The University of Kansas Health System is treating a total of 57 COVID patients today, 58 Monday. Other significant numbers:

• 29 with the active virus today, 38 Monday
• 8 in ICU, 11 Monday
•  4 on a ventilator, 4 Monday

Key points from today’s guests:

Jackie Adams, heart transplant patient

• Received a heart transplant just 27 hours after being put on the transplant list.
• This is not typical, but she had a blood group that is the rarest blood group and with her body size, finding a match was not very difficult.
• She also went through “pre-hab” – preparing her body to be put on the transplant list. This meant getting healthier, including stopping smoking after 30 years.
• Said the doctors and the nurses – every single one of them – were awesome, and she thanks them for giving her a second chance at life.

Dr. Hirak Shah, cardiologist, The University of Kansas Health System

• We really work on our patients to get them into shape for heart transplant surgery.
• This includes setting weight and exercise goals months in advance. The stronger you are going into surgery, the chance of you doing well afterward substantially increases.
• Jackie had COVID in September and the heart transplant in December, but while COVID did not cause her initial heart problems, it may have accelerated it.
• More studies need to be done on COVID’s impacts on the heart.

Dr. Andrija Vidic, heart transplant program director, The University of Kansas Health System

• We are more comfortable dealing with more difficult or more difficult or what we call “marginal donors.”
• Our acceptance rates has skyrocketed over the last 30 months through basically better donor management and accepting the hearts that really fit well for our patients.
• What separates us from most other health systems is our nursing staff and physical therapy afterward transplant surgery.
• Post-op management, which is mostly directed by our nurse practitioners and our nurses and physical therapists, is most important.
• If you look at our statistical comparison to national stats, our mean average for transplant discharge from the hospital is nine days and nationally it is probably twice that, so we are getting patients back home and recovered much quicker.

Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control, The University of Kansas Health System

• News reports have indicated a third patient has now been cured of HIV.
• This patient received virus resistant cells and a bone marrow transplant.
• However, this patient also had blood cancer/acute myeloid leukemia, so the treatment was different and that procedure carries significant risks.
• With the medicines today, living with HIV is much safer.

Wednesday, February 22 is the next Open Mics with Dr. Stites. Most heart transplant programs would not operate on a 74-year-old man. How old is too old to get a new heart? You’ll meet a man who found out why age is sometimes just a number.

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