The implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD) is a life saving therapy. But, like any medical treatment there are potential adverse effects.
But in doing so we sometimes get this…
Which is supposed to look like this…(same patient–hours later, with no intervention)
ICDs have been likened to having a paramedic in one’s chest; ready to defibrillate at a moments notice, automatically.
Most patients can tolerate one shock, as the pain is over almost before the brain has time to process the magnitude of the insult. But almost no one can tolerate multiple shocks. The first shock starts the fear cycle. First is extreme anxiety, but after a second or third shock, anxiety from the possibility of more shocks progresses quickly to near terror.
JMM
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