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Long-distance patient saves time with remote
monitoring
 After
retiring from a 30-year career in banking in 1994, John Bomar happily
traded the sedentary lifestyle of a banker for a physically challenging
part-time job maintaining seven athletic fields for the high school
in rural Grenada, Mississippi. “Raised hunting and fishing” in
his native Arkansas, John readily admits that weeding grass and
keeping it in perfect playing condition is the ideal retirement
job. It leaves plenty of time to travel with his wife, Nancy, and
go hunting and fishing with his friends.
When
in his early 30s, John had a heart attack, the beginning of serious
heart problems to come. He later required quadruple bypass surgery
and
was ultimately diagnosed with congestive heart failure in 2001.
An
electrophysiology test revealed John to be at risk for potentially
life-threatening
episodes of ventricular tachycardia (VT). John immediately received
an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), a Medtronic GEM® III,
designed to both deliver shock therapy for life-threatening episodes
of VT and pace John’s heart at a more normal rate
of 62 than the 40 beats per minute (bpm) shown by the tests.
In
November 2002, John’s physician from The Stern Cardiovascular
Center
in Memphis prescribed a new remote monitoring device for him, the
Medtronic CareLink® Monitor. The monitor allows him to replace
a
couple of his in-office follow-up visits with remote interrogations — from
home or while traveling — via a standard phone line. “We
live 100 miles
away from the clinic in Memphis. With the Medtronic CareLink Monitor,
I save the
two days it typically takes for those check-ups,” said John.
Both
his ICD and the Medtronic CareLink Monitor were put to the test
last summer, when John passed out in the middle of a football field
while
talking to coaches. He regained consciousness after a few minutes,
called
the clinic and transmitted his device data with the Medtronic CareLink
Monitor. Downloaded by the clinic via the Internet, the comprehensive
data confirmed that John’s ICD had “fired” appropriately
in response to an
episode of VT at 240 beats per minute.
Later last summer, John experienced
a second episode while riding his
tractor mower across a baseball field. This time he was conscious
when
the ICD delivered a shock. Again, he transmitted his ICD data with
the
Medtronic CareLink Monitor and, again, the clinic confirmed that
the
device delivered appropriate therapy. “The two episodes not
only proved
that my device works, the CareLink Monitor added that extra level
of
comfort, allowing me to know immediately what was going on,” recalled
John. “Instead of feeling helpless and wondering if my heart
is going into
tachy, I can now be on top of it, and feel I have greater control.
Words
cannot describe the reassurance that gives me.”
This story recounts the experience of a patient who is using
the Medtronic CareLink Monitor for remote device follow-up.
Medtronic, Inc. invited him to share this story cordially.
Please bear in mind that this experience is specific to this
patient. Results vary, not every response is the same.
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