I am intrested in the history of cardiothorasic surgery today and was doing some research this morning. It is interesting that it all "took off" in the last 100 years or so. For obvious reasons - previous surgeons tools included things like scissors and tweezers and I have learned this: you can't be moving around aortas and cornary arteries with scissors!
What is even more interesting and therefore the subject of this blog entry is that these medical pioneers, these men (and a few women)who studied so hard and had such incredibly brilliant theories...were absolute and total CRAZIES.
Case in point? William Forssman!
This guy was the first person to perform a cardiac catheterization on a human being. No one would let him practice on a real living human being (naturally).
So who do you suppose he catheterized?
Are you ready for this?
He did it on HIMSELF!!!
...oh...my...gosh...
In 1929 he numbed up his elbow, inserted a canula into his OWN antecubital vein, pushed the catheter through it until he FELT it hit his right atrium. Then he marched himself over to an x-ray and took a nice picture of it to prove that it could be done.
Do you know what he got for this monumentous discovery? Some new friends in white jackets to take him away and lots of medicine! Everyone thought he was just nuts. He won eventually though. He was given the Nobel Prize in 1956!
So as "nutty" as he was and most of them were I am just so thankful for all of the crazy heart doctors. How far they have come! What would the world be like without the brilliant and crazy right? We would be short one little bald guy that can make even grown men babble that's for sure.
1 comment:
I love reading your blog entries. What a talented young woman you are and such a gift for words! Makes my day when you have an entry! Can't wait to see ya'll!!
Love you much!!
Mama
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