almost 4yr old with pacemaker

Well this is my first time I have got on here and i was reading alot of post and alot of parents are just concerned with the child having a pm. Well I know alot of children will live I hope a normal life with a pm I was always told, well my daughter got her pm at 4 months bc they said she had VSD well they corrected the VSD and she ended up in heartblock she grew well, she had an emergency surgery at 2 years old in 2007 her lead fractured she seemed alittle tried and said her chest hurt her heart beat was only around a 30bpm that day she got a new lead. On may 11th 2009we visited the dr and the dr said bring her back in a month and they would have a st jude specialist come to verify that her pm was almost at eri. well may 27 she playing all day like any almost 4 yr old and then around 530pm she said she was tried alil unnormal so I checked her heartbeat and it was at 60bpm what the dr set it at so i didnt worry much her appointment was about a week away so ill just wait till the appointment well well at 745 she woke up and wanted to go sleep in my room well i put her on my bed and all i did was turn around and i heard her gasp for air and she wouldnt respond, i called 911 right away they worked on her at the house and at the hospital, They said after 38min without air to her brain she was brain dead and had to stop they did get a pulse and blood pressure about 30 min after she was at the hospital but they waited to long to place the external pm on her that it happened well now we have found out that it was a battery problem in the pacemaker. but parents look really well into your childs pm my lawyer has told me after her st jude dual chamber pm is 3 yrs old it has a 25% failure rate. The dr never told us that why I dont know I pray it will never happen to another child. My daughter was really bright and smart she was about to start piano lessons in less then a month. GOOD luck parents

4 Comments

So sorry to hear this

by roadbiker - 2009-12-12 01:12:20

I read your post and it really struck me. I am so sorry to hear you lost your daughter. Nothing can fix this or make up for her. I truely believe that no doctor and no manufacturer of PM's would ever put out or install a device that was known to be fallable or even to have less that competent peremeters. Fallability is something the manufacturers work very hard to eliminate. But it does happen in a very small percentage of ANYTHING manufactured, anywhere, from PM's to space shuttles. I hope you can come to peace with what happened and know that no one would have been any less that absolutely conscientious about treating you daughter. Carrying a hurt and resentment around will cloud the good memories and loving time you had with your daughter. And you really need to hold onto the loving memories and cherish them rather than dwell on the bad. God bless, Roch

how awful

by Tracey_E - 2009-12-12 08:12:39

I am so very sorry to hear this. You are in my prayers.

my deepest sympathies

by Ashregan - 2009-12-13 08:12:50

If there's anything worse than having a health problem yourself, it's having your child have one. And the outcome here can only be described as tragic.

To the parents, I am very glad you have an attorney, it's not that law or money can fix the terrible situation that you face but what happened to your child needs to be clarified for your own peace---and to guard the safety of others.

The inevitable occurs sometimes, it's true, and examination of the particular situation will clarify if that's what happened here. But doctors DO make errors, manufacturers Do make errors, and not always unforseeable errors but errors that occur for reasons that could be avoided. That is, errors that occur due to such consideratios as inattention or profit to name a couple of causes. God save me from persons who would advise me to trust doctors or manufacturers to be, always and by their very nature, beyond oversight or reproach.

Of course I agree with the poster who advised against carrying resentment and instead remembering the good. But that is another matter. If there was a wrong and a preventable wrong done to your family, this too should be clarified and brought into focus.

With Sympathy

by Kathy.m.wenger@gmail.com - 2009-12-30 02:12:08

I was deeply moved and sadden by what happened to you and your family. And to everyone who tells you how to grieve it is not their place. Everyone grieves in different ways and at their own pace. A child represents the Parents future, and a part of your future is gone. No one says get over it to the Father of Adam Walsh (a child who was kidnapped and killed) his Father has made it a mission to try and change things so that what happened to his Son doesn't happen to anyone else, will he succeed, no but he will and has put a face on the problem. If it helps you to make someone accountable for what happen to your child that is your choice, and maybe your way of honoring your childs memory, and part of your grieving process.
I know there is nothing I or anyone else can say to ease your pain, but please know that your are truly in my thoughts and prayers.
Sincerely Kat

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It's much better to live with a pacemaker than to risk your life without one.