I can't tell you how sorry I am about this. I've been defibrillated a few times and it hurts like hell. LIKE HELL!!! I was recently defibrillated externally (maybe unnecessarily.) in the ER and that hurt even worse. Unbelievable pain! On a scale of 1-10, it was about a 30.
Was he conscious during all of those 80 defibrillations? So, I really feel sorry for your husband. It's hard to know if leaning into the battery compartment had anything to do with it or not. If you can prove it there might be a legal case.
I’ve had a pacemaker with three leads for 5 years and taking Eliquis to prevent blood cloths. So far, so good.
Thanks so much! Yes he was conscious during the ride to the ER and it was, as you know, horrible. He was in an area that was about thirty miles from his major hospital in Columbus, so he opted for that rather than the hospital closer. They thought there must have been some malfunction of the defibrillator, but not to be. He underwent an ablation several weeks later, and at that time replaced the battery, put him on Coumadin with instructions to have blood work check levels by our general practitioner, which he did and did not hear anything so we assumed all was ok. Two days later he began seeping blood. Called for info and his Coumadin level was over 11, should have been 2. So the site became infected and septic. As we found out, the lab requested a “critical call back” from the doc, which never happened, it was overlooked. Anyway, they could not implant a new defibrillator, so he was in his own and in the hospital most of six months due to Ventricular Tachycardia, a deadly rhythm, which they would manually defibrillator him. Finally, he was placed on the transplant list as an A1 recipient and two weeks later had a new heart. That was thirteen years ago and he hasn’t looked back, so grateful, lives a full life without any major complications.
We were furious with the doctors office regarding the missed Coumadin read back. We consulted with an attorney, because to us, it was absolute malpractice. The attorney researched and said it was terrible what happened but to forget about a lawsuit regarding Coumadin, because it is almost impossible to prove that it was responsible.
Stay well and hope some of this info might help others.
For what’s its worth, I’ll describe my experience: My history - I was a distance runner in high school and college and more or less more on than off later. I was having some sort of fainting spells usually before my morning run. I was able to reduce their effects by going down on my knees and recovering. My doctor had me do an electrocardiogram and said that extra pulse shouldn’t be there and he set me up with a cardiac doctor to do an ablation. I went in for the procedure and he recommended that I sign a release so that he could install a pacemaker if necessary (about Thanksgiving 2007). I went home with a pacemaker. In 2017 the new cardiologist installed an upgraded model with a defibrillator.
One morning about 2 miles from home, bc - before covid I came too just past a turn. I had a broken tooth, sprained thumb, skinned knee and elbow. I walked the rest of the way home. The next morning I got a call from the device clinic. They asked if I knew that my defibrillator had gone off. I said “No”.
(Pause for reflection on the intelligence of morning runners.)
The next day or at least within the next week or so, out on the morning run, I felt dizzy, I dropped to my knees, but the defibrillator high voltage circuit had kicked in. It can be best described as an electronic vibrator which produces a high voltage for the defibrillator action. Once it starts going, there is nothing you can do to stop it. The shock came and the best I can describe it - it was like an electric fence shock. Growing up on the farm with two older brothers, this was not my first exposure to such.