Heart Transplant Persuasive Speech
By nature, we freelancers are a hardy bunch. We constantly juggle multiple clients, stress over deadlines, and fuss over clients. And we love every minute of it. But even the strongest among us will need medical attention from time. This got us thinking. What are some of the most expensive medical procedures someone can possibly get in their lifetime? After some extensive research, we came up with a short list of crazy expensive medical procedures. Be prepared to be shocked!
Procedure: Heart Transplant Cost: $990,000 per surgery
Sometimes a heart transplant is need for various reasons, the most likely being chronic heart disease. With heart disease being one of the deadliest conditions, you’d think heart transplants are done all …show more content…
the time. In reality, only about 2,300 heart transplants are done in the U.S. each year. A total of 62,508 heart transplants since 1988 according to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS). Sadly, thousands of people die waiting for a heart transplant because there just aren’t enough available donor hearts.
Once a viable heart if found it must be transplanted within 4 hours and must be the best match possible. Body weight, overall health, and blood type are just a few of the things doctors look for when matching a person with the right donor heart. At the time of surgery, the donor heart is sewn into the recipient’s chest while the patient is kept alive through a heart-lung machine. Getting a new heart is a lifelong commitment. After the 1-3 week hospital stay there’s a lifetime of rejection meds and doctor visits.
The survival rate, according to the Mayo Clinic, is 88 percent the first year after surgery and 75 percent five years post-surgery.
Interesting Facts:
- The first successful human heart transplant took place in 1967. The recipient lived only 18 days, but the surgery is still considered a success.
-In your lifetime your heart will beat about two and a half billion times. That’s enough energy to drive to the moon and back.
- Back in 1929, a German surgeon named Werner Forssmann invented what doctors now call a cardiac cauterization. Here’s how he did it. He wanted to examine the inside of this own heart so he pushed a catheter 20 inches into his arm vein. He was either brave or insane. Either way, today the cardiac cauterization is a now common medical procedure. Thank goodness it’s not DYI.
Procedure: Heart-Lung Transplant Cost: $1,148,000 per surgery
At $1,148,000, the heart-lung transplant is the second most expensive medical procedure in the United States. Surgical techniques improved dramatically since the first successful transplant back in 1981. Usually, candidates for heart-lung transplants are people born with fatal heart and lung diseases. Last year there were only about 15 transplants done in the United States last year according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Patients are kept alive with a heart-lung machine while the new organs are implanted. Almost the same procedure. The survival rates for heart and lung recipients has improved a lot in recent years to about 85 percent after the first year after getting the transplant.
Here are a few interesting factoids about your lung you wouldn’t have thought possible.
-Lungs are the only organs that float on water.
-When your body is at rest, it takes only six seconds for blood to go from your heart to your lungs and back again.
-70 percent of body waste/toxins is eliminated through your lungs through the process of breathing. Yoga anyone?
Procedure: Intestine Transplant Cost: $1,200,000 per surgery
Yes, you read that right.
Intestine transplant at $1.2 million per surgery! Why is this procedure so darn pricey? Well, an intestine transplant, the surgical replacement of the small intestine, is extremely challenging to perform. Even though the first successful procedure was done back in 1987, only a few medical centers in the U.S. offer this procedure. This might be why, according to the United Network for organ sharing, there were only 139 transplants done in the U.S. in 2014.
Most people may think of the stomach or the colon (large intestine) when digestives issues come to mind. Don’t get us wrong, they’re important, but the small intestine does a lot of work too. In fact, it absorbs 90 percent of what you eat. Unfortunately, for many people with chronic digestive conditions like Crohn’s disease, the small intestine can’t absorb nutrients needed to keep the body strong.
Like all the procedures mentioned, anti-rejection meds and doctor’s visits are post-surgical realities for the recipient. The survival rate post-surgery is over 50 percent in the first year. Sometimes the surgical team may decide to replace the liver or other digestive organs in addition to the intestine.
Ready for a few interesting
facts?
-Your intestinal muscles are so strong that food will still be digested even if you’re eating while upside down.
-You’ll spend a total of 5 years eating during your lifetime.
-On average, we pass gas about 15 times a day. We don’t judge. Just make sure no one’s around when this happens.
We take for granted how amazing our bodies are because they hard our bodies work to keep us alive.
In case you’re wondering these procedures total a little over $3.2 million dollars. Yes that’s a crap load of money and yes it’s scary to think about being sick and having to go under the knife. We have a few words of comfort. We’re always working to provide you with the right medical coverage. So if, heaven forbid circumstances turn really bad, and you need a lifesaving surgery/ medical procedure, trust us to have your back. Not covered? Call us today so someone can walk you through the enrollment process.
Procedure: Heart Transplant Cost: $990,000 per surgery
Sometimes a heart transplant is need for various reasons, the most likely being chronic heart disease. With heart disease being one of the deadliest conditions, you’d think heart transplants are done all …show more content…
the time. In reality, only about 2,300 heart transplants are done in the U.S. each year. A total of 62,508 heart transplants since 1988 according to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS). Sadly, thousands of people die waiting for a heart transplant because there just aren’t enough available donor hearts.
Once a viable heart if found it must be transplanted within 4 hours and must be the best match possible. Body weight, overall health, and blood type are just a few of the things doctors look for when matching a person with the right donor heart. At the time of surgery, the donor heart is sewn into the recipient’s chest while the patient is kept alive through a heart-lung machine. Getting a new heart is a lifelong commitment. After the 1-3 week hospital stay there’s a lifetime of rejection meds and doctor visits.
The survival rate, according to the Mayo Clinic, is 88 percent the first year after surgery and 75 percent five years post-surgery.
Interesting Facts:
- The first successful human heart transplant took place in 1967. The recipient lived only 18 days, but the surgery is still considered a success.
-In your lifetime your heart will beat about two and a half billion times. That’s enough energy to drive to the moon and back.
- Back in 1929, a German surgeon named Werner Forssmann invented what doctors now call a cardiac cauterization. Here’s how he did it. He wanted to examine the inside of this own heart so he pushed a catheter 20 inches into his arm vein. He was either brave or insane. Either way, today the cardiac cauterization is a now common medical procedure. Thank goodness it’s not DYI.
Procedure: Heart-Lung Transplant Cost: $1,148,000 per surgery
At $1,148,000, the heart-lung transplant is the second most expensive medical procedure in the United States. Surgical techniques improved dramatically since the first successful transplant back in 1981. Usually, candidates for heart-lung transplants are people born with fatal heart and lung diseases. Last year there were only about 15 transplants done in the United States last year according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Patients are kept alive with a heart-lung machine while the new organs are implanted. Almost the same procedure. The survival rates for heart and lung recipients has improved a lot in recent years to about 85 percent after the first year after getting the transplant.
Here are a few interesting factoids about your lung you wouldn’t have thought possible.
-Lungs are the only organs that float on water.
-When your body is at rest, it takes only six seconds for blood to go from your heart to your lungs and back again.
-70 percent of body waste/toxins is eliminated through your lungs through the process of breathing. Yoga anyone?
Procedure: Intestine Transplant Cost: $1,200,000 per surgery
Yes, you read that right.
Intestine transplant at $1.2 million per surgery! Why is this procedure so darn pricey? Well, an intestine transplant, the surgical replacement of the small intestine, is extremely challenging to perform. Even though the first successful procedure was done back in 1987, only a few medical centers in the U.S. offer this procedure. This might be why, according to the United Network for organ sharing, there were only 139 transplants done in the U.S. in 2014.
Most people may think of the stomach or the colon (large intestine) when digestives issues come to mind. Don’t get us wrong, they’re important, but the small intestine does a lot of work too. In fact, it absorbs 90 percent of what you eat. Unfortunately, for many people with chronic digestive conditions like Crohn’s disease, the small intestine can’t absorb nutrients needed to keep the body strong.
Like all the procedures mentioned, anti-rejection meds and doctor’s visits are post-surgical realities for the recipient. The survival rate post-surgery is over 50 percent in the first year. Sometimes the surgical team may decide to replace the liver or other digestive organs in addition to the intestine.
Ready for a few interesting
facts?
-Your intestinal muscles are so strong that food will still be digested even if you’re eating while upside down.
-You’ll spend a total of 5 years eating during your lifetime.
-On average, we pass gas about 15 times a day. We don’t judge. Just make sure no one’s around when this happens.
We take for granted how amazing our bodies are because they hard our bodies work to keep us alive.
In case you’re wondering these procedures total a little over $3.2 million dollars. Yes that’s a crap load of money and yes it’s scary to think about being sick and having to go under the knife. We have a few words of comfort. We’re always working to provide you with the right medical coverage. So if, heaven forbid circumstances turn really bad, and you need a lifesaving surgery/ medical procedure, trust us to have your back. Not covered? Call us today so someone can walk you through the enrollment process.