Discharge In rare cases, TAH-t patients may be discharged out of the hospital on the Freedom® Portable Driver. If your care team feels it’s safe for you to return home and go to school or work, multiple steps will occur to ensure your safety. Your care team will explain the specific accomplishments you must achieve in …
Recovery Self Care When you have a VAD there is a lot for you and your caregivers to learn. What labs could you need? You will have laboratory testing (labs or bloodwork), done at various scheduled times or whenever your care team feels they need to follow you closer. These labs tell your doctor how …
After Surgery When you wake up from surgery, you will be in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Surgery, and the medications that you were given to keep you asleep, will make you very weak and sleepy. You will have a breathing tube that’s connected to a ventilator (breathing machine) and you will be connected to many …
Preparing for Surgery Throughout your journey, your care team is there to support and guide you, as well as answer any questions or concerns you have. Before your surgery, doctors called anesthesiologists will visit you. They are responsible for keeping you asleep during surgery. You will not feel any pain while you are asleep. All you …
Risks There are some risks with SynCardia TAH-t but your care team will work hard to keep you safe. Infection The soft cannula will come out of your lower chest and will need to be cleaned frequently. This is important because bacteria lives on your skin and may cause an infection at your cannula site. …
Benefits The SynCardia TAH-t is beneficial for patients with right and left heart failure, hypertrophic cardiomyopathies, and post-transplant graft failure. It completely takes over the work of both ventricles so that you may recover and wait for a transplant. The device provides a large amount of blood volume to the body which helps the other …
Device Components There are several parts of the SynCardia TAH-t system. SynCardia (TAH-t) Ventricles The TAH-t pump replaces the sick or weak heart ventricles. The TAH-t pump has two chambers—an air chamber and a blood chamber—that are separated by a membrane. The air chamber connects to the cannula and driver, which pushes air in and …
Recovery Once the ICU team thinks you’re strong enough to be more awake and breathe on your own, your medications keeping you sleepy will be turned off. Your breathing tube will be removed, and you will be given oxygen using a nasal cannula or mask. As time goes on, you’ll be able to drink clear …
After Surgery What should you expect after VAD surgery? Watch the video below to understand what to expect on your Berlin Heart EXCOR® surgery day. https://youtu.be/HFNWndXf6BA When you wake up from surgery, you will be in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Surgery will make you feel weak and sleepy. For these reasons, you will have …
Preparing for Surgery What should you expect before VAD surgery? Watch the video below to understand what to expect on your Berlin Heart EXCOR® surgery day. https://youtu.be/upAe53OeIJg Throughout your journey, your care team is there to support and guide you, as well as answer any questions or concerns you have. Everyone’s journey will look a …
