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Aberdeen Man Headed Home After Surgery: Implanted Device Keeps Blood Moving Until Heart Transplant Available

Posted on: Thursday, 22 December 2005, 15:00 CST

By Russ Keen, American News, Aberdeen, S.D., American News, Aberdeen, S.D.

Dec. 22--About a month after being implanted with a blood-pumping lifesaver that substitutes for his failing heart, Neil Barth is expected back in his Aberdeen home on Christmas Eve.

"He's very excited about it," said Tara Barth of Aberdeen, his daughter-in-law. To the family's knowledge, Neil, 61, is perhaps the first person in the Aberdeen area to receive such a device.

The device is made of titanium, weighs about 4 pounds and is implanted under his skin in the center of his chest, below the rib cage, Tara said. Neil received it Nov. 22 at the University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview in Minneapolis. He was dismissed from the hospital a few days ago, and is currently staying in a motel near the center.

Cords come out of Neil's right side, and he must be plugged into a base unit at all times to keep the device operating, she said. If he leaves his house, he must take batteries with him to keep the blood-pumper operating.

Tara is among a handful of local people who took training on how the device works so they can assist Neil after he returns home.

"It's an amazing thing," she said. "It basically looks like a car starter."

The hope is that Neil will eventually receive a heart transplant and will no longer need the implanted technology, Tara said. The right side of his natural heart is fine, but the left side does not function. The mechanical device does the work of the left side, she said.

Anonymous helpers: Perhaps the most heart-warming aspect of Neil's heart story is the concern shown by strangers.

Neil was first helped by North Central Heart Institute of Sioux Falls and Aberdeen. While at NCHI in Sioux Falls, the Barth family met an Aberdeen couple who later decided to take the training needed to assist Neil.

The couple wants to remain anonymous, Tara said. Their concern means Tara and Neil's wife Donna, who also took the training, will be able to take breaks from assisting Neil.

"That was just so nice of them," Tara said. "They didn't know Neil from Adam."

Others who wish to help can do so by donating to a medical fund established in Neil's name at: Great Western Bank, 119 Sixth Ave. S.E., Aberdeen, SD 57401.

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Copyright (c) 2005, American News, Aberdeen, S.D.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: American News (Aberdeen, S.D.)

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