The Mended Hearts, Inc.
Hearts of Jersey Chapter #179

July 2009

Message from the President

I have heard it said that you can believe it if you read it in the New York Times. I don’t know if I believe that but I certainly believe you can be sure of the time of the meetings if you read it in the Mended Hearts Newsletter and on the M.H. postcard. I am not sure where the 800-number people got their information and we tried desperately to give them the correct information but for some reason their left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing. Even the confirming letter listed the wrong time. On their behalf, I apologize to anyone that arrived at five o’clock and was told that there is no meeting listed. Believe the newsletter.

The six PM meeting was very well attended but there was good news and bad news. The bad news was that the hospital had not received a certificate of occupancy and was not permitted to have tours of the new facility at this time. The good news is that Vice President Kathy Collins promised to provide the tours at the next regularly scheduled Jersey Shore University Medical Center meeting. That will be the August meeting so bring your walking shoes. We were given a showing of what to expect in new facility; an editor’s report on the program is on page 6.

I left the meeting with three key thoughts: outstanding patient care, carefully planned visitor facilities and fantastic use of advanced technology.

I realize many of you do not embrace the current technology. You may tolerate some of the current devices while not realizing it. You use things like the cell phone, your microwave oven, the TV remote and automobiles full of computer driven controls. It’s difficult to keep up with some of the technology and many of the newspaper stories read like science fiction.

A case in point is the recent story in the June 25 Asbury Park Press. A hospital has just implanted the first ever, self-contained artificial heart. You may think this had to be done at one of the major centers like Mayo Clinic or Cleveland Hospital. Wrong, this operation took place at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey. While still experimental the unit was approved by the FDA in 2006. It’s called the AbioCor Total Replacement Heart. It is intended as a permanent heart replacement for end-stage heart failure patients who are not candidates for transplant and cannot be helped by any of the of other available treatments. Remember the “Six Million Dollar Man” and the “Bionic Woman.” One of the opening lines was “we have the technology.” That was the 1970s, today we do have the technology.

Another interesting device that may help surgeons and the staff eliminate mistakes: a surgical sponge with a chip inside, created by ClearCount Medical Solutions. The company has marketed the product to help a surgical team keep track of all of the sponges used in the operating room. A radio frequency identification device or RFID is inserted in all surgical sponges the company delivers. They are identified and counted electronically. The system provides an inventory. When the operation is in the final stages, before the patient is closed, all the sponges must be accounted for.* Sounds simple but it may save lives.

Okay so let’s wrap up this July message with a question. How many of you remember the New England confectionery company? Not many I’ll bet but you’d remember Necco and the Necco wafers. Now the big question - can you name the eight flavors (and their colors)? Try it before you click this link for the answers.