Holy crap - Dick Cheney had a heart transplant!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not necessarily offended by the transplant because of his politics, but I know someone on the list whom I would have considered more deserving (a young dad whose minor child needs him)... and I'm sure there are many others.

So it does sound fishy that someone who has already had the privilege of making it to his twilight years can qualify. I can't imagine the technical match-up requirements indicated Mr. Cheney before someone else who ought to have many years ahead of him if it weren't for the heart trouble.

+1

[Anonymous]

On the news today it was being reported that he was on a wait list for 2 years to get a transplant.

[Anonymous]

People who think money can't by a transplant or better health care are either naive or rich so they have no idea of the realities of how the rest of the world live.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:On the news today it was being reported that he was on a wait list for 2 years to get a transplant.

HE should have bought himself a treadmill, nutritionist, and a low-stress job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I realize people are skeptical about this, but trust me on this one. There is no way to "jump the line" in organ donation, unless you have a family donor. It just doesn't work that way. The article I saw said that Cheney was on the list for 20 months. Been VP has nothing to do with anything.

Trust me on this... What exactly are your credentials or area of expertise that gives you the knowledge that you can't "jump the line"?

Do tell.

I am a transplant recipient and active in the transplant community.

I respect your self imposed credentials but I am in the belief that money can buy anything, and I am fairly certain, despite your disagreement, that Cheney and his doctors were able to finagle this so he was guaranteed a heart.

You have a "belief", I have experience. Call that "self-imposed credentials" if you will, but you have no experience with this process. Believe all you want, but it doesn't make it true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not necessarily offended by the transplant because of his politics, but I know someone on the list whom I would have considered more deserving (a young dad whose minor child needs him)... and I'm sure there are many others.

So it does sound fishy that someone who has already had the privilege of making it to his twilight years can qualify. I can't imagine the technical match-up requirements indicated Mr. Cheney before someone else who ought to have many years ahead of him if it weren't for the heart trouble.

How would you determine who is most "deserving"? I hope your friend gets a heart, truly, but trying to determine who's most "deserving" to top the list is completely absurd. So if you have a minor child you get to the top? What if you have 2 minor children? What if you have 3 minor children, but you're kind of an asshole? Does that bump you down?

[Anonymous]

I don't know about you guys, but I smell a new Chris Rock movie coming on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know about you guys, but I smell a new Chris Rock movie coming on.

Haha. That's pretty good, PP.

[Anonymous]

Fil had a transplant..you cannot skip any line. There is a really complicated process in getting a heart..sick enough to need one yet healthy enough to survive. No one just walks in an gets a heart. Age plays a role in whether you would be healthy enough to survive the surgery but thank god we haven't started Obamacare because older people would be xxd out..because some jerk would say you have lived too long. Every life is precious. I hope vp Cheney does well I his recovery. Thank you Fairfax hospital..you also served our family well.

[Anonymous]

Is anyone else convinced that Dick Cheney had a heart attack on Sept. 11? His complete disappearance was weird-I assume that you can send out audio and video even from a "secure location," and I remember reading about a secret service agent saying he literally picked Cheney up and carried him to waiting transportation

[Anonymous]

I'd have to google for the articles but they are in the process of changing things about who gets picked in what order also. For example, they don't want a 20yo heart to go to an elderly recipient.

As another person in the transplant community, I can tell you it is a very complex process. And while I can see why you'd think he would use power and influence to get a heart, he has also had problems that started in his thirties. He's had a very long time to get on the list, and to wait. The matching process is also difficult, so it is not like they are going to just hand him a heart - they'd want a good match to come in.

I say this as someone who cannot stand the man and think he is vile as a person, but also as someone who knows the agony of this situation. It's a tough call but as I thought about it last night I could only hope that it didn't make people not sign their donor cards. We really need donors in this country, particularly minority ones. Any form of bad publicity is a difficult thing to see.

[Anonymous]

I respect your self imposed credentials but I am in the belief that money can buy anything, and I am fairly certain, despite your disagreement, that Cheney and his doctors were able to finagle this so he was guaranteed a heart.

Do you have anything at all that supports this certainty, other than Dick Cheney is a bad man and corruption abounds in every nook and cranny of our society?

[Anonymous]

The decision is made by people, right? The transplants boards are composed of humans. So yes, it's possible that people made the decision to bump Cheny up the list a bit.

I think the questionable transplants are more common when it's a kidney or a partial liver, something that comes from a living (and perhaps compensated) donor, but I don't think it's at all impossible that a bunch of wealthy older white guys were tipped off about Cheny being Patient #2541, or whatever, and that their decision was influenced.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I respect your self imposed credentials but I am in the belief that money can buy anything, and I am fairly certain, despite your disagreement, that Cheney and his doctors were able to finagle this so he was guaranteed a heart.

Do you have anything at all that supports this certainty, other than Dick Cheney is a bad man and corruption abounds in every nook and cranny of our society?

NP. That's enough for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The decision is made by people, right? The transplants boards are composed of humans. So yes, it's possible that people made the decision to bump Cheny up the list a bit.

I think the questionable transplants are more common when it's a kidney or a partial liver, something that comes from a living (and perhaps compensated) donor, but I don't think it's at all impossible that a bunch of wealthy older white guys were tipped off about Cheny being Patient #2541, or whatever, and that their decision was influenced.

I also believe that the transplant board meets on a grassy knoll and they fly the organs in via black helicopters. I don't think it's at all impossible.