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Series 5 for heart attack patient

harriska2

harriska2

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Mar 16, 2011
1,953
1,073
Oregon
My question is: is this helpful and useful addition for a recovering patient?

So the spouse is recovering from a major heart attach in the hospital. He is doing super well (12 hours later walking, talking, eating) considering it was the “widow maker” type. I asked him if he wanted an Apple watch and he thought it was a good idea - this coming from a guy that refuses to wear a watch and thinks Apple watches are dumb. Must have rattled him but good.
 
harriska2 said:
My question is: is this helpful and useful addition for a recovering patient?

So the spouse is recovering from a major heart attach in the hospital. He is doing super well (12 hours later walking, talking, eating) considering it was the “widow maker” type. I asked him if he wanted an Apple watch and he thought it was a good idea - this coming from a guy that refuses to wear a watch and thinks Apple watches are dumb. Must have rattled him but good.
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Great to hear that your spouse is doing much better after a major heart attack.
The Apple Watch at the moment can give you a heart rate and an ECG reading and check for Atrial Fibrillation. Apple is clear in the fact that it will not detect heart attacks. If ECG and heart rate readings are useful vital signs for a recovering patient to monitor, which I assume they are, then absolutely try one out. There is a no questions asked return period if it doesn’t suit your spouse’s needs.
 
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Forgot to mention, here are also some useful features on the Apple Watch for medical purposes. These screenshots were taken from the Watch App on my iPhone.

CE2AF8C2-5D64-46F2-960E-09A8B0F498F8.jpeg

1BEFBC5F-5E4A-4793-BDE9-09AC5EE17A8C.jpeg
 
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The biggest thing for me has been the activity/excercising tracking and motivation. I have been much more focused on the excercise I get and whether the excercise I am doing is really working my heart out. The ECG and heart rate monitor are nice to have on a device that is almost always with you (other than when charging). The data shouldn't be taken as gospel but it is nice to have some insight to your body when you are questioning how you feel at a given moment. With that said, the watch's value is what your husband will make of it. Many people will be initially enthused about using the watch's features but will lose motivation/interest in a relatively short amount of time. The fall monitor on the newest version is a feature that gives family members some comfort that they will get a notification if the wearer has a fall and doesn't have more than minimal movement for a minute.
 
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BTW, people in other forums have posted that Costco has been running a sale on Apple Series 5 for $85 off.
 
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applezot said:
BTW, people in other forums have posted that Costco has been running a sale on Apple Series 5 for $85 off.
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Pink with a silicone band that I would have to replace with a $50 sport loop now that off brand sport loops that work like the real ones have been removed from Amazon :(
 
Was that from the website or did you actually go into a store? Stores often have more than offered on the website. They still had them at my Costco tonight but I didn't check the actual stock. I am guessing they have been selling a bazillion of these this week after they went on sale.
 
Apparently, deals are popping up at multiple sellers now. Best Buy is offering $100 off the S5.
 
harriska2 said:
My question is: is this helpful and useful addition for a recovering patient?

So the spouse is recovering from a major heart attach in the hospital. He is doing super well (12 hours later walking, talking, eating) considering it was the “widow maker” type. I asked him if he wanted an Apple watch and he thought it was a good idea - this coming from a guy that refuses to wear a watch and thinks Apple watches are dumb. Must have rattled him but good.
Click to expand...
As having "mitral valve prolapse" i before tend to keep some data like blood preasure,heart pulse manually. Been bought samsung efit kinda loss nowhere to found.

ECG is nice but not all country have it i assume because medical regulation.

Maybe i will think a few month more or days since corona virus mess.
 
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alien3dx said:
As having "mitral valve prolapse" i before tend to keep some data like blood preasure,heart pulse manually. Been bought samsung efit kinda loss nowhere to found.

ECG is nice but not all country have it i assume because medical regulation.

Maybe i will think a few month more or days since corona virus mess.
Click to expand...
I have the same thing with the mitral valve. My Series 1 has been tracking my heart rate for 3 years now. I sort of love it (it’s slow and needs to be upgraded but it still works for what I need).
 
I am also a heart patient (MI X 2, CABG X3, CHF and an ICD). I have been wearing the Watch pretty much since they came out. The newer series have fall detection, which I can testify works well! Had a little episode that put me on the floor with a shattered ankle. I woke up to my watch vibrating and sounding an alarm that it was preparing to call 9-1-1. I was able to make notifications on my own, but it is nice to know that if I can't, it will call 9-1-1, send a map of my location and notify my emergency contacts. Good luck and tell your husband to keep on fighting!
 
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First, glad your husband is recovering, and is taking it seriously. I had a heart attack last October, and as part of my rehab process, bought the 5 with cellular service, even though I didn't activate the service. It will still call 911/notify the emergency contacts if I fall down, even though I didn't activate the service. If the one you purchased at BB is only the GPS version, you may want to upgrade it to the one with cellular. It has given my wife a lot of peace of mind when I am on my long walks.

the watch does help motivate, I lost 40+ pounds so far, and still am committed to getting healthier. Good luck to you both.
 
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tenordrum said:
First, glad your husband is recovering, and is taking it seriously. I had a heart attack last October, and as part of my rehab process, bought the 5 with cellular service, even though I didn't activate the service. It will still call 911/notify the emergency contacts if I fall down, even though I didn't activate the service. If the one you purchased at BB is only the GPS version, you may want to upgrade it to the one with cellular. It has given my wife a lot of peace of mind when I am on my long walks.

the watch does help motivate, I lost 40+ pounds so far, and still am committed to getting healthier. Good luck to you both.
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I thought about the cell version but because it costs $10 more per month, he always has his iphone se with him, and I worry about watch battery life in the cement building he works in, we opted for the regular 5. Hope to pick it up today. I think he likes the contactless features of the cell phone, which is even better with the watch. And without going to work, I now just use my overly loud (love it!) watch alarm to wake me. I think he’ll like the watch even though I never thought I could get him to wear one in a million years. Hoping to use the compete with a buddy for doing workouts feature ;)
 
harriska2 said:
I thought about the cell version but because it costs $10 more per month, he always has his iphone se with him, and I worry about watch battery life in the cement building he works in, we opted for the regular 5. Hope to pick it up today. I think he likes the contactless features of the cell phone, which is even better with the watch. And without going to work, I now just use my overly loud (love it!) watch alarm to wake me. I think he’ll like the watch even though I never thought I could get him to wear one in a million years. Hoping to use the compete with a buddy for doing workouts feature ;)
Click to expand...

Just a note you don't have to enable the LTE portion of the watch. I have the LTE version for the same reason, fall detection, and auto dial emergency services in case of an accident. My phone carrier doesn't support the watch, so I have the LTE without the benefit, other than the security of knowing that if anything happens, at least someone will find me sooner, rather than later.
 
I had a heart attack and have an original Apple Watch (I’ll probably replace it soon but it still works) mostly use it for keeping an eye on heart rate when exercising and for activity tracking. Nice to get notifications on the wrist too. Worth saying that I like watches and have a few nice ones, nothing expensive and that unless I forget to charge the Apple one I never wear the others.
 
oeagleo said:
Just a note you don't have to enable the LTE portion of the watch. I have the LTE version for the same reason, fall detection, and auto dial emergency services in case of an accident. My phone carrier doesn't support the watch, so I have the LTE without the benefit, other than the security of knowing that if anything happens, at least someone will find me sooner, rather than later.
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That is what I did, and it gives my wife a lot of peace of mind. I don't need to enable the watch LTE for my use.
 
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