The Pitfalls Of Living With A Defibrillator

Living with a defibrillator (ICD) is trickier than I thought. In only five days, I had three encounters of the kind:

Anti-theft systems in shops: If you have an ICD, you are advised to pass anti-theft systems in shops very quickly. They emmitt high frequency radiation the ICD could interpret as arryhthmia and eventually deliver a shock. In Swiss shops, it takes about three to five seconds til the door opens the moment someone goes through the anti-theft system. So I have to go through and take a step back til the door opens and then leave the shop. You can imagine I got some nasty looks. It also happens people are blocking the way between the anti-theft system and the door. It made me shout "out of my way" a few times already.

Name tags: Part of my job as a business journalist is to attend press conferences. Usually, I get a name tag stating who I am and what newspaper I am working for. Some of those tags are fixed with magnets to the blazer or shirt. At a press conference this week, I found out that some of those tiny magents are not made for people with ICDs or pacemakers. A huge danger sign was on the back of my name tag.

Massages: My fiancee thought I needed some relaxation and sent me to a professional massage practitioner. It was only later I found out she had a pedicure device in the room emmitting frequency. She had to turn it off because - you know.