This machine completely replaced her lungs

This amazing machine ECMO, doesn’t come free. Average hospital charges of $500,000. It can replace the function of the lungs, the heart, or both.

#ecmo #lifesaving #doctor #heartlungmachine #surgery #critical #healthcare #medicine #medicineexplained

✰ 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐌𝐄 ✰
I’m Dr. Myro Figura, an Anesthesiologist, medical school educator and physician entrepreneur in Los Angeles. Let's talk about health while keeping things light!

I work in an academic medical center and teach medical students as well as residents. In addition to my job as a doctor, I am passionate about healthcare innovation. I started a company @healfast which makes products for surgery recovery.

Follow along for #shorts videos about my life as a #doctor, #entrepreneurship, and in general, living life to the fullest.

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𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐒:
→ Opinions expressed are solely my own and do not express the views or opinions of my employer.
→ The information in this video is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. All content, including text, graphics, images, and information, contained in this video is for general information purposes only and does not replace a consultation with your own doctor/health professional.

[hleigh]

You definitely gained a sub here! I love informative videos and you do a great job making them without making them boring, like some others I've seen.

[dzntz]

That 500K price tag hits hard, especially when the device is needed to save your life. Things need to change 😢. Bless her and hope she fully recovers.

[taniaazevedo]

I will never understand how saving someone life in a hospital can be so insanely expensive 😢

[knicole]

My husband passed away at 38 in 2015 due to pneumonia. I was 17 weeks pregnant with our first child. They attempted the ECMO but they were unable to restart his heart to bypass the machine so then his heart and lungs could rest. I’m sure we would have been in debt the rest of our lives but you can’t put a price on life 💔

[Italianqueen]

I was just on ecmo in September & October of 2022! I was pregnant and got Covid and had to be life flighted to Cleveland clinic where they went to do an emergency C-section and before they could my lungs failed on the table. They intubated me and put me on ecmo. Them delivered my baby who was also intubated and I was in a medically induced coma on and off for 2 months, requiring too exploiting abdominal surgery. I didn’t get to meet my baby girl until she was 11 weeks old when I was relearning to walk, eat everything! ECMO saved my life I’m still trying to heal it’s been a very rough, scary road that’s far from over. But it’s crazy she’s able to walk around they told me I couldn’t stand that I would die because it was filtering all my blood out. Sending her lots of love and prayers!

[sheilabyrum]

Bless her sweet heart knowing that she's connected to machine that has to breathe for her if I was rich I would give her money for all miscellaneous cost....please keep us posted...love you ❤

[somewhrntm]

I’m an RT and have never seen ECMO being don’t on a patient. I always assumed that people on it were basically on their “last leg” so to speak. I never thought I’d see someone upright walking on it!

[meme-ville]

It probably feels so weird to not feel like you’re suffocating but you’re also not breathing

[megandougherty]

This is an amazing life saving machine and the cost of it is $500, 000. I can almost quartee IF the machine is covered by insurance, they'll going to want every Prior auth they could think of. Then the insurance company will say something like we'll pay 5%. Or they deny the coverage entirely because they deem the machine experimental.
Now this life sustaining machine just became a $500, 000 life loan she took out on herself.
Why are these life saving machines, and medications and procedures allowed to price gauged by the insurance companies.
We should be working on getting ECMO machines in all hospitals and not at 500K.

[Lin-lvbi]

Always giving great facts Dr Myro. Glad to have influential medical professionals openly sharing

[escher]

😢 That's heartbreaking and miraculous at the same time. I hope she's doing well today. At that cost, I'll assume she was a priority and everyone fought hard for her.

[milesthegreat]

This machine saved my son’s life when he was born. I’m very grateful for whoever created it. He was flown from the local hospital to downtown. If it weren’t for the technology today he would not be with me.

[HighLeeIntuitive]

No one should ever complain again bc there’s always someone doing worse than you!! Live every moment with a grateful breath

[nzinga]

I'm glad to see this patient up and walking around. A lot of echmo pts are too unstable and weak.

[joannesanabria]

The cost of medical equipment to keep a person alive is outrageous. Life is priceless, but what about those who can't afford it? Things need to change.

[naturalsouthernbelle]

I had this for a month when I got covid19 (delta) and was 7months pregnant. I was in a coma for 2 months, had a trachea, open heart surgery, my son while in a coma on ECHMO and so much more. Thankful to everyone involved and God.

[tashasharps]

My three year old son was on ecmo twice in his short life, both times for a few weeks. He required it after two separate open heart surgeries that his body ultimately didn't tolerate. I can't believe this person is up and walking. That is absolutely incredible.

For those who are interested, the reason you can't remain on ecmo for long term is because every day you are on it, your risk of significant blood clots and catastrophic events from said clots, increases. You also are at an incredible risk of infection, risk dependent on where the cannulas are placed. Many people are able to have it connected to either the carotid or jugular (I can't remember which now) in the neck which does decrease the infection risk when compared to open sternotomy cannulas, but both have significant risk due to the direct access to the heart.

[ryannpalermo]

I love that they’re not keeping the patient stuck in bed just because of that, and that instead they’re working with her to improve/maintain her mobility. Must be the awake and walking ICU, or a day that they actually had enough staff and time to do that!!

[monicahow]

Wow this reminds you of how blessed you are when you can worry about little things.

[mariajones]

That machine literally saved the life of a nurse here in Michigan. Not all hospitals have them.