Heart: An American Medical Odyssey - Plot & Excerpts
Reiner and Dr. Speir were standing by my bed telling me the operation had gone very well. They said that as soon as the new heart had been connected to my blood supply and given a shock, it had started beating, which if you think about it is pretty amazing—an organ from one person happily taking up residence in another—and all because thousands of people have worked in research laboratories and operating rooms over the years perfecting the medicines, the techniques, and the technology that make transplant surgery possible. Getting a new heart is miraculous, but so is the way that researchers and doctors have worked for decades to advance the knowledge and skill that came together for me in a hospital in Northern Virginia. Of the three open heart surgeries I’ve had, transplant was by far the easiest. After the operation, I was on a respirator just a few hours, and I experienced only the mildest discomfort, even on the incision. Tylenol 3 was the strongest painkiller I needed. Three days after the surgery, I was out of bed walking the halls of the coronary care unit.
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