Life with an AngelMed Device

New Medical Device Warns Patients Of Impending Heart Attack

Researchers have developed a new implantable medical device that alerts people when a heart attack is ‘around the corner’ . The device, created by Mary Carol Day and Christopher Young, is under clinical trials and uses both acoustic, vibration and visual signals to alert people regarding a possible heart attack. Currently, there are many implantable medical devices, such as left ventricular assist like device (LVAD), pacemakers, implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD s). Pacemakers and ICDs are used to treat arrhythmias, which means abnormal beats of heart. LVAD improves heart pump function.

Creating a device that alerts people about a heart attack patients may save lives. Even though most people know the symptoms of a myocardial infarction ( constrictive chest pain that does not respond to nitroglycerin, radiation possible in the left shoulder, back or jaw, sweating, anxiety), however many patients arrive at hospital too late sometimes. Moreover, there are situations in which the patient feels no pain and only symptom may be shortness of breath, as patients with diabetes. Arrival at the hospital as soon as possible after the onset of stroke is extremely important.

The new device, called AngelMed Guardian ®, is extremely useful for patients with cardiovascular disease and risk of myocardial infarction. Even if this kind of devices have been created so far, none have used the combination of acoustic, visual and vibration signals. In addition, it was found that the auditors based only on signals such as those implanted in the heart defibrillators may not always help because patients sometimes do not hear the alarm. Author Mary Carol Day says that this device has two major advantages. First, this device is implanted, that is it can not be forgotten. The second is that the device is also vibratile, warning patient of stroke whether he wears warm clothes or does not hear very well.

As a medical device, this is fixed in the upper left chest, and has the size of a pacemaker. In fact, the entire device is composed of two parts, one part which is implanted in the chest, and another part resembling a pager that alerts the patient when necessary. The device was designed to send two types of alarms, depending on the seriousness of the event. The first is an emergency alarm and warn the patient he can have a heart attack, and the second is a minor emergency and tells the patient to consult a physician within 24 hours. The results are promising so far. In studies of elderly patients, they could make the difference between the two types of emergencies. They also said they were satisfied with the quality warnings. The author added that in case the device is approved by FDA, it will probably need some changes in order to improve the quality of the interaction between the patient and the system.

POSTED IN: MEDICAL NEWS BY ELVIS AUGUSTIN COMMENT ON APRIL 16TH, 2012

Saturday, August 3, 2013

My Angel med alarm went off for first time

July 3, 2013.

My 3 little dogs got into a terrible fight. After I managed to get the hurt one away from the scene, I was sitting on the couch cleaning the blood off of Babette, my rat terrier, when my angel med alarm went off for the first time. Funny but I was as calm as could be, felt nothing so far as pain, palpitations, shortness of breath.

I called my Angel Med rep and he explained that my alert was a call doctor alert and not an emergency and my device would probably go off in another 24 hours, and my coordinator would call me to set up an appointment for me to come in and download the information.

Sitting waiting 24 hours later and no alert. Come to find out you do not get anymore alerts if your issue has corrected itself, in my case a too fast heart rate resulting from the dog fight.

At my appointment we went over the alerts to refresh them in my body/mind. Next time I will know what the alarm means. My heart rate is set to 150 and it went over that, thus the reason for the alarm. Everyone's is set different depending upon what kind of activities that you regularly participate in.

Funny but at this time my angina has diminished by 95%, I figure that is being due to the lack of anxiety I feel each time I experience chest pains!

Monday, March 25, 2013

Doing great!

All is going just perfect. I have had NO alarms go off, ya'll be one of the first to know when/if it does.
I am seeing an increased sense of peace within myself. I know that I am being watched by many angels from above and by one internal one. Really does give you an added sense of security. Each little chest pain is not being feared as an upcoming or possible heart attack. Especially when you have angina, this device is awesome to alleviate the sense of fear with each twinge..
Yes. Life is good!
Hugs!
lastredo@att.net for comments or if you have an angel med and want to chat or post your feelings/thoughts here, please don't hesitate to email me.
Leesa

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

My angel is on duty!!!

Today at approximately 10 am CDT my angel med device was switched to the "on" position. I am now being monitored for a possible impending heart attack or other significant heart changes by my angel med.
I was thoroughly explained how to use my EDT, external device, that will also blink and beep when my Angel Med goes off. There will be vibrations of the device as well as notification from my EDT. In order to turn off the alerts/vibrations, my EDT is held up to my Angel Med Device, and I push a button that will then "disarm" the notices. They will start again at different time intervals until I go to the ER or see my Angel Med Rep.

Oh, of course you want to know what I wore... an ethnic designed shirt that sparkles and black jeans and boots. I had colored my hair, painted my nails and sad to say, I had only 1, yes 1 earring with a bell on it..
"I will be there with bells on". Only made it with A bell.. not bells, but I guess that was cool. LOL.

I am very very happy to be participating in this trial and I do %100 recommend this to others!!! Even the sense that I know I don't need to question what the chest pain is...my angel med will alert me if its an impending heart attack. :)

If you are considering or have an Angel Med device...and have questions and/or comments that you are not comfortable posting here...feel free to send me an email. I would like to have other Angels stories here also. HUGS! lastredo@att.net
Leesa

Monday, February 18, 2013

Ok, so what does one wear to a Turn On?

Yes! Finally the day I waited 6 months for!! Angel med will be switched to the on mode in the morning! I will no longer have to stress over what is the chest pain and should I go to the ER.. My angel med will alert me if its my heart and if its serious. There will be vibrations, which will continue to alert me until I turn the notification off. One vibration means call my doc.. not serious.. 2 or 3 means go to ER...its serious. (actually, I am to call an ambulance to save time and possibly my life) :)
So, I have colored my hair, painted my nails, (well, one hand, the other and the toes are scheduled here shortly) and now to choose an outfit.. hmmm. black and gold? Animal, mineral or solid.. LOL.. as you can see, I am very excited!
My daughter and my granddaughter will be accompaning me in the morning as they have been with me this whole part of the journey!
OH, just remembered.. I will get another survey to complete, one at beginning, one at 6 months, and one at 1 year.. and you get a $100 dollar gift card for your time/trouble... now it don't get much better dan dat..
Will be posting tomorrow to tell you the important things.. what I wore.. oh, and of course, what its really like now to have my angel med, doing its intended job..
See you tomorrow!!

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Valentines Day, 2013

All has gone very well with my angel med since it was implanted on August 22, 2012. NO problems at all.
Being this was/is a trial, you are randomly picked to have your device turned on, or kept off for a period of 6 months.
My 6 months is up and I will have it turned on, Feb 19th, at 9am. I am soooo excited!!!
During these months, the information that is being collected on my device has been able to be downloaded and read. I just don't get any notifications of any changes within my heart. ie alerts of vibrations and/or audio box.
My angel med has been a truly life changing experience and I can only imagine what it will be like once it is turned on.

Friday, September 21, 2012

Sept 21, 2012 Thoughts

Whew... where to begin.. Angel Med, Isaac, Doctors, Crisis tracker deployment, Doctors, more issues...
So, I guess I will start with today and go backwards?

Today I will have another download of my angel med...meaning all the information that has been collected up to the download point will be read. On my 7-14 day visit, which is when I would find out if my device was turned "on" or "off", a download was done. My device was randomized "off". :( That is part of the study, some are on and some are off. I was disappointed at first, but when Al, told me its helps more with the study and the future of angel med to be "off". my disappointment flew right out the window.

I had a mini stroke in my eye on Sept. 9th. I thought it was an optical migraine, or painless migraine, as I have had them before. I should have known with every characterisitc different and lasting a couple of hours instead of the normal 20 minutes or so, that something was wrong!

On Friday, my two dear friends, Donna and Christina, made me call an opthamologist and go see the doc. I was left with a black bug/tadpole looking area on my eye which moved when my eye moved. (it was my right eye) Wednesday I had an angiogram done on my eyes and its beginning to point to this "stroke" being a cardiovascular event. So today is a download.. Now if my angel med was on would I have been alerted? Is a stroke something picked up by an angel med device? Or if its from arteries in my neck does it not appear to the angel med? << my thoughts and questions today

On Wednesday, the 26th, I am having an ultrasound done on the arteries of my neck to see if perhaps there is some plaque that broke off and caused the episode.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Welcome Ms Endriss Class!!!

I am looking forward to our skype interview during your 8th period on Friday, Sept. 21! See ya'll then.
HUGS!! Leesa