ICD Storms, Fluid Overload and Transplant Gatekeeping

Day 3 · 2:08:21 · Carole Avoine

• ⚡ Repeated VF/VT shocks—including 31 in a row—terrified Scott and his children and destroyed remaining heart tissue.
• 💧 Failing pump caused kidney congestion and 22–24 kg fluid; Ottawa transplant team wanted to “revisit” the proven vaccine-injury diagnosis.
• 🚫 Denied listing over BMI/frailty excuses unrelated to transplant need, he faced disrespect and discrimination.

Cascading organ failure met by minimization and barriers.

← Second Dose, Baseball Collapse and 10% Heart Function | Cardiogenic Shock, Comfort Care and a Sister’s Last Counsel →

Transcript

Carole Avoine · 2:08:21

He did, but he never regained any kind of normal capacity. He was never able to return to normal activity fully. He did try to return to work because that was a really big part of his life that he loved. And he was able to for a little. However, with all of the damage that did happen to his heart, he suffered many different, um, episodes of what's called ventricular fibrillation or ventricular tachycardia, which is just a, a shockable rhythm. And his pacemaker and defibrillator, it would be activated. He had many of these episodes where his children were present. They could hear it. I want you to imagine what that would feel like inside of your chest. These are the human costs of the decisions that are made.

Carole Avoine · 2:09:22

And he was terrified, absolutely terrified. He couldn't live a normal day without wondering if that was going to happen again. And he did have a day where it went off 31 times in a row. 31 Times. And he was unconscious again and in hospital again. And then the remainder of his heart that was still at that time preserved was no longer preserved. And then he started to develop, um, issues with, um, volume and fluid balance because as a pump that is not working anymore, his kidneys started to get congested. He ended up in hospital multiple times, and instead of being able to raise his children and play baseball with his son and watch his daughter's cheer.

Carole Avoine · 2:10:23

He was alone in hospital getting poked and prodded, and he was getting worse. We knew he needed a heart transplant, and he had been, uh, attempting to work with the Ottawa team here. But he was treated extremely disrespectfully and his condition was minimized. His diagnosis, which was— he had already been approved and through the vaccine injury program, it was irrefutable. He met with the organ transplant team, and the doctor told him that the first thing that they needed to do was revisit the diagnosis.

Carole Avoine · 2:11:23

Instead of treating him for the condition that he had and the severity of the injuries and the end organ damage that was happening, um, she wanted to revisit the diagnosis instead of seeing him as a person. So he suffered a lot of discrimination throughout his journey, and a person can feel when they're cared for and when they're being judged. And I, I think for Scott, that was one of the biggest things, that it was one of the hardest things. Was constantly having to defend himself when he didn't do anything wrong. And he's the one suffering, not the medical system, not that doctor. So he was, um, denied any kind of possibility through Ottawa for various, um, reasons that had nothing to do with his heart or whether he could receive a heart transplant.

Carole Avoine · 2:12:38

It was BMI and frailty, and they wanted him to do things that would not have helped whatsoever, and he couldn't have done anyway because he couldn't get to some of the cardiac rehab they wanted, or, um, it wasn't going to change his overall condition, and he needed a heart transplant.