Jewelry Plans

Andrew already has plans for a piece of jewelry.

When a child is taken off ECMO, the arteries and veins that were used (the carotid and jugular) are tied off and left as-is. There apparently has been no evidence that reattaching these vessels helps in any way, and prolonging the surgery to do the anastomosis (fancy medical term) is more dangerous because the blood is still a bit heparinized. This means that the major artery and vein connecting the heart to and from the brain on Andrew's left side are no longer functional. The vessels on the left side and the other (more minor) vessels on both sides will pick up the slack and shouldn't cause a problem, but it does mean that Andrew will have to wear a bracelet or necklace for the rest of his life.

MedicAlert notifications are oval-shaped medallions on a chain around a wrist or neck (bracelet or necklace) that provide notice to medical personnel of any existing condition of which they should be aware. People with diabetes, missing/transplanted organs, blood conditions, allergies, and other conditions wear these bracelets at all times. The medallions have the Staff of Aesculapius (snake winding around a staff) on one side and medical ID information on the other side. Andrew's will have to say that he has a severed carotid artery, as one of the signs of clinical death (to an EMT) is lack of a carotid pulse. We don't want anyone to 1) misdiagnose anything due to an unresponsive pulse, or 2) do anything to block his other carotid.

He doesn't have to get the bracelet right away, as we would normally be there to give instructions to any medical personnel. But as soon as he is out of the house on his own, at school or a friend's house, he'll need to get the tag. Maybe we'll get him some bling....a platinum version, perhaps?