Sunday, June 22, 2008

Amplatzer Applause


Tomorrow Ralph and I will be on our way to Kansas City for Ralph's heart repair. I would like to meet the person who came up with the device that the surgeons will use. It is called an Amplatzer and it is about the coolest thing I've ever seen.

It is wire mesh shaped into two flat discs and a waist in the middle with fabric inside. Think of a skinny yo-yo. The whole thing collapses and is inserted into the heart through a catheter! The surgeon opens it up inside the heart with one disc on either side of the hole to close it off. Who engineered this thing? I hope they are getting paid handsomely! How did they form the wire mesh just right so that it can be collapsed and open up into this special shape? How many sweet little babes have been spared open heart surgery? These are the kind of things I think about.

So, if this procedure works we may be coming home Wednesday evening. If not, open heart surgery is scheduled for Wednesday. Which reminds me of "Gone With the Wind," and the famous line of Scarlett's: "I can't think about that right now. If I do, I'll go crazy. I'll think about that tomorrow."

So do I pack for two days or do I pack for a week?

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hope all goes well with this first procedure!

I've enjoyed reading your blog. :)