Leslie Rehak, 31, of Greensburg, manages the Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit at the Forbes Regional campus of West Penn Allegheny Health System.

One of her first requisitions for the new Ed Dardanell Heart and Vascular Center was 250 Shumsky Heart Pillows.

"The pillow serves a couple of purposes," she said. "The patients hug the pillows when they cough and deep breath with them. Patients cherish the pillows. The doctor can draw where the bypass is, so it serves as an educational tool as well."

Shumsky chairman Michael Emoff said, "The value of the pillow is more than just healing. It serves as a coughing pillow to doctors, a comfort pillow to nurses and an educational aid to patients. The level of detail makes it unique. It is also a wonderful keepsake that doctors and nurses can autograph."

Following open heart surgery, patients need to cough to clear their lungs. But the coughing can cause a sternal malunion, i.e., the bones don't go back together. To reduce the chances of that, a patient can press a Shumsky pillow against his or her chest while coughing.

The Shumsky Heart Pillow has been featured in Time magazine and on the cover of the Mayo Clinic Newsletter. Former President Bill Clinton used a Shumsky Heart Pillow when recovering from his open heart surgery.

The Shumsky company in Dayton, Ohio, has been making heart pillows since 1985. It sells pillows to more than 800 hospitals in the United States.

The company began as a promotional marketing agency in the 1950s. A customer, Miami Valley Hospital, approached Shumsky to improve a heart pillow it was using that looked more like a tooth.

"Today, the Shumsky Heart Pillow is recognized as the trusted brand for surgeries," Mr. Emoff said.

That company also makes kidney, lung and liver pillows, ranging in size from small to large.

One night, a woman left a message on the company voice mail. She had just found the pillow her deceased husband had used following surgery. The entire message can be heard on the Shumsky Web site.

"I still have the pillow that my husband got from you people back in 1993," she says on the message. "He's gone now, but that pillow comforts me from time to time. It not only served the purpose of helping [him when he coughed], but it helps me now.

"It was the closest thing to him that I have. I hope you never give up on sending that pillow out."