Tan Geek Koon is fitted with a “mechanical heart” and she has to lug around a 9kg portable battery if she wants to move about. It'll be a memorable Mother's Day for this former air stewardess. She gets to spend her weekend with her beloved family at her home in Mutiara Subang instead of being in the ward of the National Heart Institution ( IJN ).
Tan had a heart failure when giving birth to one of her daughters. The Paracorporeal Ventricular Assist Device (PVAD), implanted on her last Nov 18 , a temporary “heart” while she waits for a right donor.
Tan wanted to cram a thousand and one things into the weekend as she has to return to the IJN soon. Tan wants to coach eldest daughter Yun Jie, eight, with her school work and hear all about her other daughters, six-year-old Yun Han, and four-year-old Yun Tong’s experience in kindergarten.
When Tan got home, Yun Tong presented her with a paper flower she made while Yun Han gave her a stalk of red carnation that she got Yun Jie to buy from school. “I was touched,” said Tan. “Yun Han even made me a card wishing me well when I was still in hospital,” she said.
Tan is the the fourth person at the IJN implanted with the device, generally known as a mechanical heart. Unlike other patients with the PVAD, Tan is allowed to leave IJN whenever she can to see her children. “It is a psychological boost,” said consultant cardiothoracic surgeon Dr Ezani Md Taib. “It gives her the opportunity to not feel helpless.”
Tan had a heart failure when giving birth to one of her daughters. The Paracorporeal Ventricular Assist Device (PVAD), implanted on her last Nov 18 , a temporary “heart” while she waits for a right donor.
Tan wanted to cram a thousand and one things into the weekend as she has to return to the IJN soon. Tan wants to coach eldest daughter Yun Jie, eight, with her school work and hear all about her other daughters, six-year-old Yun Han, and four-year-old Yun Tong’s experience in kindergarten.
When Tan got home, Yun Tong presented her with a paper flower she made while Yun Han gave her a stalk of red carnation that she got Yun Jie to buy from school. “I was touched,” said Tan. “Yun Han even made me a card wishing me well when I was still in hospital,” she said.
Tan is the the fourth person at the IJN implanted with the device, generally known as a mechanical heart. Unlike other patients with the PVAD, Tan is allowed to leave IJN whenever she can to see her children. “It is a psychological boost,” said consultant cardiothoracic surgeon Dr Ezani Md Taib. “It gives her the opportunity to not feel helpless.”
Sources : http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/5/10/nation/3874239&sec=nation
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