"Well that's cool"

There have been a number of things in the past 4 weeks that have made me go "Wow! That's really neat!" I'd like to share some of those things with you.

1. LARIAT procedure. This is a brand new procedure that's done for people with a high risk of heart attack that can't take blood thinners. There's a pocket in your heart (in the left atrium to be precise) that is the cause for about 90% of the blood clots that cause heart attacks. This procedure goes in and ties off that pocket so that it falls off and dissolves into the body. How cool is that?
Final Grade: B+

2. Magic Wand: I was able to watch the wound care nurse take of a stage III pressure ulcer. Pressure ulcers in general are very difficult to heal. This treatment had a little mist spray thingy that was filled with normal saline that went on the wound. However, the cool part was that on the handle for the mist, there was ultrasound technology that was supposed to kill the dead slough that was on the pressure ulcer. It was like a magic wand! How cool is that???
Final Grade: B

3. Your heart has its own pacemaker. However, if this one fails-which can happen a lot when you're old- there are two backup systems that God designed to support you until you can get medical help. It's like our bodies are equipped with two spare tires to help you out. You don't want to drive on it too long, but it's there to get you to the repair shop. How amazing is that? Good job God!
Final Grade: A+

4. Cardioversion: This is a common procedure when someone is in an abnormal rhythm. They put you to sleep for maybe 7 minutes, give your heart a shock, and that can make it go back into a regular rhythm for an indeterminate amount of time. Sometimes it works for a long time and sometimes it requires another or a different procedure. And when someone gets shocked, they actually do jolt into the air. It's pretty cool!
Final Grade: C+

5. Broken heart syndrome:  Also known as apical ballooning. This is a syndrome that feels the exact same as a heart attack. It is usually brought on by high levels of stress or trauma. The most common one is the death of a loved one which gives it the name Broken Heart Syndrome. The irregular hormones stress the heart, enlarge the heart, and restrict blood flow to the heart which gives the symptoms of a heart attack. It resolves on it's own. Not necessarily cool, but definitely interesting!
Final Grade: C

6. Modern day pacemakers and ICDs: These implantable devices are so cool! They are able to detect exactly what the heart is doing and respond accordingly. They can have different settings and adjustments. Some basically function for the heart and others only help the heart out when it's in trouble. So cool! Modern technology is amazing.
Final Grade A-

Hope this wasn't too nerdy for you :)