General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPerhaps I'm nitpicking, but what Cheney got was an implant, not a transplant
I mean, we're talking about the heart here, right?
morningfog
(18,115 posts)Luminous Animal
(27,310 posts)morningfog
(18,115 posts)madrchsod
(58,162 posts)i`m wondering if he has the new continuous pump for a heart...
MADem
(135,425 posts)He had a portable machine that kept him going. He was heartless for some time, certainly--even before he got the machine.
ChairmanAgnostic
(28,017 posts)But then, she had a big heart to start with.
Swede
(33,236 posts)Old Darth should be good til the winter tune up.
Canuckistanian
(42,290 posts)At least enough to last him until his trial at The Hague.
elleng
(130,895 posts)Former Vice President Dick Cheney had a heart transplant on Saturday and was recovering in a Virginia hospital, his office said in a statement.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/25/us/politics/dick-cheney-recovering-after-getting-a-new-heart.html?hp
man4allcats
(4,026 posts)donor; i.e., not an implantable mechanical device to hold him over until a suitable donor could be found. From what I know (I am not a physician), this qualifies as an organ transplant, the heart being the organ in this particular case. What bothers me about the whole thing is that Cheney is 71 years old. When my late brother was on a heart transplant list, the rule was that people over 50 were considered, by the DeBakey Clinic at least, to be too old to be eligible on the premise that given a shortage of available organs, those that did become available should go to people with a somewhat longer life expectancy. So how the hell did this old bastard manage to get a transplant?!
Lucky Luciano
(11,254 posts)Bucky
(54,003 posts)Thanks for being there, Lucky
man4allcats
(4,026 posts)from Bucky's post #10 that is, in fact, what he meant. Guess I'm just a little too technically oriented to get it.
emilyg
(22,742 posts)The New Transplant Patient
Older, sicker patients are becoming eligible for organ transplantation, increasing the need for organs and raising new questions about who should get priority on waiting lists.
By Kate Ledger
Ardell Lien of Caledonia, Minnesota, had a history of heart trouble that started with atrial fibrillation when he was in his 30s; but nothing prepared him for the devastation of congestive heart failure that hit hard a few decades later. The golf-playing, globetrotting father of three, whod once lived on a boat with his wife, Maureen, could barely walk or take a shower without experiencing extreme fatigue by the time hed reached his 60s.
Liens family and friends encouraged him to go to Mayo Clinic for further evaluation, and there, Lien was surprised to learn that hope still existed. His doctor, Brooks Edwards, M.D., thought Lien would be a good candidate for a heart transplant. I never thought Id be eligible for that kind of surgery at age 67, Lien says. Whats more, Lien remained a candidate even as his kidneys began to fail while he was waiting for a new heart
man4allcats
(4,026 posts)but I am surprised to learn that even now people in their late 60s (or in Cheney's case early 70s), some with multiple organ failure as in the case you mention, are today being considered eligible. Further, when my brother was sick, there was considerable attention paid to the patient's lifestyle in determining eligibility. Drug and alcohol abusers generally did not qualify. I can't imagine that a rich, evil old s.o.b. like Cheney who undoubtedly never made any effort to control the appetites that most certainly contributed to his condition will make any attempt now to change his self-destructive ways. They should have let the old fucker die. Someone else could have used the heart, and the rest of us would have all been better off.
Manifestor_of_Light
(21,046 posts)Even though they destroyed their livers through alcohol and drug abuse.
man4allcats
(4,026 posts)My brother was still alive at that time - at least for Mantle and maybe for Crosby too - not sure about the latter, but I do remember my brother wondering aloud why Mantle was considered eligible as did I. Of course we both knew the answer. Money buys a lot - including transplant committees!
w8liftinglady
(23,278 posts)he had an extracorporeal assistive device(mechanical heart_) before that.Heart transplant traditionally have a good post-op course...not like the lungs do sometime.
baldguy
(36,649 posts)Adding a feature the CheneyBot did not have as original equipment.