X-Message-Number: 16002
Date: Wed, 04 Apr 2001 12:43:39 -0600
From: Linda Chamberlain <>
Subject: Third Alcor cryovitrification

     Alcor announces that on Thursday, March 22, 2001, member A-1705 became
our
44th suspension patient, deanimating to become our third consecutive
neurovitrification case, employing the very best state-of-the-art preservation
procedures.
     A 62 year old retired Ph.D, A-1705 was a well known biostasis advocate,
attending and actively participating in many conferences, both Alcor sponsored
and otherwise.  He waged a nearly two year battle with an abdominal malignancy
which only slowed him down in the final month of his first lifecycle.
     A-1705 contacted Alcor in mid-February, notifying us of his impending
admission to the Mayo Clinic (and its affiliated hospitals) in Rochester,
Minnesota, for definitive workup of suspected migrating metastases.  The
results of this exhaustive examination required a return trip to Rochester to
undergo an experimental chemotherapeutic regimen in the hopes of arresting the
insidious growth.  Shortly after the treatments were initiated, however,
A-1705
developed abdominal leakage, requiring surgical intervention. 
Post-operatively, our patient continued in a terminal spiral, generating an
excessively ominous leukocytosis with concomitant febrility.
     Prior to A-1705 s first Mayo visit (in February) Alcor launched into
imminent suspension readiness via our Actnet system.  Daily communication was
established and maintained amongst the professional staff at Alcor Central in
Scottsdale, attending physicians in Rochester, and A-1705 himself.
     Additionally, on-going discussions to include A-1705 s designated
mortician, attorney and personal family physician were conducted by myself
(Jerry B. Lemler, M.D.  Medical Director), and proved to be exceedingly
productive.  We constructed a plan of action whereby it was decided that if
the
patient survived his travails in Minnesota, he would be transferred for
terminal hospice care in the greater Phoenix area.
     I met with and subsequently spoke several times to representatives of the
Hospice of The Valley.  Our thanks go out to Bob Ettinger for his referral of
these diligent and compassionate individuals.  They proved not only to be
compliant with our various needs, but ultimately (see below) of significant
assistance to us in carrying out our mission.
     Thanks to the expert care of Dr. Naficy and his team of surgeons,
A-1705 s
condition improved to the point where he could be transported to Arizona.  On
Saturday, March 17, he was flown via a med-transport Learjet to Sky Harbor
Airport, where he was greeted and taken to Phoenix Baptist Hospital, escorted
by Alcor facilities engineer Hugh Hixon and myself (JBL).  
     A wing of the fourth floor of Phoenix Baptist Hospital is set aside for
in-patient care of Hospice of The Valley patients, under the supervision of
their Medical Director, Dr. Greg Mayer.  Hospital personnel directly
responsible for A-1705 s care were thoroughly vested in his comfort and our
procedures.
     Teams of Alcor staff and volunteers faithfully stood vigil at A-1705 s
bedside, beginning Tuesday, March 20, when his condition noticeably
deteriorated towards an agonal state.  Just one day prior to this clinical
worsening (March 19), Fred and Linda Chamberlain secured the necessary
paperwork from A-1705 to convert his suspension arrangement from whole body to
Alcor s new Open Option Plan.  The Open Option allows Alcor s Medical Director
(Jerry B. Lemler, M.D.) and/or senior cryotransport leaders, (in his absence),
to choose for the suspendee the preferable preservation method at the time of
his/her deanimation.
     Alcor s 24 hour/day standby vigil-keepers included staff members Linda
Chamberlain, Fred Chamberlain, Dr. Jerry B. Lemler, Hugh Hixon, and Jessica
Lemler, along with the valuable assistance of volunteers Jerry Searcy, Bruce
Cohen, and Polo Merguzhis.  Early Thursday morning at 0500 hours, A-1705
developed a Cheyne-Stoke breathing pattern, prompting me, (Jerry B. Lemler,
M.D.), to re-draw a second batch of stabilization medications.  Fortuitously,
the hospital staff allowed us not only unlimited pre and post morbid access to
our patient, but further permitted us to station our MARC (Mobile Advanced
Rescue Cart) in A-1705 s room, enhancing its availability for immediate use.
     At 0545 hours, member A-1705 deanimated, with pronouncement by designated
nursing personnel, (upon notification by Alcor standby representatives within
minutes of the event).
     Manual cardiac stabilization was immediately begun, along with ice
cooldown, (utilizing portable ice bath with spray cooling device), as well as
medication infusion.  Mechanical chest compression followed shortly
thereafter,
and within 45 minutes our newest patient was on his way to Alcor Central, with
Hugh Hixon behind the Alcor ambulance wheel, as Linda Chamberlain and Dr.
Jerry
B. Lemler attended to the MARC and its valuable contents.
     The ambulance arrived at Alcor Central at precisely 0700 hours, and the
patient was transferred to the operating table without incident.  Tympanic
probe readings at 0719 hours were:  left:  20.7 degrees C., right:  19.9
degrees C.
     Surgery was performed by Dr. Jose Kanshepolsky and Dr. Nancy McEachern,
assisted by myself (J.B.L).  Cephalic isolation was accomplished at 0909
hours,
while the washout procedure was completed at 0945 hours.  The cryprotective
ramp began at 1021 hours, ending at 1607 hours.  Full details of this
suspension will follow in the next issue of Cryonics magazine and on the Alcor
website as quickly as priorities allow.  We currently have one patient report
posted on our website, and are working to get others posted as rapidly as
possible.
     We, at Alcor, wish to thank everyone who participated in this most
successful cryotransport, as well as all our volunteers who offered us their
time and expertise, who weren t called in.  The case of A-1705 illustrates the
value of terminal hospice care in an empathetic environment close to your
biostasis provider of choice.  Additionally, the low temperatures recorded so
soon following deanimation attest to the intrinsic viability of Alcor s
cryotransport protocols in both phases (standby and cryoprotection).

Respectfully submitted,
Jerry B. Lemler, M.D.
Medical Director
Alcor Life Extension Foundation
     
     
  
Linda Chamberlain
President/CEO

Alcor Life Extension Foundation 
7895 E. Acoma Dr., Suite 110, Scottsdale AZ 85260-6916 
Phone (480) 905-1906 x 113      FAX (480) 922-9027 
() 

The Alcor Life Extension Foundation was founded in 1972 as 
a non-profit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization, and has 43 patients 
in biostasis as of January, 2001. Alcor is the world's largest provider 
of professional cryotransport services with over 515 members who 
have pre-arranged for biostasis. Alcor's Emergency CryoTransport 
System (ECS) is a medical-style rescue network patterned after 
Emergency Medical System (EMS). Alcor CryoTransport Technicians, 
as with EMTs and Paramedics on an ambulance, are advised by our 
Medical Director, Jerry Lemler MD or other physicians who are Alcor 
members and/or contract physicians. 

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