......as most of you wonderfully supportive folks here know, DH collapsed (his heart stopped and the EMTs used a portable external electronic defibulator to shock him back--this is called sudden cardiac arrest, or SCA) at the end of a 10K June 1, had 4x bypass surgery June 5 and then started the road back to recovery, cardiac rehab, walking, jogging UNTIL the afternoon before we left for San Francisco, his cardio called and said to be careful on the hills and not to walk them too fast. What? We left Aug. 1 and came back the 3rd. Monday, he had a nuclear stress test. Tuesday, his cardio had him meet with an Electrophysiologist who wanted him to schedule an electrophysiology test AND sign a release so that in the event he failed it, they could go right ahead and stick an implanted cardiac defibulator (ICD) in his chest. What? I'll spare you the details but suffice it to say August was a tough month. We went to work learning all we could and sought out several other opinions. We now have 3 doctors who think the ICD is a good idea and 3 who say no, including his current cardio who has reviewed everything in the file, consulted with another doc on the nuclear stress test (she says it is totally normal, and the other doc concurs) and reviewed the opinions of the other docs and says if it were her, she would not have one implanted. NOTE: this paragraph is for the medically curious: the issue seems to be one 13 beat run of rapid heartbeats appearing on one of the two days he wore a Holter Monitor. One cardio is characterizing this as Ventricular Tachycardia, 2 other say it is more like PVCs (one said: "you can have wide heart beats from the top," meaning I think that it may have been atrial or superventricular?). There were no other abnormalities. Also, the blood test after the SCA show no positive index, meaning in a heart attack, damage done to cells causes enzymes to leak--the trooponin level was up to 1.64, but we've been told that rises in response to being shocked. The issue seems to be whether the docs think the SCA was caused by a rhythm problem. One doc said he thought there was a scar on the artery on the right side signifying an old heart attack, but the surgeon said he saw nothing like that. No other docs advanced that theory. The docs who seem to have studied the records the most concur that the reason he had SCA due to coronary heart disease. That having been corrected with the bypass, these docs think an ICD is not necessary. They say get back to exercising, continue to eat right, maintain weight, etc. So, we're going to stick with the docs who think he's good to go and of course follow up on everything, be watchful, etc. I suppose you might ask (all 3 of you who got this far) why not have the ICD for insurance? This is complicated. We have done a ton of research on this, and even joined a ICD support group (a totally incredible group of people, who shared their experiences, knowledge, and even photos of their implants. I cannot say enough about these kind, giving, and inspirational folks.) It's not like having a chip implant (as some animals have for id purposes). This is a sizable piece of metal, about as big as a pocket watch, that gets implanted in your chest. SOme docs do a good job, others install them so that you have a noticable bulge. A lot of people experience discomfort and limitations (some adapt better than others). You can't have an MRI with one, and in England, you can't drive if you have one unless you have a 6 month clearance of no shocks. A CDL is out. There have been recalls, the leads (the wires going into your heart) can fail or break. Lots of people can feel them and have discomfort (think braking in a car and the seat belt cuts into your shoulder, or falling off your bicycle onto your shoulder, as DH did last July 4th!). Bottom line is, if you are convinced that you suffer from a rhythm problem in your heart such that you are in danger of suffering a SCA due to that problem, then you should probably have an ICD. We are just not convinced that is the issue here. So, I hope to be much less preoccupied about all this and more fun to be around. No need to respond, I just thought some few of you might be interested in an update, and why he wasn't exercising all of sudden, then started again. And the info we learned on ICDs is really interesting. As we follow the course of recovery, we know his condition may deteriorate and an ICD might be in his future. For now, we have to get busy to regain the lead we had on Spareribs. I'm looking forward to match-up race in '09 sometime! grins, A

Wow A. It is great that you two are gathering so much knowledge and information before deciding on something so important. I'll be thinking and praying for you and your DH. Bill

That sounds really complicated. It would be nice if things always were "if A, then B". But sometimes, "A" isn't even clear. Stressful too. So... uh... is he up for a trip to Maui? :-)

My only fear is that he might decide to stay there and send me home to pack up the critters, sell the house, and return with a down payment for a condo. We are so looking forward to putting all this aside for awhile, as I know you can well imagine. How 'bout you? You never told us the results of the biopsy....... grins, A

Oh, this just makes me feel so bad. The uncertainty of it all. Of course you know I am with you. I hope this works out okay. Darn! Spareribs

Holy Smokes! What a situation to deal with. However, there are brighter days ahead.

This situation sounds awful stressful and frustrating, Aamos. Even though I understand that medicine is not an exact science and different doctors can interpret things differently, that's not much help. When it's you that's involved, you want definite answers. It sounds like you've done all you could to be informed. Best wishes to both of you as your husband continues his recovery. TomS

That's a tough situation. Whenever I read a post like this I always think of the millions of folks who don't have the background and knowledge-base to dig in and make their own assessment; they just trust whatever the first doc tells them. In your case, though, it's great that you are so well educated about the condition and your options. Best of luck to both you.

Amy – I am interested, and in fact fascinated, by the inside view you are giving to what surely will touch all of us in one way or another at some point. Thanks for the sharing this, and continued well-wishes for your DH and for you.