I had my ICD put in 12/1/01,it has been checked every 3 months.But for the last year or so every time I had it checked they had to make an adjustment.I had xrays done to look for a possible lead fracture,and there were no visible signs of that. So I went about my day to day routine until monday 2/2/04. I pulled into the Wall Mart in Gardner and reached for the ignition switch to shut off my truck when it happened. At first I thought I got a shock from my truck but soon realized that my ICD had fired. As I tried to call for some help on my cell phone, it fired again. After it fired a total of 7 times I figured out that my right arm movement ( my ICD is on my right side ) was causing it to fire. when the EMT got there I walked to the ambulance and got on the gurny and we went to the local hospital.In the ER their they had to get my shirt off to wire me up, so I had to move my arm. I bet you can guess what happened, it fired 2 more times.
This small hospital does not have any equipment to check this thing,so I had to wait 6 hours for some to show up to shut it off. When that was done they transferd me to my docters hospital where I had to wait for my INR to go down enough so they could repair my bad lead, and then a few more days after surgery for it to go back up to a safe level so I could go home.
I was in for a total of 6 days. But now I live with a underlying fear it will fire again. This is an experience I don,t care to have again. My device was put in to help me, believe me I never expected this to happen and hope it never does again.
dennis
This small hospital does not have any equipment to check this thing,so I had to wait 6 hours for some to show up to shut it off. When that was done they transferd me to my docters hospital where I had to wait for my INR to go down enough so they could repair my bad lead, and then a few more days after surgery for it to go back up to a safe level so I could go home.
I was in for a total of 6 days. But now I live with a underlying fear it will fire again. This is an experience I don,t care to have again. My device was put in to help me, believe me I never expected this to happen and hope it never does again.
dennis
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