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My oldest son was born with a sub-aortic stenosis. His first open heart surgery was at age 5. A 2nd open heart surgery at age 10. The 3rd open heart surgery occurred at age 15. A replacement mitral valve was inserted. The new valve put pressure on the bundle of His causing problems in coordination of auricle/ventricle operation. A 2 lead pacemaker was installed. Daily Coumedin was required to prevent clotting on the stainless steel valve. You could hear that clicking in a quiet room. By age 17, another surgery was required to replace the aortic valve with another stainless steel product plus a band around the tricuspid to deal with shredded valve "lips" wearing against the pacemaker leads. A small "pig" patch was required to finish that work.

My son lived with those patches until just after his 32nd birthday. He went to the dentist and was infected with a respiratory pathogen. In a few days, he was in need of medical support for bronchitis. A PA prescribed Z-Pak. He took the 5 tablet course and returned for a checkup. His doctor did at PT test as azithromycin can raise PT along with extending the QT interval of the heart. That was Wednesday morning. The PT was > 8.5. The doctor was alarmed. Stop the Coumedin immediately. When my wife left at 10:30 PM for her 11 PM to 7 AM shift, my son was in the kitchen making a sandwich. He didn't feel great. My middle son needed a ride back from the auto mechanic shop in the morning, so my wife didn't return into the house until 8:20 AM. She opened my son's door to check on him. Dead. Slumped against his bed. I suspect sudden cardiac death from the azithromycin. Vanderbilt published a warning about that very hazard on the day he died.

I drove home from San Diego immediately upon hearing from my wife. A few minutes of examination of his Firefox browser history showed his last mouse click at 1:19 AM. Shopping for an ocarina. He died sitting in front of his computer. The coroner had to guess time of death. I'll go with 1:19 AM.

Belated condolences on your son, Myrddin.

That is a horrible thing for you to have lived through.

I am so sorry, and I wish that I had words for you to help provide some console. I realize that is of course is impossible. Still, I do appreciate you sharing this story.

I am truly sorry for your loss.

I’m so sorry for your loss of your son. Thanks for telling us his story. For myself, it is a reminder that every day with the people we love is precious.