Picture a nice size orange.\u00a0 Imagine it cut it in half.\u00a0 Stick two thin wires into the orange.<\/p>\n

Then close your eyes and think of a surgeon placing the orange in the upper left edge of your chest, just below the collarbone, and plugging the wires into your heart.<\/p>\n

St. Louis Blue Jay Bouwmeester now has an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator, around the size of that orange, monitoring every beat of his heart.\u00a0 If the processor in the ICD detects an issue it can jolt his heart with electricity to restore proper beat, or, it can act as a pacemaker to restrict or increase his heart beat rate.<\/p>\n

Such technology isn\u2019t cheap:\u00a0 roughly $30,000 to $50,000 for the device, plus installation and monitoring cost.<\/p>\n

Still, ICDs have an impressive track record of saving and extending lives.\u00a0 Best guess is that 800,000 Americans now have ICD\u2019s, with about 120,000 joining JB this year.\u00a0 (If those numbers don\u2019t seem to match-up, well, many, many ICD owners never have to worry about device durability.)<\/p>\n

Like me, Bouwmeester seems to have experienced a bit of Sudden Cardiac Arrest aka Sudden Cardiac Death.\u00a0 Only the intervention of medical professionals and an Automatic External Defibrillator changed that last word to \u201carrest,\u201d as happened in my case.<\/p>\n

Ironically, ICDs emerged from the Cold War.\u00a0 Hubert H. Humphrey visited Russia in 1962 and was awed by their efforts to re-start hearts.\u00a0 \u201cLet\u2019s compete with the U.S.S.R. in research on reversibility of death.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 [Congressional Record, 10\/12\/62]<\/p>\n

By 1985 researchers had prototype ICDs and by the early 1990\u2019s they became available to the public.\u00a0 Thanks to the level of need and the price point, multiple companies keep improving the product, issuing new generations of devices.\u00a0 A new recipient such as JB can look forward to a decade of trouble-free service before his ICD needs to be replaced or recharged.\u00a0 (My 2009 model had a projected life of seven to nine years:\u00a0 it will hit 11 years this July.)<\/p>\n

Yes, an ICD cheats death and offers peace of mind.\u00a0 Living with it isn\u2019t all fun and games.<\/p>\n

In the mass of papers I came home with after my installation was a form for a handicap placard or a disabled drive license plate.\u00a0 Having a defibrillator, you see, makes you disabled by Missouri Department of Revenue standards.\u00a0 That ICD exempts you from employment in many professions: while I don\u2019t recall seeing National Hockey League player on the list, I suspect that liability-wary lawyers will keep JB off the ice as a player.\u00a0 (I\u2019d bet he could coach to his heart\u2019s content.)<\/p>\n

And, with an ICD comes a long list of warnings.\u00a0 The latest list from Boston Scientific<\/em> (who made my device) is 47 pages including, for example, saying Don\u2019t Tour Hydroelectric Facilities.\u00a0 Caution is required around other stuff producing electromagnetic fields, including cell phones.\u00a0 (Hand units should always be used at the ear furthest from the ICD.)\u00a0 Some store security systems can get an ICD owner\u2019s attention, and, don\u2019t sit an electric car while its charging. [https:\/\/www.bostonscientific.com\/content\/dam\/lifebeat-online\/en\/documents\/BSC_Electromagnetic_Compatibility_Guide.pdf <\/a>]<\/p>\n

The section on airport security keeps changing.\u00a0 Today it advises that quick <\/em>exposures to metal detectors shouldn\u2019t<\/em> cause an issue. \u00a0Back around 2010 I had several jolting experiences with TSA equipment, as well as encountering a prevalent bureaucratic disdain for accepting the government\u2019s rules, including my right to a hand search.\u00a0 To be safe, I still demand a hand pat down \u2013 a process which adds anywhere from one to 45 minutes of extra time at the checkpoint.<\/p>\n

Sadly, most TSA workers don\u2019t understand how their own equipment works. \u00a0For example, the back scatter machines emit very little radiation on the traveler:\u00a0 that traveler is standing over the guts of the machine which create a helluva electromagnetic field.\u00a0 Also, if TSA\u2019s equipment miss that metallic orange size bump in a chest we\u2019re all in danger.<\/p>\n

Yes, with an ICD comes a formal looking wallet-size ID card to show TSA and other security people\u2026it\u2019s worthless.\u00a0 Security types either grant the pat-down or refuse, regardless of the card.<\/p>\n

I expect that in a few weeks Jay Bouwmeester will be back home. \u00a0It will be a changed life but he can still be anywhere with his family, exercise and do as much as 99% of the population.<\/p>\n

And, after about a year you get use to that bump in your chest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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