$0.02 from a doctor who has cared for ECMO patients in the ICU, and delivered anesthesia for multiple open heart surgeries and heart +/- lung transplants. Generally speaking, patients on ECMO tend to do well if (and only if) they need ECMO due to a reversible cause. Examples include prematurity (kids will grow up), a particularly virulent strain of the flu in a child or young adult (I believe the OP falls into this camp), and open heart surgery. There's also some evidence to support the use of ECMO for a very short period of time in the setting of some acute strokes.

It's important to note that ECMO will NOT reverse disease in and of itself. This explains why some doctors believe that ECMO has no role in the treatment of patients with end-stage disease of any kind. Some even argue that ECMO amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. While I don't personally agree with the latter view, I do believe that we (doctors, patients, and their loved ones) must recognize ECMO for what it is: a means to an end.

While it's exciting to learn about technologies like ECMO, it would be a fool's errand to try to make it more portable, cheaper, etc. I strongly encourage the HN community to keep their eyes on the prize by applying their talent to discovering new ways to predict, prevent, and treat the conditions that land people on ECMO in the first place: - Heart disease - Diabetes - Cancer - Liver disease - Infectious Disease - Prematurity - Aging

P.S. - love to see medical stuff make it to the front page