Storytelling has been an intricate part of my personality for as long as I can remember. As a nurse I often interweave stories and patient education in an effort to bring awareness to a topic in a different and refreshing way. Last February I wrote a column promoting pacemaker donations from humans to dogs. Recently, the power of those words reached far beyond my expectations when I received two donated pacemakers for animal use.
As a nurse I am a strong proponent of organ donation, and I am an organ donor myself. When you see organ recipients and their families, you are able to conceptualize the magnitude that organ donation has for both the donor and the recipient. From a donor’s viewpoint, you know that someday you will make someone else’s life better, and that you have offered the ultimate humanitarian gift—life. Often, the recipient is given new freedom and is better able to enjoy things that most of us take for granted.
If we stop and think about our health and the health of our pets, we realize that the two are interrelated. Our pets become part of our family. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pets can help decrease blood pressure, cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and feelings of loneliness. Dogs, cats, and horses can suffer cardiac abnormalities similar to those in humans, and they exhibit identical symptoms, such as fainting episodes and exercise intolerance.
When the idea of pacemaker donations from humans to dogs was first discussed with me, my mind reeled with ethical and moral questions on a professional and a personal level. As an animal lover, I have a lot of difficulty thinking about animals suffering needlessly or at the hands of neglect. Because I am a proponent of organ donation, it didn’t take long to wrap my head around the concept. I started thinking about all the people I knew and the patients I have cared for who have pacemakers. Because you cannot donate pacemakers from human to human, the benefits of donation from human to animal became clear. So why not keep the beat going in a beloved pet? It became easy to see that a lot of pacemakers out there could benefit another life and keep joy in the hearts of many.
It has been estimated that pacemakers can prolong a dog’s life for five years. Pacemakers cost around $6,000, making them cost prohibitive for most pet owners. Also, it has been estimated that 90% of dogs needing pacemakers do not get them. Manufacturers will donate pacemakers when their expiration dates are near; however, these devices are too few to serve all the needs.
Think about all of the ways that animals enrich our lives; they put smiles on faces, old and young alike. Why not will your pacemaker or donate a loved one’s pacemaker to extend the life of a beloved pet or service animal? Donating or willing a pacemaker is simple; ask the funeral home staff to remove the pacemaker and give it to you or a loved one. If a body is being cremated, the pacemaker has to be removed anyway; therefore, funeral homes have staff members who are experienced in the removal.
One of my most humbling experiences was holding a donated pacemaker from someone I never knew who gave unselfishly of himself to benefit an animal’s life. In those moments I realized that the human–animal bond is a gift, serving as a smaller part of a bigger love. I understood the power of a story to move someone to help another.
Donated pacemakers can benefit horses, cats, dogs, and those who love them. People can make a difference in animals’ lives and in the lives they touch.
Howard Baker, RN BSN
For questions, comments, or suggestions on topics you want to read about please email me at: howard@howardsbaker.com
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