2 More Days....

May 25-26 , 2001

Jenny returned to the hospital on May 25, 2001 to have a defribulator installed in her chest.... The purpose of the defribulator is to "shock" the heart into restarting - - - if the heart ever stops beating..... You've seen manual defribulators before - - in an emergency room, they are the two paddles the doctors rub together as they shout "CLEAR" and then apply them to the bare chest of a person - -- to shock the heart into beating again....... You've seen it before - - where the whole body comes off the table as a result of the major shock to the body !!!!! A doctor described to me the effect of the defribulator shock on the body as "getting kicked by a mule in the chest...." It's very, very powerful.........

Jenny wasn't having any problems to necessitate the "defrib" installation...... In fact, we thought the doctors might install the defrib after Jenny's major operation of taking the HeartMate out of her body......At that tiem, however, the doctors didn't see the need for it.........

However, something happened to a patient who successfully completed the exact same surgery as Jenny........ I think the guy lived somewhere in Europe...... Anyway, one day, with no signs of any previous problems, his heart - - - just stopped beating........ I assume he wasn't around anyone who could help, because apparently he passed away......

When news of this event reached Jenny's doctors, they immediately asked her to come in and have a defrib installed........ The doctors demanded other former HeartMate recipients also have a defrib installed........It was "HeartMate alumni" week at good 'ol St. Vincent's...........

Here's a summary of what went on during Jenny's hospital stay:

• Dr. Reardon (sp?) installed a "1 lead" defribulator in Jenny's upper left chest on May 25, 2001.... The battery in the defrib should last about 5 years, so, hopefully, there will be no need to maintain the defrib for that entire time period........
• During the surgery, Jenny was not totally under .....she remembers some of the discussions the doctors were having.....she remembers some faces........but nothing's totally clear.....
• The defrib had to be tested to make sure it worked - - but Jenny was totally under for that phase of the surgery.....so, her body had to recover from surgery and the major effect of the defrib shock ..........
• After the surgery, as expected, Jenny was real out of it - - due to the medicines she had to be on to recover......
• The next morning, a chest x-ray was performed successfully.......no problems ! The doctors were pleased with the defrib install ! In the afternoon, Jenny had recovered wonderfully....... at about 2 pm, May 26, 2001, she left the hospital for home !!
• Currently, Jenny's not able to use her left arm ; she can't drive for another couple of weeks; and can't take showers for a couple of weeks.......all expected........

Overall, a successful 2 days in the hospital - - - with a prayer for Jenny that the defrib will never need to be used and that she will not have to return to the hospital for any heart related complications- -- anymore....... Another prayer for the family of the man who passed away in Europe....... we pray for peace and patience in their family, and a total reliance on the sovereignty of God in this situation........ At this time, we just grieve with them for their loss........

Peace,

Tim