Part 1 of Atrial Fib & the Loop was written last week by guest blogger Lisa Eliason. This week’s blog follows Lisa’s personal journey after agreeing to have the loop inserted.
My loop went in in 2012 and came out in 2015 when the battery was about to expire. The procedure was much like that of a pacemaker being inserted. Back in 2012, the loop was the size of a zip drive, about two inches long. The surgery was minor and I went home the same day. I could feel it under my skin. The loop was implanted just left of the breast bone.
The device I used to call in my readings was the size of a small DVD player. I had to call in the readings once a month. I plugged the device into a land line and held a small paddle up to my breast. I pushed the button and my heart activity for the month was sent over the phone line to a company that reported the activity to Dr. Hummel’s office. I pushed another button and the loop activity for the month was cleared from the device.
This was the time when everyone was starting to have their land lines removed. We had just had ours removed and we only used cell phones. My biggest challenge with the loop recorder was to find a friend with a land line. The internet land line wouldn’t work nor would the land line from my office that required me to dial “7” to get an outside line. I became very skilled at finding friends and family with a land line.
Now the loop recorder is much smaller and the heart activity can be sent in over a cell phone.
When I look back on my journey with A-Fib, the best decision I made was to have the loop inserted. The worst was to wait for two years to have the ablation surgery. The ablation procedure worked for me.
Thanks go to Lisa Eliason for sharing her information about the loop. We hope she’ll share more guest blogs. Meanwhile, stay with us next week for my blog on managing meds. Read more IN A HEARTBEAT: The Ups & Downs of Life with Atrial Fib.
