, her "nervous-wreck" daughter, Sheri Please visit the Zapper homepage at http://www.ZapLife.org Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 4, 2001 Report Share Posted March 4, 2001 Guin . > Yes, this test is necessary. I tried to talk my Doctor out of this > one to, but no luck! Mine however was a one month check. It is > scarry, but the alternative is scarrier! They do put your heart in > cardiac arrest, to make sure the unit is programmed propertly to bring > you out of cardiac arrest in a timely manner. I wish you were kidding, but sounds not. We weren't told anything about this at all! My husband got his ICD, was told to make an appt. for a checkup in 3 months, at the dr.'s office, not her lab. We just thot he was going to have the normal check-up and get the read-out from the device for the 3 previous months. Sue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 4, 2001 Report Share Posted March 4, 2001 Hi Sue & All; This procedure is sometimes referred to as NIPS, Non invesive procedure... This is NOT the interrogation. I have the interrogation every three months as well, with the " wand " over the unit. The NIPS, they put you out, and put you into cardiac arrest to see if the unit will respond in the programmed times to save you. THey test all the parameters, to see if the unit charges in 3-5 second, and delivers the shock in 3-5 second, and to see if your heart responds to the amount of jules they have the unit set for. These are things they cannot do with the want. Stanford Hospital only does this one month after implant. Perhaps others do it at different times. I have heard some patients have this procedure done every 6 mos or year. My Doctor jut does it at the one month anniversary. They say that there is very little risk and " wear and tear " on the heart. I think it is good to know that the unit will repond appropriately and effectively when it is needed. By doing this test, they know that it will. ~guin Sue Owens wrote: > Guin . > > > Yes, this test is necessary. I tried to talk my Doctor out of this > > one to, but no luck! Mine however was a one month check. It is > > scarry, but the alternative is scarrier! They do put your heart in > > cardiac arrest, to make sure the unit is programmed propertly to bring > > you out of cardiac arrest in a timely manner. > > I wish you were kidding, but sounds not. We weren't told anything > about this at all! My husband > got his ICD, was told to make an appt. for a checkup in 3 months, at the > dr.'s office, not her lab. We > just thot he was going to have the normal check-up and get the read-out > from the device for the > 3 previous months. > Sue > > Please visit the Zapper homepage at > http://www.ZapLife.org > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 4, 2001 Report Share Posted March 4, 2001 At 08:27 PM 3/3/01 -0600, you wrote: I wish you were kidding, but sounds not. We weren't told anything about this at all! My husband got his ICD, was told to make an appt. for a checkup in 3 months, at the dr.'s office, not her lab. We just thot he was going to have the normal check-up and get the read-out from the device for the 3 previous months. Sue At my 3 month and 6 month checks, they only interrogated the ICD. I asked for a copy of the printout, which the ICD tech gladly provided. The only time they shock tested the unit was just after they implanted it and I was barely conscious. The interrogation tells the doc how well the unit is working. In the first six months, I had nearly 300 episodes of v-tach. Half of those were converted successfully with low voltage shocks by the ICD. The others were successfully converted through overdrive pacing. I haven't had a high voltage shock yet. M Please visit the Zapper homepage at http://www.ZapLife.org Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 4, 2001 Report Share Posted March 4, 2001 I got my ICD in October 2000 and have had a 3 month and a 6 month check. They never put me in cardiac arrest and never even mentioned this at the Cleveland Clinic. It sure is news to me. Mike 3 month check? Hi! My mom received her ICD in Nov. 2000 after sudden cardiac arrest (and 50 yrs. of smoking). She lives alone (widowed) and right before she went down, she called her next door neighbor who is a doctor. It was midnight and he came right over and found her face down, not breathing. He started resuccitation and called 911. To this day, it freaks her out that she never remembers placing that call! A call that saved her life, it wasn't her time. Not to mention I'm eternally grateful to her neighbor. Anyway, my question is this. She's kept her appts. with the cardiologist and hasn't been zapped, however, they want her to get a 3 month check. From what I understand they make her heart go into cardiac arrest to see if the defib is working? I have to check her into the hospital for this. Isn't this awful dangerous? Is this a normal procedure? I'm petrified for her as her heart is only working on a ten percent ejection rate (she is 69 yrs. old). Those years of smoking abuse severly damaged her heart. Is it necessary to do this procedure, can't they tell if the ICD is working properly from the computer? The doctor who put it in says this is normal procedure. Would appreciate anyone's input. Thanks, her "nervous-wreck" daughter, Sheri Please visit the Zapper homepage athttp://www.ZapLife.org Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 13, 2001 Report Share Posted March 13, 2001 Yes, sheri when I had my defib fitted it was tested for 3 different types of arithmas and was left to my defib to zapp me, it is std but normally when you have just had it fitted and your out cold,but they need to set it so it can respond nothing like checking before rather than after but it is worrying that your mum is 69 yrs with a heart condition but what are the alteratives. cheers Neil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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