St Jude Pacemakaer Model 5826

Hi I'm Jack's wife. I lost him in February of this year. He had a a-symptomatic 2nd degree heart block after he experienced a heart attach twenty years ago. He had a regular cardiologist and life was fine. In October last year he experienced a dizzy spell while we were in church. He was taken to hospital and his doctor said "Jack you've had the heart block for years but now that you've experienced symptoms its time for a pacemaker". No big deal I thought. Well, after the pacemaker he never experienced a good day... difficulty breathing, pains in his arms. Doctors said everything OK... he would get more comfortable with time. A month after the pacemaker implant he had a really bad night, I called ambulance and he was taken to emergency room. Hours of laying on gurney in the hospital room and a doctor playing around with his pacemaker setting he was rushed to CCU with a "slight heart attack". All hell broke loose , renal problems, breathing problems. By some miracle he got through that. Came home ... same complaints "I can't breathe" . He experienced strange rippling spasms in his abdomen which were visible to the eye. Doctor said it was shortness of breath. Frustrated I called St. Jude and they told me there service reps in the area that would stop in to see him. When they arrived they found a kink in one of his leads and he was getting a double jolt. They said they were able to correct it with the computer and everything should be fine. No so. Everyday a nightmare. In February of this year his blood pressure and blood oxygen readings were quite low so I again called a ambulance and back to the emergency room. From 4 p.m. in the emergency room with no particular treatment except routine intravenous and oxygen somewhere around midnight he went into respitory distress and died. Death certificate said renal failure. No attempt at dialysis ... no attempt at difiblaration. Just a pat on my shoulder from the staff and a "Sorry". My husband was 80 years old, but active and involved with commlunity life. He was a retired policeman and after retirement became a private investigator. I asked his doctor what happened. He told me "I don't know, I was on vacation". I said " Well, find out ... don't you care ... you took care of him for twenty years" No on cares. I'm writing to you in the hopes that someone can share this exprience with me. Please respond. Jack's wife

5 Comments

St Jude Model No. 5816

by jack 185 - 2007-12-30 01:12:20

Hi I'm Jack wife and I want to correct my posting to read St Jude Model No. 5816. Please correct my posting

i care

by kmhayward - 2007-12-30 08:12:13

Dear Jack's Wife,

I'm so sorry to hear about your loss, you have my heartfelt condolances. I am a qualified cardiac technician, trained in the follow-up and programming of pacemakers. I work in the UK for the NHS. From the description of the rippling in your husband's abdomen this indicated that his diaphragm was being stimulated by the pacing electrodes (leads). Normally this means that the electrodes are not sited correctly or they have dislodged from the heart muscle. Did you husband ever complain of suffering severe "hiccups"? This is also a sign of diaphragmatic stimulation. Generally a change in the voltage delivered can relieve these symptoms until there is a chance to operate, but this is a short term solution. However i cannot say whether this contributed to his passing away... most likely it did not.
Unfortunately pacemakers cannot prevent heart attacks and by the time your husbands pacemaker was implanted the damage to the heart may already have been irreversible. This is what most likely led to the renal failure. In these cases renal failure can happen so quickly that dialysis just isn't an option. As for defibrillation, this can only work if there is some underlying cardiac rhythm even if its just fibrillating, unfortunately TV has led most people to believe that a defib can work on a flat line, what is known as asytole. No amount of electrical shocks will work on this, only CPR, adrenaline and lots of hope. A sad statistic is that only ~ 2% people survive a cardiac arrest outside of a hospital and that figure only rises to ~ 5-10% in a hospital. I'm sorry that your doctor was so callous in his treatment of you, unfortunately this is becoming the norm even over here. No-one takes the time to listen to the patients anymore. I happen to also be a pacemaker patient and i see it every time i have my check-up, you get treated like a piece of cattle, one in and one out. I am trying so hard not to be like that with my patients, and i like to think that my patients go away feeling cared for and listened to.
If you ever need to talk please email me, i'm always here

Katherine Hayward

I care too

by Nuka - 2007-12-31 01:12:01

Dearest Jack's Wife,

Unless one has lost a spouse one cannot even imagine the emptiness and sense of total loss one feels. I'm sure you have spent many lonely hours wandering around your home wondering what to do with yourself. The silence can be deafening.

I am so sorry you lost your dear Jack and I am both sorry and angry that you had to be the brunt of such matter of fact cold treatment. Of all times in your life this is a time when you needed to be drawn in and comforted not brushed aside like a bit of fluff.

Please know that I and I know many compassionate people on this site sincerely care about you, all that you have endured and the loneliness you must feel.

We are here for you Jack's wife so try to heal with us as we attempt to shore you up.

In spite of the horrible treatment you and your husband were subjected to I hope you can, in time, shed yourself of the anger you rightfully feel so that you can begin to take good care of yourself.

Sending you kind and healing thoughts,
Nuka

JACK'S WIFE

by jack 185 - 2007-12-31 05:12:42

Thank you for the comforting responses to my posting. Yes I am hurting and its helps to know others understand the pain and hurt of trying so hard to hold on to someone you love and losing the battle. I can't thank you enough .... Jack's wife

Jack's Wife/I'm sad too.

by bunnykin - 2008-01-07 12:01:24

I read with a heavy heart about what happened to your husband and if all the symptoms etc checked out right as you've described and having followed Katherine Hayward's message I tend to think she may have a point or could be correct. I had a lead extraction (ICD) from the ventricle last Sept due to microperforation of the heart! However, mine is Medtronic. Before my operation I had diaphragmatic stimulations. They were really impulses that were hitting at my lower left rib cage but for the life of me I didn't know what was happening. That went on for 6 months and sometimes ignorant patients like us dare not complain too much lest Drs think we're crying wolves. So with horrendous stimulations that hammered wildly at the ribcage or lower left torso, I even attended my daughter's graduation in the UK; Fortunately, when I flew back home( Far East) worse symptoms came. I was rather breathless. And with each deep breath after that my blood pressure would fall and that made me want to pass out. Eventually my Godsent wonderful dr detected this during one of my routine checkups. He said that I needed to have my lead removed and replaced by a new one! It was a very dangerous operation cos apparently my lead was nearly going thru my heart wall. I had an emergency operation and they found that I had pericarditis;( blood/fluid collected around the heart).
I may have recovered now but as luck would have it that same lead that was replaced is now on recall by the manufacturer! So Jack's wife, there's so much uncertainties in our lives that we just count whatever blessings God gives us daily and I'm just hoping that my lead will not fail me. I'm dependent on my device 100% so I'm a goner if this wire fractures.
After reading your message I felt so sad...if only your husband had a chance too. Please try to pluck up courage and grow less bitter each day. God bless and take good care of yourself now.

Bunnykin



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