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Unrelated but funny anecdote. My daughter was on Sildenafil while she was in the NICU on ECMO (look it up if you want to see something very metal for an 11 day

by SEJeff 4y ago

Unrelated but funny anecdote. My daughter was on Sildenafil while she was in the NICU on ECMO (look it up if you want to see something very metal for an 11 day old infant to be on). While she was on ECMO, she was medically paralyzed so she didn't pull the cannula out of her jugular vein. She was on sildenafil as a blood thinner so her blood didn't clot in the ECMO circuit. I was chatting about this on facebook and soon after realized that sildenafil is a common drug used to treat ED in men. I got ED ads in facebook for the better part of 2 years after this one post and found it quite amusing. She's a healthy and happy 4 year old now. That treatment (and sildenafil) ultimately saved her life.

balls187 4y ago
Glad to hear your daughter is healthy and happy! I'm not sure where you're based out of, but I am thankful that my kids had access to a highly sophisticated NICU's. And funny enough Sildenafil for a ED treatment came about because that was a sideffect during medical trials for treating blood pressure.
- SEJeff 4y ago
  She was treated at Lurie Children’s in Chicago. We learned the difference between a level 4 NICU and not, is part of the literal life and death difference with kids born with what she was. We were very lucky. Thanks!
caycep 4y ago
Did they say it was a blood thinner? vs. lowering the blood pressure in her pulmonary arteries in conjunction w/ heparin as the blood thinner?
- SEJeff 4y ago
  It was in fact both. She was born with a diaphragmatic hernia if you’re medically inclined. Her left lung was 23% the size it needed to be so she had severe pulmonary hypertension. Post surgery to fix it, her heart basically gave out and her vitals took a dive. ECMO for eleven days gave her enough time to grow enough to figure it out. It was a blood thinner to keep the blood from clotting in the ECMO circuit, but also helped with her rather severe pulmonary hypertension. She was intubated approximately ten second after I cut the umbilical chord and stayed that way for three months. A diaphragmatic hernia is no joke man!

by SEJeff 4y ago

balls187 4y ago

Glad to hear your daughter is healthy and happy! I'm not sure where you're based out of, but I am thankful that my kids had access to a highly sophisticated NICU's. And funny enough Sildenafil for a ED treatment came about because that was a sideffect during medical trials for treating blood pressure.

SEJeff 4y ago
She was treated at Lurie Children’s in Chicago. We learned the difference between a level 4 NICU and not, is part of the literal life and death difference with kids born with what she was. We were very lucky. Thanks!

caycep 4y ago

Did they say it was a blood thinner? vs. lowering the blood pressure in her pulmonary arteries in conjunction w/ heparin as the blood thinner?

SEJeff 4y ago
It was in fact both. She was born with a diaphragmatic hernia if you’re medically inclined. Her left lung was 23% the size it needed to be so she had severe pulmonary hypertension. Post surgery to fix it, her heart basically gave out and her vitals took a dive. ECMO for eleven days gave her enough time to grow enough to figure it out. It was a blood thinner to keep the blood from clotting in the ECMO circuit, but also helped with her rather severe pulmonary hypertension. She was intubated approximately ten second after I cut the umbilical chord and stayed that way for three months. A diaphragmatic hernia is no joke man!