For Sydney Pelusio, a quiet day outside playing with her dog, watering flowers or watching her children reach another milestone means more than it once did.
Two years ago, the healthy, active mother of two went to Unity Hospital with flu-like symptoms. Within an hour, she went into cardiac arrest.
“I think I was so out of it that I did not even really recognize what was happening to me until I woke up in the ICU a day later,” Pelusio said.
Doctors performed CPR and brought her back to life.
Dr. Cameron Hall with Rochester Regional Health implanted an Impella device, a small heart pump that helped circulate Pelusio’s blood while allowing her heart to rest.
“These pumps that go in the heart are the size of my pen,” Hall said. “It really is the surrogate for the pump that we have in every human, the left ventricle.”
Doctors suspected Pelusio had myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, and determined she needed a higher level of care.
She was transferred to Rochester General Hospital and placed on ECMO, a form of life support, before being transferred to Strong Memorial Hospital for a possible heart transplant.
