After watching her beloved patient Jackson wait to receive organs and
fight for his life in previous episodes, Bailey is wondering if she's
really cut out to be a pediatric surgeon. When the Chief assigns her to
Dixon's service, she's dismayed to find out, Dixon's heart patient is a
nine year old girl called Stacy Pollack who suffers from Pulmonary
Hypertension and is in desperate need of a heart, lung transplant.
Pulmonary hypertension is high blood pressure in the pulmonary artery,
which pumps blood to the lungs. In Stacy's case it is secondary to a
birth defect called VSD or ventricular septal defect. The septum is a
wall separating the left and right sides of the heart. A VSD is a hole
in this wall. The right side of the heart pumps blood to the lungs to
receive oxygen. The left side of the heart pumps oxygen rich blood to
the body. When there's a hole in the septum, some of the oxygen rich
blood on its course from the lungs to the rest of the body is diverted
back to the lungs. This causes the heart to work exponentially harder,
because less oxygen infused blood is getting to the body, so there is
always a need for more and too much blood is trying to enter the heart,
so there is always more to pump. As a result the heart becomes
enlarged. Usually VSDs are found early in life. Small ones can close on
their own without surgical intervention and when caught early enough
corrective surgery is simple. In Stacy's case the hole kept growing and
caused her to have pulmonary hypertension, which has done permanent
damage, which requires more than the simple surgical fix Bailey was
hoping for and Stacy's only option is a heart lung transplant.
Unfortunately, there are no organs currently available. So, Stacy must
be on medication, which must be delivered into her system every three
minutes without fail. Prior to the difficulties with her heart, Stacy
was a soccer player. The thought of being in a hospital bed, hooked up
to medicine pumps indefinitely (after all, organs are difficult to come
by) is really hard for Stacy to swallow. Bailey feels for Stacy and
thinks of a solution, a pediatric sized backpack with a pump attached
to it, that Stacy can wear all the time. The backpack carries the
medication. A tube carries the medication from the backpack directly
into Stacy's heart. The tube goes through the skin, called a picc line.
There's also a pump inside the backpack, which regulates the timing of
the medication. So, Stacy gains the mobility she so desperately wanted
while she awaits new heart and lungs.
