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"What has not been mentioned in most documentaries about Vivien Thomas and Dr. Blalock is that Dr. Blalock was at every operation up until the mid fifties."
Submitted by: Cheryl McDonald, Clearwater, FL
I became a patient of Dr. Blalock in the summer of 1955. Out of the three hospitals [Pittsburgh Children's, Mayo Clinic and John Hopkins] that offered pediatric heart surgery, my parents decided upon John Hopkins because of the survival rate [40% vs. 95%]. What has not been mentioned in most documentaries about Vivien Thomas and Dr. Blalock is that Dr. Blalock was at every operation up until the mid fifties. As a result, he succumbed to exhaustion. He had trained his staff so well that there were several teams operating by the time of my operation. My parents were elated that Dr. Blalock, himself, was operating on me. Because I did not show most of the common signs of being oxygen deprived, other than turning blue; my parents were not aware of how seriously ill I was until after the surgery. When Dr. Blalock informed them that if I had not had surgery that I would have only lived another 9 months. Had my parents known, I probably would have never attended first grade before my operation and probably sequestered until my operation. I remember the other "blue babies" that came from all over the county including Puerto Rico for their surgery. I was completely amazed at how utterly blue most of them were when we played together. Yet I did not consider myself that ill or a "blue baby". I only remember that I would become short of breath and turn blue when cold. But, the adults around me remarked about my blueness. The wing that we were on was not segregated. We were segregated by the stages of our admission and recovery. I remember the crafts that we did and the meals that we ate together. I particularly remember a young black boy who was in isolation behind the nurse's desk. He was scalded over half of his body. Later in my recovery, I remember him scooting about in a wheelchair. I also remember the redheaded nurse who kept a watchful eye on all of us. My mother cannot believe all of the things that I can remember from those days at John Hopkins: the statue in the rotunda, the pigeons at the window in the recovery room, the examination rooms, the fluoroscope room, the play area out the back door from the "conference/consultation" room, where we stayed in Baltimore and the other patients. During the two weeks after my operation my mother shared an apartment in Baltimore with one of the other mothers. For several years afterward, my mother corresponded with Bill Thomas' mother. He was there for his second operation at age 13. One of the things that I am grateful for is that I do not have the typical surgical scar down the middle of my chest. My scar is from the sternum, under my breast, to my armpit. I am glad that Dr. Blalock and the staff took into consideration my future happiness and womanhood and gave me the opportunity to live it. P.S. My operation only cost my parents approximately $200, for Dr. H. Taussig's secondary medical opinion.
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