Heart Monitor - Day One

I got my heart monitor via UPS yesterday morning. It looked very intimidating when I opened the box and saw all of the parts, batteries, wires and packages. I took out the instruction booklet and it said I had to follow the steps in pages 1 - 3 prior to the instructional call later in the day.

First I had to set up the monitor's charging station in my bedroom, attaching the wires through my phone and into the electrical outlet. First try I hooked it up wrong, by trying to do it too quickly. My hubby helped me slow it down, and get it wired up correctly, placing the monitor in the stand to charge before the call later in the day.

Fifteen minutes before call time, the instructions told me to open one package of adhesive leads, and to attach one on my left side, three fingers below my collar bone, one on the right side, three fingers below my collar bone, and one on the lower left side, near the bottom of my rib cage. Prior to attaching them, I was to snap the wires from the sensor onto the adhesive leads. Black was to go on upper left, white on upper right and red on lower left.

When the call came, he asked if I had attached the leads and wires, which I had. He instructed me to put the battery in the sensor and then to turn on the monitor. We went through the process of activating the monitor and then sending a base line reading in. He explained when I need to turn the monitor off, when to change the battery in the sensor, and when to change the leads. I need to wear it at all times, except when showering or swimming as it cannot get wet. He said the adhesive leads are waterproof and can be left on during a shower. At the conclusion of the call, he told me if thee was any problem when they got the baseline readings, they would call me back within 30 minutes.

Sure enough, I got a call in 30 minutes that the baseline reading came back rejected. He had me check that the color of the wires were in the correct positions. It turns out I had the black and white wires reversed. I corrected that. Then he had me lie in bed and gave my hubby the directions over the phone how to perform the baseline readings again. It worked this time.

The sensor which I wear around my neck is not a problem at all. I do not even know it is there. Remembering to take the monitor with me wherever I go is more difficult. At night the monitor charges in its cradle while I sleep, so that is easy enough.

At the gym today, I carried the monitor in a case my son gave me at Christmas to carry my cell phone to the gym. I can hang it around my neck so I won't forget to take it from machine to machine.

I am also able to wear my heart rate monitor to count calories and keep track of my heart rate during exercise, along with this monitor. I am happy about that.

When I got home from the gym and got ready to shower, I had to turn off the monitor, remove the battery from the sensor and unsnap the lead wires. Although I was told the adhesive leads were water proof, the two top ones fell off during the shower. Even though I dried them off, and they seemed like they were going to re-stick, they fell off when I snapped the leads wires back in, so I had to change them.

SO my first 24 hours with the monitor has gone well. The adhesive is not at all itchy or irritating so far. One day down, thirteen more to go.