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Avatar universal

Oh, the epic stupidity !!

Well folks, I've had my event monitor on for 2 months now.  They say that's the longest Medicare will pay for me to wear it (i'm only 33 but i'm on disability).    But my heart hasn't gone out of rhythm since I"ve had it on.    I know my heart.  Sometimes I go 4-6 months without any action, and then for a month or 2 it's happening 2-4 times per week.   I'm obviously in a lull period, which would normally be good.   I'm pretty sure that once I take it off things will start happening, and I'll be dropping to the floor again due to my heart fluttering and starting to faint.    I'm almost halfway tempted to just surreptitiously hang on to the monitor and find a place to buy my own electrodes and then when something happens challenge medical ethics if I'm given any trouble.  Maybe that's going overboard.
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1137980 tn?1281285446
After the initial visit when everything started and he was running tests he wanted me to carry the card with me as a safety measure since his offices are about 45 minutes from here...so i would be in a resturant something would pop up..i'd excuse myself go to the ladies room in a stall put it to my chest press the button call the number i was given on my cell phone and more than a couple of times before the ablation was done the doc would call me back and give me instructions over the phone...poor guy...it would wake me up out of my sleep...3:30 in the morning i am calling the card center transmitting the event over the cell phone and 20 minutes later the heart doc was up with me telling me what to do...it was crazy.  After the procedure i gave the card back and then i started getting those random episodes of what he calls "ghost tach" thought i was having an issue..press the card to my chest and no phone call...i thought something was wrong w. the card....called the call center and they said no...if was working fine and it wasn't transmitting anything out of the norm....it did catch a couple of things maybe 3 times after the procedure....the doc called back and told me either to head to the E,R. to get converted or told me to take the Multaq i was given for emergencies only...it is an amazing piece of equipment that save me literally thousands of dollars in E,R, visits.  So in a nutshell snarky....i had it for about two weeks before the ablation was done and after the ablation we played it by ear and when it got to the point where i wasn't sending anything to the call center for 4-5 weeks or more i turned it in.  Who would of thunk it?  I am continuously amazed at medical science and i honestly believe that little card in the beginning helped save my life because its like the heart doc is at the resturant with you, cooking dinner with you, in the shower with you, etc. LOL.....basically i carried it until i was out of the red zone before and after.  Think about it snarky it sounds like it would be a perfect fit for you and doesn't freak you out with the leads on your chest, you don't take it off in the shower...its like having a doctor in your pocket 24/7
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Avatar universal
Cindy, you have a helluva story in your profile...how long did you carry the credit card monitor around?  I may ask about that
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1137980 tn?1281285446
What about the credit card event monitor.  I had one it was great.  I kept it in my wallet and when something popped up i pressed it to my chest wall...pressed the flat button on it to record and then called a number my doc gave me where the monitoring station received the event..evaluated it and if it was bad enough called the doc who called me to come in?  The thing was totally amazing.  NO lead wires...just a credit card i pressed to the chest wall and viola caught done and over.  Just a thought.
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187666 tn?1331173345
Can you ask them if you could keep it for another month and you would pay the $175 out of pocket? If you don't return it without a word, they'll probably assume you've stolen it and will bill you for the unit. I don't they're very cheap.
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Avatar universal
Oh yeah, I almost forgot... I've landed in the ER more than once when my heart goes out of rhythm (although it's of course always over with by the time anyone arrives).   That's $3,000 bucks a pop billed to the government.  Yet, they're paying out like $175 a month for the event monitor.   So, if I got a proper diagnosis and had a name for it (nearly guaranteed if left on a few more months), I wouldn't be scared and run to the ER....problem solved, for 1/4 the price of a single ER trip.
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