Tin Man Gets A Heart (Cheney)

[Dalton]

NBC News reporting that Dick Cheney got a heart transplant.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney was recovering Saturday at a hospital in Falls Church, Va., after undergoing a heart transplant, his office said.
Cheney was in the Intensive Care Unit of Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, his office said in a statement.
Cheney, 71, who served as vice president in the George W. Bush administration, has had a long history of heart trouble and has been on the cardiac transplant list for more than 20 months.
"Although the former Vice President and his family do not know the identity of the donor, they will be forever grateful for this lifesaving gift," aide Kara Ahern said in a written statement that was authenticated by several close associates of the former vice president.
Cheney suffered a heart attack in 2010, his fifth since the age of 37. He had bypass surgery in 1988, as well as two subsequent angioplasties to clear narrowed coronary arteries.
In 2001, he had a special pacemaker implanted in his chest.

[Highlord Laan]

I wonder how many people on the transplant list the shitbag jumped ahead of? Better question: Why the holy shit did someone so horrendously at risk for further heart problems even qualify for a transplant?

[Aaron MkII]

He's rich, filthy stinking rich, richer then any of us can dream of being.

Money talks.

[HMS Conqueror]

He was on the waiting list for 20 months. According to this the average waiting time in the UK is 6 months. I don't imagine it's radically greater in the US.

idk what reason there is to think he's "massively at risk of further heart problems", at least relative to other transplant candidates. You'll likely find that most people who have heart transplants have a prior history of heart problems...

Do you really wish people whose politics you disagree with dead that much?

[Sea Skimmer]

A 20 month isn't even close to skipping to the head of the line, all the more so since multiple transplant constraints including size, and limited transport distances make the pool of donor hearts much more complicated then any single list in the first place.

If he wanted to use money, he could have just flown to Hong Kong and gotten a heart cut out of someone who owed the Chinese mob a 'favor'.

[Dalton]

Do you really wish people whose politics you disagree with dead that much?

I fail to see where the other posters in that thread said anything even remotely approaching this ludicrous claim.

[Nova Andromeda]

I really hope Sea Skimmer is right and he wasn't placed ahead of anyone with a better chance, but I find that hard to believe. This is America after all where $$$ is king. Was distance really a problem for him since he can fly to any hospital he wants given his wealth? Additionally, you have to have insurance and enough money to pay for a transplant in the first place don't you?

[Nova Andromeda]

idk what reason there is to think he's "massively at risk of further heart problems", at least relative to other transplant candidates. You'll likely find that most people who have heart transplants have a prior history of heart problems...

He's over 70 fucking years old!!!!!

[Aaron MkII]

70 years old, 5 heart attacks and a bypass.

That said, if he meets the criteria, may as well give it to him. I imagine hearts are like other organs in that it's not one size fits all.

[JME2]

I really hope Sea Skimmer is right and he wasn't placed ahead of anyone with a better chance, but I find that hard to believe. This is America after all where $$$ is king. Was distance really a problem for him since he can fly to any hospital he wants given his wealth? Additionally, you have to have insurance and enough money to pay for a transplant in the first place don't you?

Maybe I'm just cynical, but this was my first thought too.

[Sea Skimmer]

I really hope Sea Skimmer is right and he wasn't placed ahead of anyone with a better chance, but I find that hard to believe. This is America after all where $$$ is king. Was distance really a problem for him since he can fly to any hospital he wants given his wealth?

The system doesn't let you actively chase down organs like that, nor would it work anyway because hearts are only good for four hours so you hardly have much time to get to an airport and fly after your heart. You have to be on call for a specific transplant center with its staff and operating theater on short recall.

Additionally, you have to have insurance and enough money to pay for a transplant in the first place don't you?

Sure do unless you are a child, a number of hospitals will give free transplants to children, but the organ supply never meets demands anywhere in the world, so even if he US gave free transplant care it wouldn't really change anything. What's needed is a fundamental change of the organ system from opt in to opt out to increase the supply of organs. However this will never happen, at least not in the US, because too many object and think they need to be in one piece to rot in the ground and would fear being killed with no ID on them. As it is, the organ list is based on need, but compounded by geography and organ size. For example, you cannot put the heart of a large adult into a small child, and you need acceptable blood types.

[Kamakazie Sith]

He was on the waiting list for 20 months. According to this the average waiting time in the UK is 6 months. I don't imagine it's radically greater in the US.

idk what reason there is to think he's "massively at risk of further heart problems", at least relative to other transplant candidates. You'll likely find that most people who have heart transplants have a prior history of heart problems...

Do you really wish people whose politics you disagree with dead that much?

Not at all. The man is 70 years old. I hope he wasn't chosen over someone younger.

[Flagg]

Man is a war criminal. He shouldn't even get a blood transfusion.

[Broomstick]

Sure do unless you are a child, a number of hospitals will give free transplants to children, but the organ supply never meets demands anywhere in the world, so even if he US gave free transplant care it wouldn't really change anything. What's needed is a fundamental change of the organ system from opt in to opt out to increase the supply of organs. However this will never happen, at least not in the US, because too many object and think they need to be in one piece to rot in the ground and would fear being killed with no ID on them.

Even with that change it is extremely unlikely that there would still be enough viable organs to go around, and you'd still have the problem of patients who are difficult matches. It's not just absolute numbers of organs available that makes the difference, they have to be proper matches as well. There are viable organs that aren't used simply because they don't match any donors on the list.

About the only advantages that wealth would grant is registering at more than one transplant center, and having access to fast, private transportation that essentially enables you to draw from a larger geographic area. That still in no way guarantees a match.

Not at all. The man is 70 years old. I hope he wasn't chosen over someone younger.

The current system requires, first of all, tissue typing for compatibility, then looking at the waiting list to see whose immune system is compatible with the donor organ. Then you have to match organ size to recipient size because, as noted, you can't put a child's heart into a large man, or the large heart of a big man into a tiny, petite woman. Then, and only then, can you even begin to discuss factors like age. I expect that for every organ available there are, at most, only a few people with any chance at it.

[Broomstick]

Man is a war criminal. He shouldn't even get a blood transfusion.

Shockingly, civilized captors of war criminals do render medical aid to them when necessary. Stop making the rest of us look like savages.

[Sea Skimmer]

Man is a war criminal. He shouldn't even get a blood transfusion.

So the solution to war criminals is to treat them in an illegal and medically unethical manner, without trial? The irony of your thinking is amazing.

[HMS Conqueror]

Do you really wish people whose politics you disagree with dead that much?

I fail to see where the other posters in that thread said anything even remotely approaching this ludicrous claim.

lol srsly?

[Dalton]

lol srsly?

If you fucking post bullshit claims like that again I will have a very fucking "srs" problem with your continued existence on this board.

[mr friendly guy]

Now that the Tin Man gets a heart, when will scarecrow get his brain?

Sorry, couldn't resist that one.

But looking at wiki, he had a heart attack at age 37. Good grief.

Any way his cardiac problems seem related to several heart attacks he sustained earlier, highly related to him being a heavy smoker in his younger days. So he most probably isn't more at risk than anyone else of aside from his age. Unless he plans to go back to an unhealthy lifestyle like George Best did with alcohol after a liver transplant.