The puzzle people

“

“During those years, the patients were not the only puzzle people who were being forged. The surgeons and physicians also changed not so rapidly, because their own lives were not at stake, but inexorably, because the lives of others were in their hands. Some were corroded or destroyed by the experience, some were sublimated, and none remained the same.”

“

“The girls moved aimlessly to and fro, slowly advancing from the trees toward the slope, laughing, reaching out to touch each other as they came, and talking with gestures as they made fine circles and designs in the air. I wondered what they could be discussing that made them so happy. They looked like Stormie Jones and Jody Plute. I had wanted so much to have these girls grow up, but God froze them in time instead. Embarrassed by my sentimental thoughts, I turned away. When the distraction had passed and I looked up again, the distant figures were gone. There is a strange thing about the dimming vision of aging eyes. What cannot be seen clearly, the mind fills in more vividly than reality. It was almost dark. The time had come to collect the dogs and go home.”

“

“The mortality from the failed early trials and that which occurred later did not mean that liver transplantation was causing deaths. These patients were under a death sentence already because of the diseases that had brought them to us. Even now, I continue to receive letters from parents or family members. These always start by saying that they know I won't remember Jimmie or whatever was the patient's name. Then they express thanks for the fact that we had made an effort instead of letting their children die, off in a back room without hope. Those opposed to trying always claimed that these little creatures had been denied the dignity of dying. Their parents believed that they had been given the glory of striving. They were wrong about one thing. That I would not remember.”

“

“The third and most controversial technique was called "cross circulation." In this procedure, Lillehei tapped the circulation from the large vessels of a healthy partner whose normal heart was strong enough to be put "on loan" to support the circulation needs of a sick patient while the patient's heart was opened and repaired. From the observation dome of the human operating room, we witnessed a tragedy during an attempt at cross circulation. The healthy member of the connected pair was accidentally given a large amount of intravenous air from a bottle that had been internally pressurized to increase the rate of fluid infusion. No one had noticed when the bottle became empty of its solution. Moments later, the previously healthy cross-circulation partner who had been pumped full of air had a heart stoppage. Although heart massage was successful, I learned later that the healthy patient had suffered permanent brain injury and ultimately died.”