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"I did a 500-mile bicycle ride as a fundraiser last summer and also skated in the North Shore Inline Marathon last fall."
Submitted by: Jim Larson, Duluth, MN
I was born in Phoenix Arizona on Aug. 9, 1950. About 6 months later it was apparent there was a problem as I started loosing color. I was diagnosed with Tetrology of Fallot, a major congenital heart defect. I received a Blaylock/Taussig shunt at the University of California. Hospital sometime in 1953 at age 3. This kept me alive until my open-heart surgery in 1962. From 3 years old until age 12 (1962) I still was quite blue and had purple lips and clubbed toes and fingers. I could walk a block at a time but could not actively play with friends. I played a lot of Monopoly and chess. One of the worst things that happened is when in 1958 the song "one-eyed one-horse purple people eater" came out. It resulted in a lot of teasing. My open-heart surgery in 1962 was at the University of Minnesota. I was hospitalized at the Variety Club Children's Heart Hospital. My surgeon was Dr. Richard Varco, who had worked along side Dr. Lillehei who is considered the surgeon who developed the breakthroughs in open-heart surgery. I was healthy and active thereafter and took on a career as a forester of which I still am to this day. I had more corrective surgery in 2000 at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. I'm still active at 53. I did a 500-mile bicycle ride as a fundraiser last summer and also skated in the North Shore Inline Marathon last fall.
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American Splendor is the award-winning story of underground comic book writer, Harvey Pekar. Video/DVD. |
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