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Random thoughts about my event monitor

Posted 10-15-2009 at 10:39 PM by dld

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These are just some of the thoughts running through my head.

1. It is amazing how quickly you get used to this thing.

2. It is somehow reassuring to put this on every day.

3. How many feelings I thought were my heart before, but now I won't press the button because I don't really think it is my heart.

4. What if I am not near a landline when I have an episode to report.

5. Somewhere in my head I don't think anything is seriously wrong, but what if it is? Should I have kept my head in the sand.

6. Waiting the minute to transmit and hear from the person on the other end is agony.

7. What would I do if the person on the other end of the phone tells me I need to call my doctor or worse, get to the hospital.

8. Why haven't I had any of the bad PVC's I was getting previous to wearing the monitor.

9. What am I going to do when the bad PVC's come back?

10. What if the 30 days go by and on day 31 I start getting my strong runs of skips? Then I think I will just have a nervous breakdown.

11. How many different ways can I try to hide this under my clothes?

12. What if I have to press the button at work and/or in front of other people?

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Comments

1. I have a theory on your not getting any of the symptoms that scared you before. You said that you feel reassured having the monitor strapped to you. I did, too. Sometimes. And that bit of reassurance is usually enough to calm the heart rhythm a bit. (which should also tell you how much stress plays a role in this.) My monitor recorded 5 - 60 second events, and I only sent it in when I was at 5 or was going to be away from a phone for awhile. Is yours also a 5x60? If you have to press it in front of people, just excuse yourself and walk somewhere. Around a corner. You have lots of time to press the button and still capture the aberrant rhythm. After about two weeks my kids accidentally discovered the thing and would climb all over me trying to get it to make noise. Drove me nuts. And certainly, don't put your head in the sand. Lisa would tell you the same. And if it turns out to be nothing? Great!! Now you know. And you can accept whatever's going on as non-harmful, and go about your life. This will all be fine. You'll see. -Jeff

   Posted 10-25-2009 at 10:03 PM by Jeff

2. HI Jeff, Welcome back. I have one week left on this. It took me a week to realize that I could hold 5 events before transmitting. The nurse told me I had to transmit after every one. I have had a few blips here and there, but nothing like I was getting. There are some times that I don't press the button (like when I am in a meeting) but it didn't matter because I know it was only 1 skip. It is funny, that I can find the rhythm as I transmit and I know exactly when I have skipped and when I pressed the button. It also has made me realize just how much stress is involved even when I don't want to believe it. When I give this back and see my doctor, I think I am going to ask for an antidepressant and try to get off this roller coaster and back to my life! D

   Posted 10-25-2009 at 10:20 PM by dld

3. I think that's a good idea. The anti-depressant, I mean. Can literally turn your life around. I think that over the years, life has this way of slowly, methodically pounding the you out of you. The fun, the spontaneity get beaten out of you, but in such small increments that you never really notice it until one day, decades down the road, your mind is a mess and your heart is following suit and you have no idea how you got here. And then you pop these little blue or yellow pills for a few weeks and all of a sudden, the sun comes out again. Each day becomes more than just a collection of 24 hours you need to fill, and they start becoming these things you cram full of small and large experiences that enrich your soul. And you feel like having sex more. Which can never be a bad thing.

   Posted 11-01-2009 at 11:43 AM by Jeff

4. 	You just described my life to a t. Especially the part of the fun disappearing over time and I don't know when or how it changed. I know my husband will enjoy the sex part! Thanks D
   	Posted 11-01-2009 at 12:08 PM by dld

5. I read your post regarding "Random Thoughts" ....I am on day 9 of my 30 day event monitor...I will add one of my own..."how about try to interpret the sounds into whatever diagnosis your imagination can imagine?" LOL At least I can laugh at myself and not take myself so seriously... I surmise I have picked up something...because some of my events I have sent in sound smooth and even and others sound all over the place...skipping, stopping, like a scratchy record... But in the end it is the MD that I will have to trust... But I also believe knowledge is power...the more I know the less afraid I am....So I am going to ask for full and complete explanations from my medical providers....Thanks All....

   Posted 02-10-2010 at 03:34 PM by homemaker

6. You are so right. You get to know those sounds pretty well. If there is one thing I learned it is to press that button however often you want. The person on the other end of the phone was not very friendly to me and I always felt like I was bothering him. At times, I knew the skips were nothing so I didn't press the button. Now I wish I had. I did get to learn all of the sounds and sometimes when they sounded really strange, I asked why. Guess what-my lead was off. Good thing I asked why because I don't think they would have told me! Definitely get all you can from this. Good luck.

   Posted 02-10-2010 at 04:12 PM by dld