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In memoriam of my beloved son, Gilead Har'El (1977-1996),
who suffered a Sudden Cardiac Death in want of an ICD.
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What is an Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator?

Medtronic Jewel Active Can ICD Model 7219C

Medtronic Gem Model 7227

Medtronic Marquis DR Model 7274

The little (80cc) gadget in the top picture had a seat of honor in my chest, close to my heart, since the 27th of February, 1995. Since that day, it had saved my life three times by detecting a fatal irregular heart beat and generating a series of electrical shocks to treat it. On the 15th of September, 1999, after its battery had been depleted, it was replaced by a new, improved, and much smaller (49cc), model, in the middle picture. Finally (so far...), on the 16 of July, 2003, it was replaced by the device in the bottom picture. Although it is again smaller (36cc), it also functions as a full-fledged pacemaker, and helps me in my daily activity.

My beloved son, Gilead, was not so fortunate. He inherited my Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, and his first arrythmia, on the 27th of June, 1996, was fatal, since the Mobile Cardiac Intensive Care Unit with its external defibrillator was too late to arrive... The cardiologists just didn't think he too needed an implantable defibrillator...

After Gilead's passing away, blood tests have shown that my other two children suffer from the same genetic disease. Now they are both owners of their own implantable defibrillators. May they never need to use it...

If you want to know more about it, you can look at the following pages:


Copyright © Zvi Har'El
$Date: 2007/12/25 19:36:14 $