Jenny Doyle Walker—My sister!

The Jenny Doyle Walker webpage - My sister, Jenny - Truly, a miracle from God in 2001 saved her life from heart failure caused by Multiple Sclerosis......In the picture at left, Jenny had the "Heartmate" she is holding in her hands, surgically implanted inside her body and hooked up to her heart....... It saved her life by taking over the function of the heart........She had the Heartmate inside her for over 3 months - - - it's a cool story of the miracle healing of God !


Back on December 7, 2000, my sister, 30 yr old Jenny Doyle Walker's life was failing, and, according to Doctor's, she may have passed away on the opearting table that day...........Jenny has Multiple Sclerosis and it affected her life to such an effect that she fell over at home and passed out - - - an ambulance took her to St. Vincent's Hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana where she was taken directly to the Emergency Room.......the following ensued....

"All day of December 7, no one could tell what Jenny's issue was, but the news kept coming back worse and worse. She was getting sicker and sicker as they tested for migraines, pancreas and kidney problems, stomach problems, viruses, diabetes and other problems. Fluids and morphine were given to Jenny through a tube and they may have somehow filled up her lungs. Apparently, when they attempted to put an oxygen tube or mask on Jenny, she kept pulling it away, probably because she couldn't breathe and wanted to keep all obstructions away from her mouth. They had to tie her arms down so she wouldn't get in the way ! Jenny was very afraid..............she had extremely frightened eyes..........as she was fighting for her life

Finally, a doctor put her on a respirator (a tube in her mouth to help her breath) and while in the Emergency Room, she had a heart attack. It became clear that in addition to all the problems she was having, the heart appeared to top the list, but still, no one knew what was happening.........Perhaps the other problems were a result of the heart problem ........

Jenny's life hung by a thread all night long as the doctors diagnosed her condition. "

On December 8, a diagnosis was made and surgery to install a HeartMate was performed :

Following is the story................... An absolute miracle - -- and a gift from God !!!!


- May 25-26, 2001 - - - A 2 day return to the hospital !!!!

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


April 28, 2001 - - - Some pictures of Jenny and Ellie !!!! - - A Must See !

Jenny and Ellie in their driveway - - - the most famous pair in the neighborhood !!!! (Here ya go Mrs. Ismail)

Little Ellie (11 months - aka "Elbert, Miss Ellie, 2 West Miss Ellie, Bert, El, Eli, Precious, Stinker and - at dirty diaper time - Smelly Ellie") and Jenny's HeartMate.......The HeartMate's almost as big as Ellie's face !!! and........it's way too heavy for Ellie to pick up !

Jenny and her lifesaving HeartMate (minus cables) that was inside her body for 132 days !!! (Don't worry - the HeartMate has been thoroughly sterilized !)


See a HeartMate with cables and diagram of how it fits in the body

This is the machine that was inside Jenny's body from December 8, 2000 through April 18, 2001 !!!!

132 days !!!!!

The size is overwhelming !!!!

And nothing was taken out of Jenny to make it fit inside her either !

But you wouldn't believe how much this thing weighed !

It was heavy !!!!

Inside the titanium circular unit was the motor that made the "swooshing" sound - - the swooshing sound was the sound of the blood being pushed through the unit and to the rest of her body.....

The short, stubby end was hooked into the left ventricle of her heart; the other, fatter cable to her aorta....... The third skinny white cable went from inside her body to outside of her body and was used to plug into a battery pack that powered the whole HeartMate unit.......

Truly amazing !!!!

The blood would come from the heart to the short, stubby end hooked to Jenny's left ventricle - - and that blood would be sent to the titanium circular cylinder......the swooosh sent the blood running !!!!

Then, the blood would be pushed through the other fat white tube which hooked to her aorta, which sent the blood sailing through the rest of her body !!!!!

Amazing !!!!!


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