Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator: Saved My Mothers Life

My Mother has a lot of extensive heart problems that started over twenty years ago. In fact, she was afraid that she wasn't a good candidate for the ICD, because of such poor health.

An ICD, or implantable cardioverter defibrillator is a small device placed in your chest or abdomen to help control life-threatening or irregular heart rhythms. An ICD is not the same thing as a pacemaker. A pacemaker can only give off low-energy electrical pulses to correct certain kinds of irregular heart beats. An ICD can give off high-energy electrical pulses that is needed to correct dangerous arrhythmia's in the lower chambers of the heart ventricles.

It was truly doubtful that she could receive this life saving device due to the fact that my mother is 82 years and only 35 percent of her heart was actually functioning.She could bearly walk 10 yards without having to stand still, to catch her breath. So you can only imagine with a trip to the grocery store. There were times that she passed all the way out. This can leave you pretty depressed, considering my Mother is a very active lady..Her doctor decided to try this on her. Other than her heart, her health was great. This is what she experienced.

She had to stop taking the blood thinner, coumadin, ten days prior to this procedure and they took a test of her blood to make sure that it was thin enough, but not too thick to do this.They started an IV on her and gave her fluids right away. They connected her to several monitors, to allow the nurses to check out her heart rhythm, oxygen level of her blood, blood pressure and all other vital measurements. Then they gave her medication that made her very relaxed and sleepy.
Then they took her back to do the procedure.

The doctor will thread the ICD wires through a vein leading it to the correct location in the heart. An x-ray "movie" of the wires pass through the veins and into the heart, this helps the doctor place the wires. Once the wires are in the correct place, the doctor then will make a small incision into the skin of your chest or abdomen. Then the doctor will slip the generator/battery box part of the ICD through the cut and place in right under the skin.

Then the doctor will test your ICD. The doctor will give you medicine to make sure that you do not wake up during the testing, or you would feel electrical pulses. Then all that is left is the doctor to sew up the incision. The entire surgery lasts from two to five hours to finish.The doctor came out into the waiting room and assured us that the surgery was a success. He told us there was a few things that she would have to do until everything was finished healing.She woke up fine with minimum pain and bandages. They didn't want her to fall back asleep because they had to do several tests to ensure that the ICD were programmed and functioning properly.

You may or may not be aware of when the ICD detects and corrects your heart rhythm. My mother says that at first she felt a light flutter..or...impulses..but after a couple of days she didn't feel anything at all.The high-energy electrical pulses may feel like a kick in the chest, depending on their strength. If this is the case then your doctor will give your medication to lower the number of arrhythmia's that you may have. My mother says that she has only had this happen to her a few times and it wasn't really that bad painful but it was sort of scary but her doctor had already warned her about them so she knew what to expect.

The doctor gave her these strict instructions:

1) For the first eight weeks after the procedure, avoid all lifting, pushing or pulling anything that weights more than 10 pounds.

2) Call your doctor if you notice any swelling, drainage from the wound, swelling, chills and fever.....note..there will be a slight bulge under the skin where the generator is located. But, it will not be noticeable under your clothes. If it were imp lated in the abdomen, avoid wearing tight fitting clothes because it would cause the would to become irritated.

3) Now and forever, as long as you have the ICD, avoid close or prolonged contact with all electrical devices that have strong magnetic fields. Here are a few

* Microwave ovens

* Cell Phones

* iPods

* High-tension wires

* Electrical generators

* Welders

* High tension wires

Prolonged contact with these devices can disrupt the electrical signaling of your ICD and could stop it totally or could make it not work properly. You may not really be able to tell immediately if your ICD has been affected. Experts recommend not putting your cell phone or iPod even near your ICD ( if they are turned on). You can own a cell phone or iPod, but do keep it on the opposite side of your ICDAlways let all of your doctors, dentists or any other medical technicians be aware of your ICD. My mother had some dental work done but he was aware of her ICD and treated her accordingly.

The ICD has been inserted now for 10 months, she really feels so much better. Her check ups have been excellent., you need to have your ICD checked very regularly. Some of the ICD functions can be checked remotely by using a computer connection to the internet or phone. But, some doctors prefer that they see you in person.The doctor told her that the ICD usually lasts anywhere from 3 to 6 years, or depending on how often it delivers a shock. When it is time to change it you will be admitted to the hospital and they will make an incision above the ICD and remove it. Take the leads out and test it, if the function of the leads are acceptable, then a new generator will be attached.My mother said that she wished that she had gotten the ICD years before, in fact she can walk all over the mall and go shopping, unlike before where only a few steps left her gasping for breath and feeling faint. Her value of life has improved tremendously since she has gotten the implantable cardioverter defibrillator and she recommends it highly.

You can visit...www.webmd.com/heart-disease/abnormal-rhythms-ICD for more information .