07-11-2011, 03:21 PM
stephen wrote:
Our prayers and thoughts continue to be with you constantly.
I've done a little advertising for hospital heart programs, and the pumps they have now are pretty amazing, and offer new options. Duke is wonderful, but it sounds like he's getting wonderful care right where he is.
I pray for great wisdom and judgment on the part of your medical team, and for your family to feel surrounded by the love and comfort of your friends.
The pump they put in is called an "Impella" I saw it on an ultrasound this morning and it's working fine.
They said it could pump up to 5 liters of blood per minute. The factory rep. has been in twice to check
on his progress. His biggest problem at this point is his oxygen level is it too low to transport him. It's
ranging between 90-93% and that's putting in 100% O2 on a Bi-Level something or other. There's just much
stuff going on that it's hard to keep up with it all. While they were in there they said his heart is huge and
muscle wall is much thicker than normal.