Lucky me, I have a pacemaker. Actually, very lucky as when I was fifty four
I was running around the office one day, feeling a little dizzy, but going
about my business, preparing to get on an overseas flight to the Frankfurt
Bookfair, and my wise wife forced me to see my doctor before we departed (she
was going with me). My doctor took an EKG and looked startled, saying that my
heart was beating at only 30 BPM. I
should have passed out long ago and he wondered how I was able to get through
the day. So I said, isn't there a pill I
can take, I have to be in Frankfurt tomorrow. He replied, the only place you're
going is to the ER. Had I gotten on that
plane, ignoring the symptom, I was told I would have died. So, lucky me, indeed.
After ER, I was admitted to the cardiac unit and they thought
I had an advanced form of Lyme Disease, which can attack the heart's electrical
conduction system. I was put on heavy duty antibiotics and meanwhile they
warned me that if my heartbeat dropped below 30, I'd have to have a temporary
pacemaker wired through my neck. That
evening a team of medical personal came bursting into my room, monitors
beeping, indicating my heartbeat had dropped to 28-29. Look, I said, I'm conscious. Please don't put a temporary pacemaker in
unless it drops further. So they watched
me that night and I was at least stable.
After almost a week of medical treatment, and no
improvement of my condition, a cardiologist informed me they would be prepping
me for a permanent pacemaker the following day.
They had no idea why, at my age, my electrical system was failing. Lousy genes they speculated (a favorite
explanation offered by medical personal when they have no clue). So, into the
operating theater I was wheeled and was told I'd be sedated but hazily
conscious as the surgeon would have to ask me questions as he placed the leads
into the heart. A representative of the
pacemaker manufacturer was present and I remember he and the surgeon joking
during the procedure. The surgeon said
this is a piece of cake as he's relatively young and in good shape so I piped
up, I ought to qualify for a discount then!
Fat chance he replied.
In any case, I have lived with a pacemaker, now, for
sixteen years. Actually, I'm now on my
third such device as when the battery runs low, it's not like replacing a
couple of double A's. A new pacemaker
has to be inserted in my chest.
I know, it's an awful looking picture, but that's what my
chest looked like five days after getting the last one. It actually looks worse than it felt.
My third generation pacemaker is high tech. The older devices needed monitoring, usually
in the cardiologist's office. But now
the monitoring is done remotely, as the pacemaker transmits the information
wirelessly to a receiver that sits by our bed, one that is plugged into our
phone system, and it dials out the data as I sleep. Every three months if does a "pacemaker
interrogation" the same one I had in the office and transmits the data (it
will also send data immediately if it detects any serious irregularity such as
a ventricular tachycardia). Our phone
system is now digital, so the information goes out via our cable company's
broadband.
But wait, more high tech.
Our telephone answering service is provided by the cable company as
well; not only are messages recorded, they are transcribed using voice
recognition, and then sent to me via email.
And yesterday I received the following email:
From: Voice
Services@-------.com
Sent: Tuesday,
January 15, 2013 1:04 PM
Subject: You have a
new Voicemail
"Hello this is your implanted cardiac
device clinic calling to let you know we received your follow up data and it
looks normal. We look forward to your next appointment. Thank you and
goodbye."
Thus, from an implanted pacemaker with a computer chip transmitting
on a proprietary band, to a receiver that dials out via broadband to a computer
that analyzes the data and, if normal, then places an automated call which is
recorded and then transcribed via voice recognition, finally being emailed back
to me. A full circle without human
interaction!
Any sufficiently advanced technology is
indistinguishable from magic.....Arthur
C. Clarke
But there are serious issues with all this technology,
both positive and negative. My pacemaker
is transmitting at all times. Anyone within
10 feet knowing the frequency and having the right equipment, in a public
place, can have access to the data which raises privacy issues. I have no problem with that but it also means
that same person would have the ability to reset or even disable the
pacemaker. Pacemaker (and implantable
cardioverter-defibrillator) manufactures say that is nearly impossible, but it
seems to me that almost any "techno-magic" is feasible today.
Thinking more macro-medical technology, we have the
ability to build a national database of medical information, at least for Medicare
recipients, that would obviate the endless duplication of medical record
keeping for the same patient at multiple health care facilities and doctors'
offices. Again, privacy issues have been
a stumbling block, but imagine the significant cost savings (and improvement of
data accuracy). I have less concern
about the privacy issues than I do about rising health costs and the burden it
puts on taxpayers. Surely there is a
techno-magic means of satisfactorily addressing the matter.
