Recently, Dawn Huberty from Wired 4 Life asked me to write a short piece about PWP for her newsletter. Well, I actually wrote a very long piece I understand Dawn had to shorten it somewhat, but for anybody who might be interested, here is the whole article:

Matters of the heart for humans and k9 alike. - by Greg Lee - http://www.petswithpacemakers.org

Hearts = Love, Hearts = Life, no matter how many legs you walk on!

In 1995 a little yellow labrador puppy called Charlie came to live with me. We kept him inside with us, and he cried a lot on his first night. On the second day we fenced off a small area of our yard which encompassed the outside laundry area, and set up beds and toys. That night there was a severe thunderstorm. My wife and I stood side by side in our toilet listening through the window, to check on the puppy, who was snoring like a bandsaw through the whole thing. This was the moment we realised charlie was no ordinary dog. Growing up, Charlie spent a lot of time at the vets. Not because he was sick, but because he was always up to something, and liked to collect battle scars. Be it spots of grease from taking great interest in the underside of our car, to tearing off his dew claw, chipping off pieces of his skull under his skin (again from playing under the car), dislocating joints and tearing muscles, it seemed to Charlie that an adventure wasn't complete without some physical proof it occurred.



It was this zest for life, zest for adventure, destruction, boldness, and ability to never leave us un entertained (all performed with a BIG smile and a batt of the longest blondest eyelashes you have ever seen) that inspired us to create a blog for Charlie, so we could record his adventures in a diary format, and share them with others all around the world, because it was just plain fun to read. He was by no means a bad dog, we were very lucky. He knew the rules clearly, and managed to conduct his mischief in a way so as it fell vaguely within these boundaries. Come to think of it, he may have been a con-dog:) We captured 3 1/2 years of Charlie's life on his blog (http://gruffpuppy.blogspot.com). Before too long, Charlie's magic spell had taken the world by storm and others were blogging for their dogs too. We created Dogs With Blogs (http://www.dogswithblogs.com.au/) as a result, which is now the ultimate Dog Blog resource site on the internet.

In the very early months of 2008 we noticed some changes in Charlie. Granted, he had just turned 12 in the December prior, but this didn't seem like an age related issue. Even in his teen years, he still had that little yellow puppy brain, and would never entertain the notion of slowing down. He became very lethargic though, and began to have feinting spells. He also developed a cough. We made dozens of trips to our vets and specialists in attempts to find out what the problem was. After barking up several wrong tree's, our vet was able to track down some irregularity with Charlie's heart. Once we began thoroughly investigating, we found that this was the source of the problem. His flamboyance and exuberance was masking the fact that his atriums and ventricles were not receiving brain signals in the right timing sequence, and instead of the valves being open at the right time to allow his blood to pump/flow freely, they were closed when they needed to be open. This led to swelling/enlargement of the heart due to back pressure, and a build up of blood in his arteries. We always knew our special boy had a big heart, but it wasn't until we saw the x-ray did we realise how severe his condition had become.



His heart was extremely enlarged and down to 30-40 beats per minute by that time. Obviously the feinting and lethargy were occurring as results. The cough was because the swelling was putting pressure on his oesophagus. We made an appointment to see Dr Peter Laverty, an animal Cardiac Surgeon from Melbourne Veterinary Specialist Centre (http://www.melbvet.com.au/). Charlie was diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure and immediate implantation of an artificial pacemaker was required if he was to have any chance at survival and recovery. My wife and I are blessed in that we were able to provide this surgery for him, and are so grateful that the associated costs was not a hinderance for us. Dr Peter (as he affectionately became known to us) told us he could either route the leads through the arteries and anchor them into the heart wall via cameras on the tools, or he could open the "zipper", hold Charlie's heart in his hands and get a "positive anchor" of the leads on the damaged heart walls by feel, and leave a impressive scar (which we are sure Charlie went on to think was extremely cool and earned him extra treats and hugs). As Charlie's heart rate was already so low, and anaesthetic would lower it even more, we wanted Peter to get those leads attached and turn the device on as quickly as possible, as even under anaesthetic the surgeon has control of the heart rate once the device is anchored. Peter assured us he could have Charlie's heart under total control within minutes of opening him up, so we chose this method.



The surgery went very well, and within hours of the Big Dog coming home a few days later we noticed a difference in him. Towards the end of the first week however, he began to feint again and we ended up back at the surgery very concerned. Dr Peter told us it was not uncommon for scar tissue to form around the anchor site, impeding the voltages ability to be delivered to the heart. The initial setting on Charlie's pacemaker was 2.5volts at 100 beats per minute, and to combat the scar tissue it was adjusted to 5volts at 100 beats per minute. This flicking of the switch on the pacemaker was literally a flicking of the switch for Charlie. He was truly a puppy again, and recovered extraordinarily quickly from this point. He became more mischievous and playful than we had seen him in years. He was some what "Bionic" now! His fur even became softer as a result of increased blood and oxygen flow through his body. He thoroughly enjoyed his check up visits as he had become quiet the celebrity amongst the nurses during his time at the surgery. People would appear from nowhere when Charlie arrived in the waiting room. It was often announced over the intercom, "Charlie's Here!". The big brown eyes, the blonde eyelashes, and the 007 charm combined to give Charlie a MOJO the likes of which nobody had seen before meeting him, and nobody ever forgot after meeting him. This was the visible side of his magic, and he was BACK Baby!



It still breaks my heart to know he was so sick though, and we didn't know it at the time. Not only could he not tell us, but didn't even display any symptoms early on because he was such a knucklehead who was always in party mode. Walking from one room to another was cause for celebration for Charlie. Every facet of life was worth celebrating, even the most trivial things. It was clear he was thinking "if I wasn't alive, I couldn't have just walked into the kitchen for a snack - How COOL is that!". Then, the tail would wag, and the rolling on the floor would begin, and sometimes, if we were really lucky, he would treat us to the Zoomies. (This is when you are so happy to be alive that the only way you can possibly cope is to run as FAST as you can in any and all directions, knocking over and breaking everything in/near your path, for no apparent reason, other than you are happy to be alive). My wife and I often described this as "Fruitty" behaviour. There was nothing I would like more when I was away from home with my work than to receive a message from her saying that the fruit shop was open for business. This meant Charlie and his partner in crime Opy (our other Labrador) were in doggie nirvana.

Dr Peter gave us a crash course in K9 Cardiology. And as much as I would like to say it was beneficial an informative, I couldn't even begin to understand the complexity of what was happening to Charlie at that time. I was scared, confused and scared some more. My special boy was really, really sick. My world became a very simple place. CHARLIE SICK - FIX CHARLIE NOW! was about all I was capable of. Dr Laverty is a great surgeon and a very warm and caring vet. He usually spent more than an hour with us each consultation, when we were only scheduled for half hour visits, but it still wasn't enough for us to get the amount information we needed to understand, and for it to sink in past the panic and fear to find a logical place in our brains that made sense. We turned to the internet for answers, and there was a surprising and somewhat disturbing lack of information and support for animal cardiac conditions.

This is when Pets With Pacemakers was born.

I swore at that time that I would create an online community where pet owners could find answers to their questions in a supportive and understanding environment. To my wife and I, Our dogs are our children. The urgency and seriousness of what was happening to our special boy was no less catastrophic to us because he walked on four legs instead of two. I was sure we were not the only ones to have ever found themselves in this position, and definitely would not be the last. I was however in a position to create and offer those who follow in our footsteps an online "coping" device, where they can learn, understand, ask questions, share, rejoice and grieve with us. We know what those who come to our site are going through, and we are there for them with information, understanding, support and love. Charlie wouldn't have it any other way.

Since creating the site I have learned of dozens of other dogs and cats, and even horses, ferrets and guinea pigs that have been implanted with various pacemaking solutions. The practice is very much for loved pets. I have been unable to locate stories of implantation in cows and sheep, as I expect cardiac flaws are an unappealing trait, and a reason for a breeder not preserving the lineage.

The 2x most common emails I get on the site are from A: Funeral Home operators who have to remove devices before cremation, but no instructions for the devices final disposition have been left, and they would like to donate a unit to a pet for implantation. And B: Distraught and desperate pet owners who can't afford to buy a new device to save their pets life, and would give anything to have a functioning device they could pass to a surgeon or university to implant in their best friend.

In Charlie's honour, I would love to build a device repository, where bequeathed devices could be received, read, categorised, held, and distributed when required to those in need. Most bequeathed devices still have several years of battery life left. More than enough to meet criteria for most pet implantation. The devices could be categorised, and upon receipt of the recipients requirements, an appropriate device could be forwarded for implantation. I would be happy to cover all associated distribution costs as, Again, Charlie saw life as a gift, and I expect would have viewed any device associated with preserving life a gift too, not a business proposition.

However, my research has uncovered some very disappointing bureaucratic red tape (in other words, "if I am not going to get anything out of it, I wont let you do it" from the so called decision makers). Excuses seem to be based around "unclear guidelines and procedures" for handling the devices upon removal from the deceased, and during transport, and handling at the repository. As the devices have come in contact with human flesh, there supposedly needs to be some kind of OSHA approved health and safety specification in place. This is why a lot of institutions such as the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine that have accepted bequeathed devices in the past, no longer do so, and why leaving device bequeath instructions in legal wills is no longer recommended. But for the bureaucrats, if a device is removed, sent to a repository, then forwarded to a pet owner who can not afford to pay for a device, and all of this is done at no charge by volunteers at a .org, to save an animals life, the default answer is a resounding no, because they wont get anything from it. Free = no tax, and fee's on donations make them look bad. So rather than allowing lives to be saved, the whole process has been frozen solid using OSHA as a vehicle, when most agree that the practice of removal and re-implantation in animals already falls in several categories already covered in OSHA regulations.

The truth is, The funeral homes would be more than happy to see their large quantities of accumulated devices go to a good use, we are happy to receive, read, tag & classify, store and distribute the devices at our own expense, and most of the surgeons/universities who are trying to learn more and advance animal cardiology would love to receive the devices as it allows them to research, teach and develop. Nobody in this chain (meaning those actually in direct contact with devices and living/dead tissue) feels particularly concerned that they are in any direct danger by dealing with a bequeathed pacemaker, and all seem confident that their current sterilisation guidelines and procedure boundaries are more than adequate for this process to occur within.

And hey, What about the poor pet, and their distraught owner? It's not "just a dog", they are living breathing life forms who have feelings, are capable of love and emotions, and if we choose to let them, can teach us so much about life, love, and how we are failing as the dominate species on this planet because we are so susceptible to greed…

Sadly, on the 2nd day of August 2009 I got the message that has crippled my soul since. "He's Gone". Charlie had a stroke and passed away in his mommies arms. I was away with work. He had been playing with his toys and enjoying life right up until his last hours. Dr Peter gave us the gift of 16 extra months with our special boy that we would not have had, had he not had his device fitted. His passing was not related to his pacemaker or heart condition.



The saying is, "One man cant change the world". Boy, that little yellow puppy sure knew how to do it though! I truly felt like he was steering me. These crazy idea's were not normal for me. Even though he couldn't tell me his intentions as such, he was clearly pushing me, and using me as an instrument to get his thoughts and wishes out there. Even though I am not able to maintain Dogs With Blogs and other Charlie related ventures right now (due to depression), I am still aggressively committed to Pets With Pacemakers. We are still looking at ways to get bequeathed devices where they are needed most. These devices are life saving resources, which are sadly going flat and gathering dust on shelves, and in containers, in funeral homes across the U.S, and around the world. We will continue to look at ways that we can get these devices to those in need, at no cost, for no reward other than knowing we have been able to play a role in saving a life.

The goal and purpose of Pets With Pacemakers has not changed even though Charlie is no longer with us,

"If we can help one dog, just one!"