Re: Letting go Scrapfriend

[Guest guest]

had an approprate zap storm back in 2001. He was awake for every zap. As he was set high this time (47j) he did not want our last memories of him jumping around the bed. As most of you know a zap at 31 j will lift you up off the floor (if laying down) by several inches. He went and asked his Cardio to shut of the Defib portion of his unit and the Guidant rep was called in to do that a month later. The whole unit in itself can only be shut off by removing it. As was 98% (I think 100%) dependant on his unit - taking it out would be a mistake. Also if you have the defib part shut off when you feel the time is drawing near, you body can still sence weather it is something wrong or the end is coming.

Most people will feel tired and go lay down. The unit will fire when needed, but when the unit feels no "electrical" response from the heart it will stop. Shutting off the defib portion is a soul searching question that I think everyone has. Each person must chose the path they want to take when the time comes. As 's wishes were to remain at home and he had a DNR he made the choice to how he wanted to spend his last moments.

Gail

-----Original Message-----

Hi Gail,

What a wonderful tribute to a special man. We are going thru a period of loss in my family. My MIL just passed away last week and her husband is not far behind....to add to that my dad has been terminal for several years and is not doing too well. That thing about 3's is just too close to us right now. My kids who are 20, 20 and almost 16 are really struggling with this and I'm glad to say that I am still here for them. There was a time I wasn't, both physically and emotionally.

Did have to do anything special to get the AICD turned off? I like the choice he was able to make in the end.

I keep you and yours in my thoughts and am glad to hear from you when you can.

<<To all who wonder about getting an inplant I want to answer from a caregiver side.If did not get his implant I would have said good-by 6 years ago. I had six more years of being loved and giving love. Six more years of memories. Yes we had the ups and downs. We had hard decisions to make. But it was a family deal. He discussed all this with the family "kids, wife and yes the cat and dog". The final discision was his. He even took away the worry of when to shut off the defib part of the unit. After going through an electrical storm a couple years back he did not want us to make that choice. He saw the last of his children get married a month before he passed. Three weeks after he had his defib shut off. Held 3 more grandchildren since his first implant. Taught 6 of his grandchildren to fish. Became a Harbormaster and did a really good job of cleaning up the river. He went on and lived to do many of his dreams.But when he felt his time was up he also took the arrangements out of the family hands. Wrote his obit. Called his friends. Made sure the arrangements were made. Updated his Living Will. Spoke to his doctors.He lived and died on his trems.Life is not a free ride, it is what you make of it. You have to have the will to go on. And by getting a implant shows you still want to carry one. You still have dreams and goals.Like I said these are just some thoughts from a caregiver. The final decision is yours to make.GailBy the way, I finally let him go to the sea he loved so much yesterday. The powers that be made it a beautiful day. The seas were 4 to 6 feet, the weather was cold and damp. He loved to go out in that kind of weather, and so he did.>>