This isn’t the first time you will hear me say that “I Really Love Technology.” But it’s true. In March of this year, I got a chance to remember how technology has saved my life. I had my first defibrillator replaced at that time. I got a shiny new Medtronic Virtuoso II unit. And things were fine for over six months.
And then I got a new bike. OK, it isn’t the bike’s fault. But it always seems that I find out more about these units when I’m cycling. And here is where the story begins…
Eight years ago, I was riding my bike when I learned that there was a problem with the lead that was inserted into my left ventricle. That problem resulted in a total of eight (8) unnecessary shocks. And the resolution was a surgery to have the leads replaced.
Last week, I was riding home from work when my new ICD proved its existence by nudging me with a 300V shock. OK, it wasn’t a nudge. It was more like a really big th-wack in the middle of my chest. But it only happened once. After making it home, I sent the digital data via modem to my cardiologist. And the EP tech told me I had experienced another inappropriate shock due to t-wave over-sensing by the ICD.
If you take a look at the EKG strip (above), you will see what happened. My heart was beating at about 130 bpm. But my device thought that my heart was beating at over 200 bpm. So in the first row, you will see where the device tried to pace my heart back down to a “normal” rhythm. And in the second row, you see what happens when your heart get a 300V shock.
So I went to the cardiologist today. The EP tech and a kindly Medtronic tech sat with me and re-programmed my ICD. It was no big deal. It took about five minutes of real work and about fifteen minutes of discussing everything with the overly curious patient. The device was reprogrammed to ensure that my t-wave won’t be mis-identified as a QRS-wave. I then asked for a printout of the strip so I could post it for your review.
Two dozen years ago, I would have died – on numerous occasions. A dozen years ago, I might have gotten an ICD; but I wouldn’t have been able to maintain my active lifestyle. Now I have a next-generation device. And this technology will someday save my life. It is quite cool. It can communicate wirelessly. It can be reprogrammed while I’m awake and sitting in a chair wearing my normal clothes. And I can be part of the entire process. Couple that with the computer technology in my house and I can share part of the experience with you.
But despite all of the advances found in this device, I still live with the product of man’s ever-increasing knowledge. It’s not perfect. But it does save lives. And with each generation, we know more and more. But as I think about the Creator who designed and built us, I realize just how far we’ve come – and just how far we have to go to approach the healing power that is in His hands. I really like my doctor. But I really love my Creator, my Savior and my Lord.
Last week, I got a tangible reminder of how fragile and how temporary my current life is. Tomorrow, I am on my bike again. And I will be reminded of what a blessing every day truly is.
I want to thank each and every one of you for the prayers you’ve raised before our Lord. He has heard them. And He has answered your prayers through technology, through doctors and through His unparalleled mercy and grace.
-Roo
Category: Cardiology
14 Seconds From Eternity
I started to feel strange…
I checked my pulse…
It took 8.75 seconds to charge…
29.5J of energy were delivered…
I felt the explosion in my chest…
After fourteen seconds, it was over. My Medtronic Gem III VR 7231 saved my life. I was in a lethal cardiac rythmn. The general term for this rythmn is ventricular fibrillation. The med tech called it Torsades de Pointes rythmn. I call it a brush with destiny.
This isn’t the first time this has happened. Three and a half years ago, I died in the eye doctor’s office. But by God’s grace I am here to tell the tale. I call myself the CyclingRoo because I am an avid cyclist who is also an “electric roo” (a patient who has been saved through the use of an implantable cardioverter difibrilator.
As I noted in my inaugural post, I never really knew whether or not I needed this device – until six weeks ago. Late one night (while in a different city), I was awoken from sleep by my ICD. After talking to my cardiologist, I learned that I did indeed receive a life-saving therapy.
But I didn’t blog about the incident. I did not want to unnecessarily worry my kids. After all, the incident happened while the family was on an official visit to my daughter’s future college (SiU, Go Salukis). And my kids have enough things to worry about just being teenagers. At the same time, I was in the process of considering a new job. So I didn’t want to provoke a lot of medical questions as part of the interview. Of course, I did disclose my cardiac situation; how could it not be obvious given the blog postings over the past year.
I had every intention of blogging about the event this past weekend. I figured that it was time to fully disclose everything that is happening. But as usual, I got side-tracked. So I figured I would do the obligatory “catch-up” post this week (the last week I was going to be in the office with my current employer).
Now, circumstances have overtaken me.
Last night, I left the kitchen table and went out into the living room to watch some television and sit and chat with my beloved mother-in-law. BTW, I use the beloved term quite liberally. After my own Mom passed away, my mother-in-law has truly become my Mom. I will trust her with my deepest and most-heartfelt confidences as I know that she loves me unconditionally. It is fabulous having a mother-in-law who can assume some of the role that my Mom had! But I digress a bit…
I sat down on the couch and started to be a little short of breath. That hasn’t been unusual the past week. I’ve had a sinus infection and I have had real difficulty breathing. But this felt markedly different. I was feeling a little anxious and checked the pulse in my neck. It felt really weak. I checked the pulse on my wrist and it felt unremarkable. But I was starting to feel worse. So I remember putting my fingers back on my neck.
The next thing I remember was feeling my chest explode and hearing my youngest daughter shrieking in abject fear. She witnessed my conversion from death back to life. She saw my body convulse horribly. And I think she knew that something awful had happened. Mom could tell that something was wrong because she said I looked horrible. She was preparing to go for help when my ICD fulfilled its duties. In the course of fourteen seconds, I was headed to eternity. The med tech told me that nothing natural would have happened to prevent my death. Indeed, my ICD (and God’s grace) restored me to wholeness.
There is very little I can say that would fully describe what I am feeling. But here is my meager attempt.
First, I am overjoyed. My God has a purpose for me on this world. And that purpose is not fulfilled. He guided the innovative minds that created the Medtronic device. He guided the leaders of the company through countless clinical trials. He even prepared the surgeon who implanted the device. In all, God laid out a path for my continued mortal life. I can never express the immense gratitude that I have.
Second, I am nervous. I have just resigned from one employer (effective 12/31) and I have not yet started with my new employer. There will be no problem with Microsoft. Especially since this will not materially change anything. I am still able to perform everything that Microsoft needs from me. It may change some of my transit logistics, but that is inconsequential.
Third, I am anxious. I have no reason to fear. After all, the enemy is the real author of fear. But I can tell you that I have cried and prayed about how I am responding to this latest “therapy.” I can say that I am clearly holding on way too tightly. Last night, I was gripped with fear – fear of losing my wife and kids, fear of stumbling through my job transition. But the fear I am feeling is nothing more than fear itself. I have all that I need to thrive. I have a family. And I have a defibrillator that is my “ace in the hole.” So the only thing I have to fear is fear itself.
God, thank you for your continuing mercy and forbearance with such a frail servant. I love you and I will trust you in whatever you have laid before me. I will rest in my faith and expect your peace to come to me.
Friends, thank you for reading this. When I started, I had no idea what I would write. I only started with the odd feeling that “14 Seconds From Eternity” is what I should write about. Most of us have a recognition that there is more to living than just the day-to-day act of survival. Instead, it is an affirmation of Him who made us. We are His workmanship, created for good works in Christ. He calls us to offer up ourselves a living sacrifice. I pray that I can fulfill this calling in your sight. And I pray that each of you (including the wife whom I love in indescribable ways) will hold me accountable for my spirit and my words. I need you now. Not for logistics but for the restoration of peace and joy.
For me, I clearly know that I am a mere fourteen seconds from eternity. May I make all of the moments that precede those final fourteen worthy of God’s approval.
-CyclingRoo-
Guidant Recalls 50,000 Defibrillators
After almost three years of having an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) installed in my chest, I’ve come to the point where I don’t think very much about this thing. But that has not always been the case.
During the first few months after installation, I had some horrible problems. My defibrillator (a Medtronic unit) misfired seven or eight times. In my case, the situation was the result of problems with the leads that connect to the inside wall of my heart’s right ventricle. Apparently, the leads were misreading my heart rate. Indeed, the complete system thought that my heart was beating at twice the rate that it actually was.
Now that’s not nomrally a big deal. The unit was set to deliver a shock when my heart rate exceeded two hundred beats per minute (BPM). Since the normal heart beats between seventy and one hundred BPM, you wouldn’t expect big problems. But I exercise regularly. And I love to get my heart rate up. It is very usual for me to dirve my heart rate to 140-150 BPM.
Well, when I went on my first bicycle ride after my surgery, I did fine – until I hit the first major hill. My heart raced to provide blood needed by my body. And my ICD misread my heart rate. I received seven “therapies” (euphamism for 300V shock). And these things hurt like heck.
Well, I had to have my ICD replaced. And it is one thing to replace a faulty car battery. It is quite another thing to replace a defibrillator. While the surgery is routine for a cardiologist, it is anything but routine for the patient. You must be put to sleep so the doctor can open a small incision in your chest. This incision allows the doctor to build a “pocket” for your new “friend.” And then leads are threaded into arteries that lead into your heart. BTW, your heart must be stopped when this is done. The leads are then attached to the inner walls of your heart.
While the surgery went quite well, the recovery was quite a different story. Having been a QA analyst for a major telecommunications firm, I know what nagging flaws are. And I have seen problems that you thought were resolved reoccur unexpectedly. So I lost confidence in my device, my doctor and myself. I didn’t want to let my heart rate increase over 100 BPM. I just wanted to make sure that this thing never misfired again.
So a routine surgery to fix a minor technical problem resulted in some major mistrust. I didn’t exert myself at all. And let me tell you, when you are afraid of something like this, your fear makes you question EVERY activity you do. So my life went from normal to very strange in a very short period of time. If you ask my kids what it was like to walk with me, they’ll tell you that I shuffled along like an eighty year-old man with palsy.
It took me almost eight months before I started to trust the machine in my chest. Once I regained that trust, I got back to a more normal life. I ride fifteen miles every day. I do anything and everything that I did before the original ICD implant. And as I noted before, I have gotten to the point that I almost forget this thing.
So when I read the ABC News headline that 50,000 Guidant ICD’s have been recalled, I had three reactions. First, I sighed with releif because I don’t have a Guidant device. Second, I began to wonder if other manufacturers (like Medtronic) had unreported problems of their own. Finally, my spirit is aching for those who have to go through a re-implanatation.
In my case, device malfunctions follwwed by a re-implantation resulted in severe mistrust (i.e., fear) for a very long time. I pray that this does not happen to other patients. If you are reading this and you have a Guidant ICD, trust your cardiologist to determine whether or not you need the replacement. Then trust your cardiologist to perform a successful surgery. And trust the new device to perform as it should. While problems can occur, you have to remember that the device is in your chest for a reason. Without the device, you could be in real danger.
And don’t let my story scare you. If you have an ICD, know that these devices are rigorously tested. And with any health-related device, the tests are conducted by many different groups. Indeed, I would expect the manufacturer to be taking a “better safe than sorry” approach. Of course, I would make sure that _all_ surgery costs are covered by Guidant – not you!
And if you are really stressed over this, drop me an email @ cyclingroo@gmail.com. I would be glad to correspond with you. For many of us, we were given a second chance. So let’s not squander that chance with fear, uncertainty and doubt. In God’s holy Word, we are told that God is not the author of fear. Rather, fear is the realm of the adversary. II Tim 1:7 says “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” Hosea 4:6 says “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” Therefore, rest in knowledge, not fear.
So learn about the recall and get to work with your care professionals. If you are interested in more information about the recall, check out the following:
– Guidant’s site and comments
-CyclingRoo-
