defibrillators and non-events

Did you know that defibrillators record unusual heart "events" and store them for future analysis by a cardiologist?

Heartbeat irregularities trigger an "alert" standby status within the tiny machine. Should there be a repeat of a cardiac event like the one that caused Dani's brain injury, this implanted device stands ready to save her life.

Recently, Dr. M. used a fancy wand linked to a fancy computer to "query" the defibrillator's memory.

Dani's heart produced an "alert" event almost monthly while she was in the hospital. One was recorded within a few weeks of the time that Dani came to live with us last September.

Her second and most recent test revealed no "events" for almost 8 months now. That was welcome news.

The best news of all?

Dani first "went bionic" in April, 2004 and her little heart helper has never once been called upon to fulfill its purpose. :)