Re: Lead removal

[Guest guest]

Hey all, see some of you talking about this remote stuff i wonder if St. Jude has it also,. my ICD is a St. Jude medical device., have asked my cardio tech before but she wont give me a answer and have wrote to St. Jude and cant get a reply from them either,. sure would make having to go in for checkeups every 3 months since i live 45 miles away. and with gas getting higher everyday, my truck loves it for some reason lol.

[Guest guest]

,http://health.sjm.com/arrhythmia-answers/daily-life/everyday-concerns-with-an-implantable-device/using-remote-patient-care-management.aspx 

It looks like it depends on which ICD you have.  It also requires your doctor to agree to monitor you remotely.Good luck,Joe SchmidtGod Loves Us All

On Sun, Jan 15, 2012 at 10:18 AM, <shadow061@...> wrote:

Hey all,  see some of you talking about this remote stuff  i wonder if St. Jude has it also,. my ICD is a St. Jude medical device.,  have asked my cardio tech before  but she wont give me a answer and have wrote to St. Jude and cant get a reply from them either,.   sure would make having to go in for checkeups  every 3 months since i live 45 miles away. and with gas getting higher everyday, my truck loves it for some reason lol.   

[Guest guest]

Happy New Year and good luck to all. An aside: I sure

would hate to see Zaplist turn into a political platform. I don’t think

that’s its intended purpose.

Teri

[Guest guest]

This feature is only on certain models. It allows telephone connection to read the defibrillator. If your unit is more than four years old, chances are that it does not have this capability. JanOn Jan 15, 2012, at 9:18 AM, wrote:Hey all, see some of you talking about this remote stuff i wonder if St. Jude has it also,. my ICD is a St. Jude medical device., have asked my cardio tech before but she wont give me a answer and have wrote to St. Jude and cant get a reply from them either,. sure would make having to go in for checkeups every 3 months since i live 45 miles away. and with gas getting higher everyday, my truck loves it for some reason lol.

[Guest guest]

Where is Stanford Hospital? What do you mean about 1%?

Ruth in PA

Re: Re: Lead Removal

I agree with whole heartedly -- PUN intended....I have discussed this at length with my Doc at Stanford Hospital. y EP is experienced with removing leads with laser, however he only operates with a Thoracic surgeon with him, in case there is a problem they can get it sorted out quickly... Notice I chose my words carefully... He said there is only abut a 1% (1 on 100)....~guinOn 1/14/2012 6:34 AM, wrote:

Good Morning All hope all is well with everyone. and a HAPPY NEW YEAR !!! I have heard that changing leads is a tricky business, and have been told ot use either a EP or a thoratic surgon. these drs are the most experience to do such work, just in case something goes wrong. noticed i said just in case. not that anything will but i would want the best doing this work, Am on my second ICD now. no zaps lately thank you Lord lol . My dr wont put me on blood thinners just said to take a asprin everyday. so what the hell why not lol. take a 325mg. not the low dosage per dr advice. i take the coated ones since my stomach is sensitive, had ableeding uncler one time that broke open, not sure if that was more scary or having my first heart attack., scared the livng B-G-Bees out of me. lol. so not sure what is worse. lol anyway like i said i would use a experienced EP dr or a thoratic surgon to do the replacement. Take Care all and lets get a new President this year God knows we need one.

[Guest guest]

Only about 1% have problems with lead extraction.

Stanford Hospital is in Palo Alto, CA, it is a well known teaching

hospital.

~guin

On 1/15/2012 6:24 PM, Ruth Hirsch wrote:

Where is Stanford Hospital? What

do you mean about 1%?

Ruth in PA

Re:

Re: Lead Removal

I agree with whole heartedly -- PUN intended....

I have discussed this at length with my Doc at

Stanford Hospital. y EP is experienced with removing

leads with laser, however he only operates with a

Thoracic surgeon with him, in case there is a problem

they can get it sorted out quickly... Notice I chose

my words carefully... He said there is only abut a 1%

(1 on 100)....

~guin

On 1/14/2012 6:34 AM, wrote:

Good Morning All hope all is well with

everyone. and a HAPPY NEW YEAR !!! I have heard

that changing leads is a tricky business, and

have been told ot use either a EP or a thoratic

surgon. these drs are the most experience to do

such work, just in case something goes wrong.

noticed i said just in case. not that anything

will but i would want the best doing this work,

Am on my second ICD now. no zaps lately thank

you Lord lol . My dr wont put me on blood

thinners just said to take a asprin everyday. so

what the hell why not lol. take a 325mg. not

the low dosage per dr advice. i take the

coated ones since my stomach is sensitive, had

ableeding uncler one time that broke open, not

sure if that was more scary or having my first

heart attack., scared the livng B-G-Bees out of

me. lol. so not sure what is worse. lol anyway

like i said i would use a experienced EP dr or a

thoratic surgon to do the

replacement.

Take Care all and lets get a new President this

year God knows we need one.

[Guest guest]

Hi Joe , had my second ICd put in alittle over a year ago at the VA in Tucson but i go for all my checkups at the VA in Prescott since thats where my primary is located. Should i be asking if they can do the montoring when i go for my next checkup ? Sounds like a plan to do. Would sure save on the driving, even tho we get paid travel pay ($29.88) its barely enough to cover the gas to go up and back. I do like to go up every once in awhile to see the big city,lol, and if needing anything but just to go for a checkup and then turn around and come back ghesses. takes all of 15 minutes for a hour and half of travel time each way. Also have to go for PT on the 25th of this month then back on the 2ond for ICD, then back again ion the 7th to see dr. thats alot of

driving. and my truck has 192,000 miles on it. good old Ford trk lol. anyway will ask the tech about doing the home montoring thing and see what she says. have a good week all. God Bless

[Guest guest]

,The VA pays you to come in for a device check?  I thought I had good benefits but I can't compete with that.  Then I am not a veteran so I am not complaining.  I fought my battles in the corporate world.

From what I remember of the bills sent to Medicare the doctor gets paid about the same to review the ICD results done remotely as when I go to the office.  They can't make any changes remotely but I don't know how important those little tweaks in how the ICD works really are.  

I have no information on how often the ICD sends information to Medtronic based on a change that the ICD detects.  That seems to be the big advantage of having a wireless monitor at home.  If I understand correctly, I the ICD could detect a possible problem during the day and that night automatically send information to Medtronic that something is possibly wrong.  Medtronic's computer would send something to my EP doc who would decide if I should come in.

Be happy and enjoy the drive.Joe SchmidtGod Loves Us All

On Mon, Jan 16, 2012 at 10:16 AM, <shadow061@...> wrote:

Hi Joe ,   had my second ICd put in alittle over a year ago at the VA in Tucson but i go for all my checkups at the VA in Prescott since thats where my primary is located.  Should i be asking if they can do the montoring  when i go for my next checkup ? Sounds like a plan to do.  Would sure save on the driving, even tho we get paid travel pay ($29.88)  its barely enough to cover the gas to go up and back.  I do like to go up every once in awhile to see the big city,lol, and if needing anything  but just to go for a checkup and then turn around and come back  ghesses.  takes all of 15 minutes for a hour and half of travel time each way.  Also have to go for PT on the 25th of this month then back on the 2ond for ICD, then back again ion the 7th to see dr.  thats alot of

driving.  and my truck has 192,000 miles on it. good old Ford trk lol.  anyway will ask the tech about doing the home montoring thing and see what she says.   have a good week all.  God Bless   

[Guest guest]

Hi Joe,,dont get me wrong im happy to get the travel pay it sure helps. I remember when i lived in Phx and was seeing a private Ep dr and they put me on this device that i had to hook to the phone and place a donut thing over the icd and they would check it over the phone line , but then he decided it would be better to come into the office, why dont know, i really dont understand all this stuff with my heart condition dont even know what AF or any of this other stuff is all about , have tried ot ask queestions when i go for checkup but cant really get any answers to where i understand . i know am not the smartest person around but would like to know. have no one ot help with getting answers. john

[Guest guest]



Just be sure that you use a surgeon who has had a lot of experience with removing leads. I had two removed less than six months ago. I was lucky to have a great surgeon.

Sydney

Re: CHECK - IN !!! Turk? Bill?

Oh Ruth, ouch! What questions should I be asking as I'm going to be due for replacement too and u have one if those faulty Fidelis leads. They want to remove, but I am so afraid I can't make myself do it. Replacement doesn't bother me, it's the lead removal.Judi McIntosh, President/CEO

Swimsational Swim School, LLC

www.swimsational.net

On Jul 19, 2012, at 2:37 PM, "Ruth Hirsch" <sishirsch@...> wrote:

Guin,

I also have very small veins and last year when they had to replace a wire, he put 2 wires in the same artery. He said it was quite tight but he did it. My left arm now swells some and he told me if it swells a lot that I need to call him. It really makes me nervous that I am going to have to get leads taken out next time I need a new one.

Ruth

From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of Guin Van DykeSent: Monday, July 16, 2012 9:02 PM Subject: Re: CHECK - IN !!! Turk? Bill?

Hi Guys;

We are all doing a good job of checking in. I am worried that we have not heard from Turk or Bill yet. Bill lives a few hours away from me, and goes to the same Clinic as I, so perhaps I can do some research... Anyone close to Turk in New York??

Everyone: Keep checking in....

My update is: My battery is at 2.64 and we replace at 2.61, so I will be up for my FOURTH ICD relatively soon. This one has been 6 1/2 years so far... I will be 54 in a few days, and was originally implanted at the age of 41! It will be interesting to see what sort of new unit is available today. My leads are going on 13 years old, no one is talking replacement yet. I am not in a hurry to have them replaced, but since I have very small veins, I'd rather have them replaced sooner, rather than later!

Great to hear from everyone!

~guin