STEPHEN'S STORY HEART MONITORING FOR UNEXPLAINED FAINTING

STEPHEN'S UNEXPLAINED SYNCOPE STORY

In the summer of 2014, Stephen was driving home along St. Mary's River, north of Jacksonville, Florida when he began to feel dizzy and blacked out. The impact of his truck slamming into the wall of a bridge jolted him awake. "When I woke up, my head was down, my hands were in my lap and I had no idea where I was or what I was doing there," said Stephen.

As soon as he was able, he pulled his car to the side of the road and called for help. "Still, I was in shock and had no idea what had happened," he remembered. "The police officer had to tell me I had slammed into the wall of the bridge. I was really concerned that I may have hit another car while I was blacked out. I had no clue, but fortunately nothing like that happened."

Stephen went to see a doctor, but the cause of the episode was not evident and he didn't feel confident that more time and tests would help. After a while, he started to tell himself that it was all a fluke related to stress, or the fact that he hadn't been sleeping well at the time.

But then it happened again — just a few months after starting a new job with the railroad, he blacked out at work.

"So, that really started the roller coaster of a lot of fruitless tests," Stephen remembered. "They ran neurological tests, had me wired up like a Christmas tree — tilt-table test, stress test, you name it, we did it and it always showed nothing."

"I started questioning my sanity, because everything was coming up empty-handed," said Stephen. He started wondering if it was all in his head, or if he was doing something to cause these episodes.

That's when Stephen's cardiologist recommended the Reveal LINQ Insertable Cardiac Monitoring (ICM) System. The system includes a small device placed just under the skin and a bedside unit that automatically collects heart rhythm data from the ICM and makes it available to the doctor.

"The procedure itself was — I mean, there wasn't anything to it. It was an outpatient procedure. They inserted it under the skin, nothing really major there." Stephen explained. And setting up the bedside monitor was easy, too. "Basically, I just set it on my nightstand. They linked the monitor to my Reveal LINQ prior to me leaving the hospital so when I got home, basically all I had to do was plug it in."

A few weeks later, Stephen had another episode and this time data was captured by the Reveal LINQ ICM. Stephen's doctor found a 10-second pause on his ECG and diagnosed him with a condition called Sick Sinus Syndrome. Stephen was told that he needed a pacemaker right away.

"It was a huge relief to know that, after all we had been through over the months — a steady battery of tests a few times a week, just the sense of relief that we had," said Stephen. "Even though there was a bigger issue at hand, just to be able to identify the issue, to address it, was a huge thing."

This story reflects one person's experience. Not every person will receive the same results. Talk to your doctor about your treatment options.