As the Stuff Keeps Happening

We made it safely to and from our 2nd and last lake visit of the summer, but that report will wait until later.

Loren's younger brother, Mark, has had another difficult day. I do earnestly ask for prayer on his behalf.

When you have an ICD (Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator), the batteries need to be replaced, every 5 years or so. More often, depending on frequency of shocks. Replacing the battery really means taking out the old device and putting in a new one. What stays in, usually, are the leads, or wires that go from the device to the heart.

Now, this report is third-hand, so while I have the basics, I may have a few details misaligned:

Whether it was time for a new generator, or whether the doctors decided it was time for an upgraded device, the procedure to put in a new ICD was scheduled for Mark today, with a bi-ventricular device chosen for implantation.

The usual devices have one lead attached to the heart. As you might guess, a BI-ventricular device has two leads, one to each ventricle, as well as the right atrium.

ANYWAY, the idea is to put this device in, check the conductivity, and then do a "test," where they purposely induce a ventricular arrhythmia so the device can prove it's worth and shock the patient, internally, back into a normal rhythm, or at least, out of v-fib.

When tested, however, Mark's new device did not perform quite as well as anticipated. It may have worked to some degree--I'm not sure about those details--but I was told he did have to be defibrillated with the external machine.

Mark is still in the hospital, since he can't be sent home with a dicey device. They plan to put in a coil in his side, which helps with the electrical conductivity. Loren had one of these also. It seems these Hoyt lads are real problems for the docs...

Another avenue that may be pursued would be evaluation for heart transplant. This is something we fervently hope will happen, as it has become clear that Mark's heart has deteriorated over the past year, heading in the same direction as Loren's did, but by a slightly different route.

So we would ask you to pray for the following, concerning Mark Hoyt:

--preservation of life
--wisdom for the doctors to know how to proceed
--serious consideration for heart transplant evaluation. It would seem inevitable, at this point.

These are our wishes, and naturally we consign them to the sovereignty of God.

Just to remind everyone, this is the same family that had a neighbor's pick-up lose control and plow throough their house, earlier in the year. Repairs are still ongoing.

So you can see, they have really been through it, and we greatly appreciate all who can lift them up in prayer.
 

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