When people think of gifts
from the dead, they often think of organ donations that usually don’t reach
poor patients in developing countries. But funeral homes have become involved
with donating reused, permanent pacemakers for saving lives. A pacemaker device
can be reimplanted to adjust an abnormally low heart rate to meet the body's
needs during exercise or rest. Implantation of a pacemaker, generally in
a pocket of skin in the shoulder area, typically can be done with local
anesthetics and a sedative and include relatively quick recovery.
Pacemaker researchers at
the University of Texas-Health Science Center studied 121 indigent patients in
Mumbai, India at a charity hospital. All patients survived the pacemaker
operations with no significant complications resulting from the surgery. Those
employed were able to return to work and continue household chores. As a result
of these gifts from the dead, poor patients in developing countries are able to
improve their quality of life.
In the following video, Dr. Joseph Reilly, a board certified cardiologist and
electrophysiologist, explains pacemaker implantation surgery:
Frances Shani Parker,
Author
Becoming Dead Right: A
Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes
is available in paperback at many booksellers and in e-book form at
Amazon and Barnes and Noble booksellers.
Wow! Great post! As one of the rehab centers in New York, we see a lot of post-surgery patients with pacemakers.
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