Last updated on 1 April 2026
Good evening, Mr. Mirko, my name is Stefania and I am an intensive care nurse at the Cardiocentro.
I am writing this diary for you so that once you are home, you can reconstruct your journey and find answers to any questions you may have.
You were transferred from Moncucco Hospital, where you were admitted for a respiratory problem caused by Covid.
From what the doctors told me this morning, at Moncucco they placed a tube in your mouth to help you breathe with a mechanical ventilator. However, the respiratory support was not sufficient to ensure good oxygenation, so you were transferred here to the Cardiocentro.
In the operating room, they placed two large cannulas in your neck and groin, which are used to draw blood, pass it through a machine called ExtraCorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) that oxygenates it and removes carbon dioxide, and then return it to your body.
So now you are on an air mattress with a tube in your mouth connected to the ventilator, the ECMO cannulas, and a (thin) catheter in your neck used to administer intravenous medications.
At the moment you are peaceful because we are administering medications to help you sleep and tolerate all these tubes.
Looking at you, you seem calm because your face is relaxed.
I will say goodbye for now and wish you a good night.
Stefania
