The Purpose of the Tell-Tale Hearts Section of PerfusionTheory.com By Gary Grist RN CCP Emeritus
PerfusionTheory.com was always intended to be a free educational web site where I could share theories, science, methods and history from my perfusion career experience and the experience of others for the benefit of the ECLS community at large. However,… Read More
The Perfusionist’s Ballad by Steve Learn, CCP
It’s 4:30 AM and I hear my alarm clock ring, “Time to make the donuts,” I think and see what the day will bring. Twenty minutes in the car, I sip a hot cup of joe, I think ahead… Read More
“Harvesting” Part 1 by Gary Grist RN CCP Emeritus
I don’t like the term “organ harvesting” in describing how organs are obtained for transplant. In a way, the term dehumanizes the unfortunate donor. I think some surgeons must have coined the term over half a century ago to avoid… Read More
“Harvesting” Part 2 by Gary Edgar Grist RN CCP Emeritus
The Pregnant Donor In the late ‘60s, anyone could volunteer to be a living donor and donate one of their kidneys to a patient in renal failure on hemodialysis. I was dispatched to the donor hospital where a young woman… Read More
“Harvesting” Part 3 by Gary Edgar Grist RN CCP Emeritus
The Quality Of Mercy I looked through one of the windows in the double doors leading to the eight-bed open ward. The donor was in the third bed on the right. The ward was empty except for her. She was… Read More
“Harvesting” Part 4 by Gary Edgar Grist RN CCP Emeritus
ECMO Donor As the years passed, I moved on to another job at a children’s hospital. I had no organ harvesting duties on this job. I was the chief perfusionist and it was part of my responsibility to facilitate the… Read More
“It Worked” by Stephen Peterson BS, CCP
She said, “It Worked”, with a big smile. That is the reply that I received from a patient when I told her that my job as a perfusionist is to keep her alive while the surgeon performs the operation. We… Read More
HE, Me and the FBI by Gary Grist RN CCP Emeritus
In the late 1980’s I was using one of the first disposable pediatric membrane oxygenators. It had a combined venous reservoir and cardiotomy reservoir. This was of great advantage in volume management because when using bubble oxygenators. it was necessary… Read More
The Tale Of A Man With A Big Heart by Dr. Stacy Blythe RN PhD
I’m the adult child of a registered nurse and perfusionist. Nursing was my father’s second career. He studied in his thirties while navigating the unpleasantness of divorce. During that time, my two brothers and I used to visit him on… Read More
A Heartfelt Sickle Cell Tale by Gary Grist RN CCP Emeritus
I am sure that many of you have your own stories about sicklers. But please indulge me while I convey my story – “mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa.” Many, many years ago the hospital I worked for had… Read More
Matters of the Heart: A Tale of a Broken Heart on the Last Day of Work – David W. Holt, MA CCT
So, my tell-tale story is about a personal experience that I could never have anticipated would happen to me. My name is David Holt. I am currently the Program Director at the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Clinical Perfusion Education… Read More
The Tale of a Perfusionist’s Thankful Heart by Eileen Heller-Stading CCP
Will I be done with my case before traffic gets really bad?? I have to pick up cranberries on my way home, will there be any left at the store?? I hope I don’t get called into work, I know… Read More
A Tale of Accidental Testicular Torture from Applying Electrical Joules to the Jewels Or- “How Not to Learn Backflips” by Thomas N. Muziani PA-C, CP
A little historical context is necessary. In the early 1960’s clinicians, (surgeons, physicians and nurses) realized they needed to “up-their game” when it came to treating a new level of post-operative patient. The in-vogue craniotomies and emerging popularity of open-heart… Read More
The Tale of Bloody Brenda: A Tribute to OR Nurses By Gary Grist RN CCP Emeritus
Many decades ago, I walked into the new hospital operating room where I was just hired as a perfusionist and a scrub nurse. Two of the first things I saw were the OR locker room labels; “Doctors” and “Nurses”. I… Read More
A Tale Of An ECMO Miracle by Gary Grist RN CCP Emeritus
I think I have seen several genuine miracles during my career. The one that affected me most involved a post-op heart surgery neonate who ended up on ECMO in the OR. After several days on ECMO the baby’s condition appeared… Read More
“Our family is suffering terribly”: A Tragic Tale Of Post Pump Chorea by Gary Grist RN CCP Emeritus
“Posted by CCF MD on November 26, 1997 at 12:01:09: In Reply to: postpump chorea posted by CBaeta on October 26, 1997 at 17:06:52: My 7 year old son underwent his second open heart, with cpb and hypothermia, on July… Read More
A RIP Saw Tale And A Bloody, Blob Monster By Gary Grist RN CCP Emeritus
Many years ago the heart surgeon at the hospital where I was working had just gotten his first pneumatic reciprocating saw (aka rip saw). Prior to that, he used a Gigli saw to open most chests. Gigli saws are a… Read More
The Shutter Bug-out: A True Tale of Fright Flight by Thomas Muziani PA-C CP
During the late 1970’s I had the privilege of working with a brilliant surgeon that gained worldwide recognition as a vascular surgeon. He made the decision to become a cardiac surgeon and went back to the University of Minnesota to… Read More