Subject: YOU WISH IT WERE SO
From: The FAX of Life, for the Week of June 5, 2006
Dr. Samuel Weinstein does what many health professionals do that goes
above and beyond their duties. He makes trips into parts of the world that are
very poor and where specialized medical care is often unavailable. In this
case, the heart surgeon from New York was performing an operation in San
Salvador.
Weinstein, chief of pediatric cardio-thoracic surgery at Montefiore Medical
Center in New York, had an eight-year-old patient on the surgical table. The
team was already 12 hours into a complex procedure to repair his defective
heart.
The surgery had been going well, but the little boy was bleeding more than
the doctors would have liked. Because the hospital did not have all the
medicines Weinstein could have requested at his customary medical center,
he inquired about more blood for him. At that point he was told that no more
was available because of his rare blood type. The blood bank was depleted.
Weinstein was told that his patient had B-negative blood -- a type shared by
only about two percent of the population. The surgeon informed his
colleagues that his blood type was also B-negative. And he proceeded to
interrupt surgery for about 20 minutes to donate a pint of his own blood. After
a couple of bottles of water and a Pop-Tart, the 43-year-old surgeon went
back and finished the operation. In a manner I suspect is typical of him,
Weinstein declared there was no one on the surgical team who wouldn't have
done the same thing.
The young patient, Francisco Calderon Anthony Fernandez of San Salvador,
had his surgery on May 11, 2006. He came off his ventilator the very next day
and had some lunch with Dr. Weinstein. He continued to recover nicely and
has since gone home to be with his family.
"His mother was very happy with me," reported Weinstein in an interview after
his mercy trip with Heart Care International, "and she said to me, "'Does this
mean that he's going to grow up and become an American doctor?'"
The story of the doctor who saved a boy's life with a gift not only of his skills
but of his own blood as well will surely be told to the child repeatedly. One can
only hope that the retelling of so wonderful a story will have a positive impact
on him. He may not become a doctor, but he can be an unselfish human
being.
Take a few minutes to remind yourself of some of the kindnesses invested in
your life. Teacher, Scout Master, parent, coach, mentor -- all of us have
people who were there at critical moments. Be sure to pass along the legacy.
From: The FAX of Life, for the Week of June 5, 2006
Dr. Samuel Weinstein does what many health professionals do that goes
above and beyond their duties. He makes trips into parts of the world that are
very poor and where specialized medical care is often unavailable. In this
case, the heart surgeon from New York was performing an operation in San
Salvador.
Weinstein, chief of pediatric cardio-thoracic surgery at Montefiore Medical
Center in New York, had an eight-year-old patient on the surgical table. The
team was already 12 hours into a complex procedure to repair his defective
heart.
The surgery had been going well, but the little boy was bleeding more than
the doctors would have liked. Because the hospital did not have all the
medicines Weinstein could have requested at his customary medical center,
he inquired about more blood for him. At that point he was told that no more
was available because of his rare blood type. The blood bank was depleted.
Weinstein was told that his patient had B-negative blood -- a type shared by
only about two percent of the population. The surgeon informed his
colleagues that his blood type was also B-negative. And he proceeded to
interrupt surgery for about 20 minutes to donate a pint of his own blood. After
a couple of bottles of water and a Pop-Tart, the 43-year-old surgeon went
back and finished the operation. In a manner I suspect is typical of him,
Weinstein declared there was no one on the surgical team who wouldn't have
done the same thing.
The young patient, Francisco Calderon Anthony Fernandez of San Salvador,
had his surgery on May 11, 2006. He came off his ventilator the very next day
and had some lunch with Dr. Weinstein. He continued to recover nicely and
has since gone home to be with his family.
"His mother was very happy with me," reported Weinstein in an interview after
his mercy trip with Heart Care International, "and she said to me, "'Does this
mean that he's going to grow up and become an American doctor?'"
The story of the doctor who saved a boy's life with a gift not only of his skills
but of his own blood as well will surely be told to the child repeatedly. One can
only hope that the retelling of so wonderful a story will have a positive impact
on him. He may not become a doctor, but he can be an unselfish human
being.
Take a few minutes to remind yourself of some of the kindnesses invested in
your life. Teacher, Scout Master, parent, coach, mentor -- all of us have
people who were there at critical moments. Be sure to pass along the legacy.
You Wish It Were So
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