Posts by Frank Aprile
tHE wAITING gAME: O’s to the Toes…
_________________________________________________ – Editor’s Note: – Sometimes you just know… –It was gonna be a long pump run, huge patient, and the CT surgeon is a slow AND meticulous surgeon, an artist of self imposed preciseness that pre-emptively puts down 4.5 LPM as the standard for every bypass run. No rhyme or reason- his perfect universe ran…
Read MorePediatric Perfusionist Needed for L’Viv Ukraine
________________________________________________ – Editor’s Note: I was finishing up a routine CABG when I received a Messenger text from Dr. Bill Novick, the Director and founder of The Novick Cardiac Alliance, and it read as follows: – – This would obviously be a huge decision for whomever would consider going to a country in the middle…
Read MoreWe Call them HEROES: An American Heart Team in Ukraine…
“Pensiveness best describes the scene, as we swirl our glasses watching the foam tumble down the side of the glass and picking at a cold piece of pizza. We all know what is coming but none of us know what to expect.” – ___________________________________ – Editor’s Note: – This needs to be written, but it…
Read More“The Fight is Here; I need Ammunition, NOT a Ride”
Editor’s Note: Typically I do not get involved with politics or international affairs that are not directly related to the field of cardiovascular medicine, or the field of medicine in general. But with the world events of today regarding the Ukrainian crisis, it is impossible to sidestep a position statement that I feel I must…
Read MoreRed Sea Rising: Strategies to Improve Surgical Visualization
Editor’s Note: This is a discussion on a very difficult case where anomalous venous return was overwhelming during a multi-valve repair / replacement- Making surgical correction nearly impossible. Well, it was one of those days… Unspoken Silence: When everyone worries… We Look to get past this morning’s -double-or-triple-valve-something, one step at a time. And they were…
Read MoreMy Perfusion Job Shadowing Experience: Day 2
(Reprint 2014) Editor’s Note: This is part 2 of what is a 3-part series- these first two posts presented by a young, soon-to-be medical professional who job shadowed for two days with me. He is soon to graduate from a very prestigious university here in Texas, and has more than established his unwavering commitment to medicine…
Read MoreMy Perfusion Job Shadowing Experience: Day 1
(Reprint 2014) Editor’s Note: This is part 1 of what is going to be a 3-part series- the first two posts presented by a young, soon-to-be medical professional who job shadowed for two days with me. The last will be a re-post of something I had written- that reflects the difficulty of the case we…
Read MorePerfusion Art: “Next…?”
Perfusion Art: “NEXT…? ” Photographer: Frank Aprile, CCP, BBA, LP Equipment: I Phone 8+ Editing: Photoshop Narrative: Waiting for the Next ECMO… I write about theses things because it takes it’s toll on everyone- We are outcome driven when it comes to advanced medical care and resuscitation- we truly are the cream of the crop and the Tips…
Read MoreWhat Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger…
The take home message on this is that I believe in Miracles– And we could use a few of those- so never give up. – That’s a shout out to: Our Staff: Our Patients: Patient Families: Our Families – – Editor’s Note: – How did I get Here? So I found myself driving South of…
Read MoreMerry Christmas From ‘Surfers & PDC!!
It’s been a tough Year for all of us. I started the year out in Augusta, GA, then off to Northern Indiana, then 6 months in Ann Arbor, MI, from there to Join a team in KY as well as a week in Hot Springs AR. Every place the same story- Perfusionists doing amazing work…
Read MoreA Locum’s ScrapBook: Hospital 58
Editor’s Note: As part of this series A Locum’s ScrapBook, I tried to detail every aspect of perfusion life that traveling contract perfusionists such as myself encounter during our travels to various contract sites. I think we all like to acknowledge the things in life that make it just a little easier to do the things…
Read MorePerfusion Art: “It Takes a Village…”
Perfusion Art: “It Takes a Village…” Photographer: Frank Aprile, CCP, BBA, LP Equipment: I Phone 8+ Editing: Photoshop Narrative: A lot of CO2 in the Hybrid Room… Time & Place: 2016- Somewhere in Iowa About The Artist: CCP Commentary: This looks like a Medieval Painting- Very surreal 🙂 ___________________________________
Read MoreWhen the Symphony Dies… Part 1
________________________________________________ Editor’s Note: A brief story of a series of events that represented some significant challenges for this perfusionist as well as the entire open heart and surgical ICU teams… ________________________________________________ A Level 1 Trauma – 2:00 AM Pager goes off- that’s never good. A call from the OR desk- Something going on in a…
Read MorePerfusion Art: “Thoracic Park…”
Perfusion Art: “Thoracic Park…” Photographer: Frank Aprile, CCP, BBA, LP Equipment: I Phone 8+ Editing: Photoshop Narrative: End of a long day- TAVRs x 3 Time & Place: 2021- North of the Wabash River About The Artist: CCP Commentary: We dodged a bullet today. A very nice save. Couldn’t help but notice how much our equipment resembles mechanical versions of Apex predators…
Read MorePerfusion Art: “The DoorWay”
Perfusion Art: “The DoorWay” Photographer: Frank Aprile, CCP, BBA, LP Equipment: I Phone 8+ Editing: Photoshop Narrative: “What You Lookin At???” (Opening the Chest for CPB-) Time & Place: A While Ago: West Texas About The Artist: CCP Commentary: Two Amazing Clinicians- in a class of their own 🙂 _______________________________________
Read MorePerfusion Art: “Anticipation”
Perfusion Art: “Anticipation” Photographer: Frank Aprile, CCP, BBA, LP Equipment: I Phone 8+ Editing: Photoshop Narrative: When Blood moves forward to meet a crystalloid Ocean… 🙂 Time & Place: 2021: MidWest About The Artist: CCP Commentary: Things we look at every day … _______________________________________
Read MoreLocums CCP- Available 4 You…
I am a contract perfusionist willing and ready to travel. Excellent current and past references, ABCP certified x forever- and have put patients on bypass at 57 facilities during my career. > Chief Perfusionist at 2 startup heart programs >Adult Perfusion >Adult and Pediatric ECMO >STS Data Coordinator > CV Database Developer >Long term Contracts…
Read MorePerfusion Art: “Gradients”
Perfusion Art: “Gradients” Photographer: Frank Aprile, CCP, BBA, LP Equipment: I Phone 8+ Editing: Photoshop Narrative: Say hello to your little friend… Every day we see this so often- I think we forget we are looking at it 🙂 Time & Place: 2021: MidWest About The Artist: CCP Commentary: Things we look at every day … _______________________________________ The Original Shot:
Read MoreSometimes… You Have to Learn How to Walk All Over Again…
_________________ Editor’s Note: Having negotiated the intricacies of assimilating into 57 heart programs prior- the one thing I know for sure: Each heart program is it’s OWN distinctly different animal. Equipment and the OR layouts vary to a certain degree- but after awhile, even those differences start to gel together and became a familiar enough…
Read MorePerfusion Art: “Crimson Tubes”
Perfusion Art: “Crimson Tubes” Photographer: Frank Aprile, CCP, BBA, LP Equipment: I Phone 8+ Editing: Photoshop Narrative: An Aortic Root Reconstruction Time & Place: 2021: MidWest About The Artist: CCP Commentary: There is a raw artistic beauty to the reshaping and re-sculpturing of the human heart
Read MoreA Profile in Courage: Covid (+) Returning to the Heart Team
Covid19: A Transformative Beast… I kind of feel like we are curving up from that BOTTOM of the slippery slope that we have been on for the last 1 ½ years- at least I hope so. We are no longer frightened. We are no longer obsessed with the fear of exposure or how it relates…
Read MorePerfusion Art: “Blood on the Tracks””
Perfusion Art: “Blood on the Tracks” Photographer: Frank Aprile, CCP, BBA, LP Equipment: I Phone 8+ Editing: Photoshop Narrative: “Blood on the Tracks’ Time & Place: 2021: UpNORTH About The Artist: CCP Commentary: A long Emergency Case- Late Night
Read MorePerfusion Art: “Davinci”
Perfusion Art: “ Davinci” Photographer: Frank Aprile, CCP, BBA, LP Equipment: I Phone 8+ Editing: Photoshop Narrative: A MidCab with Robotic IMA Harvest Time & Place: 2021: UpNORTH About The Artist: CCP Commentary: The symmetry on display here is amazing! Impressive watching such an intricate communication process-
Read MorePerfusion Art: “The Ready Room”
Perfusion Art: “The Ready Room” Photographer: Frank Aprile, CCP, BBA, LP Equipment: I Phone 8+ Editing: Photoshop Narrative: Rows of surgical shoes- at the ready Time & Place: 2021: UpNORTH About The Artist: CCP Commentary: It’s a busy place- Reminds me of the Corpsman barracks at the Marine Fleet Marine Force training center- Del Mar 21 Area- Camp Pendleton.
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