Tag: A day In The Life
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Excerpt: A Foward from LVAD 1
It is ironic that Frank calls me a hero, where he and all perfusionists are the real heroes… perhaps we all are heroes, the way a Bull Rider straps to a bull and completes his or her 8 second ride.
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Excerpt- “Let’s go on Sucker Bypass!”
A shower of betadine hits the patient’s chest like a like a firemen’s bucket parade- dousing a fire, surgical drapes are thrown down, lines are passed off and divided, chest or femoral incisions are made, patient is heparinized and when that ACT hits 350 seconds? We are going on bypass Baybee!
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We Call them HEROES: An American Heart Team in Ukraine…
“Pensiveness best describes the scene, as we swirl our glasses watching the foam tumble down the side of the glass and picking at a cold piece of pizza. We all know what is coming but none of us know what to expect.”
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A Day In The Life… [5]
![A Day In The Life… [5]](https://tipsofspears.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/79f7b-img_57521.jpg?w=688)
My bud Ashley just looks at me like I’m some sort of freak, as I have a full bag of Bugles opened next to my coffee, and an undisclosed meal in a McDonald’s bag.
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A Day In The Life… [4]
![A Day In The Life… [4]](https://tipsofspears.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/f8c7f-xray1.jpg?w=603)
Every once in awhile comes a seminal moment. That epiphany we are all gifted to encounter once in a while during our clinical lives, that moment of clarity when the clouds part a bit, and you can see blue sky and a distant shore. That was the drama of this morning’s CXR.
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A Day In The Life… [3]
![A Day In The Life… [3]](https://tipsofspears.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/79fa5-img_801311.jpg?w=768)
Low flows = the potential for stasis of blood flowing through the circuit, which in turn can lead to greater susceptibility for clot formation in the oxygenator or extracorporeal circuit.
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A Day In The Life… [2]
![A Day In The Life… [2]](https://tipsofspears.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/e2591-img_9305b.jpg?w=1024)
We found ourselves in the midst of a campaign to get “negative” (in other words- take off more fluid in total, than the 4 liters the patient had received during the initial stages of the ECMO run). And as of tonight, we were starting to win that particular little battle.
The Tips of Spears... 