Good Riddance

For 14 days I had to wear this little "cardiac event monitor." It wasn't bad at first: less bulky than a Holter Monitor (which is only worn 24-48 hours) and fewer wires to contend with. I even figured out the smoothest way to arrange it under my clothing so the box and wires weren't too obvious, and trips to the restroom weren't too much of a hassle.

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In the beginning it was even kind of comforting, knowing that it would record any strange heartbeats that, hopefully, my cardiologist would be able to decipher later. The device had a record button for me to push when I felt an arrhythmia begin, and it would record automatically if it detected irregularities that I didn't feel.

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I had several events during the first few days, which I duly recorded. And then it began recording events when I felt perfectly fine.

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It freaked me out! I thought I always felt my irregular beats, but now that false sense of security was gone. I had to fight back the stress and practice deep breathing for a few days.
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After several days passed, I developed a rash near where the two leads connected, under my right collar bone and on my left rib cage. I thought I could take it, and I endured the itching and burning for a couple of days.

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Then the upper rash thickened and developed blisters. When the blisters began to weep, I finally removed the monitor for a day to give my skin a chance to recover.

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It didn't help. So, for the final week of the ordeal, I played an on again, off again game of wearing the monitor as long as I could, and taking 1-2 days off in between.

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Obviously, I had an allergic reaction to the adhesive on the patches. Luckily my heart behaved itself during that time. Nothing was recorded--or felt--by me or the machine (when I was wearing it).
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Tuesday was my last day on the monitor, and it was with great relief that I called Fed Ex to schedule a pick-up.

Yesterday the truck stopped by and they whisked away the small box.

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I was never so thrilled to see an irritating visitor drive away!