Collin becomes Iron Man

Heart not pumping hard enough? Say less, there’s a device for that.

One of Collin’s first procedures was a minor surgery to place the Impella device. The Impella is a miniature pump that takes over the functions of the left ventricle, pumping oxygen-rich blood to the rest of the body. The surgeon made a tiny incision near the chest to place the device directly into Collin’s axillary artery. The device’s tiny motor spins super fast to pull blood out of the left ventricle and expel it directly into the aorta, at a rate of 4.9 liters per minute. This procedure allows his heart time to rest and recover.

Essentially, Collin has a turbo-prop in his chest!

While Collin’s in his room, the device is attached to an external power and display unit that Collin’s care team monitors 24 / 7. The real reason Collin can’t go home is that they don’t trust me to read and adjust this very expensive biomedical device, nor do they trust Collin to not trip over all of the cords…go figure.

While it’s usually plugged into the wall, it can be battery-powered temporarily so Collin can walk around the unit for his daily cardio exercises while listening to “Play that Funky Music.”