June 23, 2008
Hearts, Lungs and Minds: experimental radio documentary
In the category of groovy ideas that have nothing to do with the weather ..came across this interesting piece…hurry though you’ve only 7 days to hear it.
An experimental documentary by sound artist John Wynne, who spent a year as artist-in-residence with photographer Tim Wainwright at Harefield Hospital, one of the world’s leading centres for heart and lung transplants.
Using recordings of patients, the devices some of them were attached to, and the hospital itself, the piece weaves together intensely personal narratives with the sounds of the hospital environment, exploring the experiences of transplant patients and the important issues raised by this invasive, last-option medical procedure.
May 29, 2007
Climbing on a bad hip and chocolate
Here’s a link to a travel article published in Sat’s Globe and Mail I wrote about climbing Croagh Patrick with the Puffin and granny/sister gang. For at least 15 minutes after the descending I considered acquiring an appetite for clambering and wandering about the place, but it appears to have diminished in favour of learning the Japanese abacus.
February 23, 2007
Heart valves
Heart valves are pretty important to myself and the Puffin and I was very encouraged to read this story about new progressive procedures, which can mean avoiding open heart procedures.
Four patients have undergone new valve implant surgery that has helped them avoid invasive open-heart surgery, say surgeons at a Montreal hospital that is among five in the world certified to perform the procedure.
Cardiologists at the McGill University Health Centre performed the procedure on two adults and two teens.
The treatment, called percutaneous valve therapy, is used to treat narrowing or leaking pulmonary valves. It involves replacing a valve between the heart and lungs with one created from a cow’s jugular vein.
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2007/02/22/heart-valve-implant.html