November 29

The campaign to make November 29 a federal holiday begins now! On the 29th in 1944, Dr. Alfred Blalock (pictured at left) and Vivien Thomas, a surgical technician (pictured at right) performed the first surgery on a human to correct a condition known as blue baby syndrome. The patient was Eileen Saxon. Sadly, Eileen only survived for two months after the surgery. While working their way up to performing the surgery on humans, Blalock and Thomas also developed a means of correcting aortic coarctation. I think that was a really cool thing for them to have done. From what I have been told by qualified medical professionals, it appears that the aorta is a somewhat important piece of hardware and finding cardiac spare parts can often prove to be problematic. It’s a bit like having an MG and discovering one afternoon that you need a driveshaft for it. I cannot stress strongly enough how important it is to have a decent parts supplier readily available. Oh, and a hospital would be nice, though in a pinch I imagine that a vacant table at an International House of Pancakes would probably be an adequate substitute for a sterile operating room, so try not to be too fussy, o.k.? Once you locate a good source for spare parts always keep that person on your Christmas card list.