[Jeff]

Some other things that would have made my experience with the event monitor a little easier -

• If someone had told me that the flashing "signal" icon on the screen was not in fact flashing in time with my heart. If that's flashing it simply means the device is picking up a good signal. If it stops flashing, it's no longer picking up a good signal.
• They gave me two extra sets of batteries. To wear that thing for a month straight you need about 6 sets of batteries.
• The sound the King of Hearts emits when it's transmitting it's signal over the phone lines is awful - it sounds like your heart is all over the place, even when it's not. It sounds like Yoko Ono singing. It got to the point that I had to leave the room whenever I was transmitting EKG strips and just come back at the end so I could talk to the nurse.
• The nurses usually aren't supposed to tell you what they're seeing, but sometimes they will. This can be a double-edged sword, as most times I got a lot of reassurance from the nurses when I could coax info out of them, but one time the computer analysis of the EKG determined one of my episodes to be Vtach. And that's what the nurse told me. I was a basket case for the entire next day.
• The adhesive patches can really get to irritating your skin. By the end of the month my chest was a mess - but I didn't use any moisturizers or anything.
• By the end of the month you'll be ready to throw your King of Hearts event monitor out the window.