Cheney Recuperating From Heart Surgery
Former Vice President Dick Cheney announced Wednesday that he has undergone surgery to install a small pump to help his heart work, as the 69-year-old enters a new phase of what he called “increasing congestive heart failure.”
“The operation went very well and I am now recuperating,” Cheney said in a statement released by his office. The surgery took place last week at Inova Fairfax Heart and Vascular Institute in northern Virginia, where Cheney said he is currently receiving care.
A longtime face of the Republican Party, Cheney has dealt with heart problems much of his adult life, suffering five heart attacks since age 37. He said the latest step, the implanting of a pump called a left ventricular assist device, will allow him to resume an active life…..
http://wcbstv.com/politics/dick.cheney.heart.2.1805304.html
A Ventricular assist device:
A “ventricular assist device” — or a dual-battery heart pump — is generally implanted in the abdomen of the patient (with dieing hearts), with motors churning the blood through his otherwise dead heart. The pumps “were once used only to keep patients alive until they could obtain a transplant,” but they’re beginning to be installed to simply drag out the congestive heart failure for up to two years. Wonkette: http://wonkette.com/416665/dick-cheney-americas-only-hero-much-closer-to-heroic-death#ixzz0tqFHP6AT