I'm hooked up to a heart monitor. I'd been having palpitations earlier this week, so the cardiologist has provided a heart monitor for me to wear for thirty days. It isn't like the twenty-four hour monitor that I've worn in the past. With the twenty-four hour monitor, I wore it, recorded palpitations by pressing a button on the device and kept a written diary which included what I was doing at the time of the 'event'. This thirty day monitor, called a iRhythm (Zio Event Card), is more labor intensive as a patient (which isn't a big deal, just different). The iRhythm allows the patient to record a total of two events. After that, the data has to be sent to the company by phoning their toll free number (a land line is mandatory). After speaking with a representative and verifying your name, date of birth and the last four number from the backside of the Zio Event Card, the device is placed facing up on a flat surface while the phone receiver connected to a land line is held over the telephone icon on the iRhythm device. Once the telephone is in place, the patient presses send on the iRhythm device. A series of audible key tones are transmitted (sounding very similar to a facsimile machine) over the land line telephone. Once the key tones have ended, the patient uses the telephone to continue speaking with a representative who verifies if the data is readable. One perk to the iRhythm is that the representatives will contact your doctor if the data presents as emergent, whereas the twenty-four hour monitor will be interpreted at a later date. The iRhythm unit comes with helpful instructions that describe it's usage in more depth.
