Voices of Gundersen Lutheran
It was a good day
As told by A. Erik Gundersen, MD
Everyone has good days and bad days at work. But back when I was a practicing heart surgeon my good days—and bad—had faces and names. I was recently reminded of one of the good days when I had an unexpected visit from a former patient.
Now I have to admit I didn’t remember the face, but I suppose I could be forgiven because when Ramona Dale was my patient, she was just 4 years old. She was my first pediatric heart surgery patient back in 1964 when I joined Gundersen Lutheran, fresh from residency.
During our recent visit, Ramona said she remembers her family telling her that before I performed surgery on her, I operated on cows. It’s true.
Because the field of heart surgery was still in its infancy at the time, the surgical team needed practical experience before operating on people. The animals received the same concern and care as human patients would, and often the animals went on to live rather full lives. In fact, while operating on one calf, I discovered a heart defect which I repaired. To follow the calf’s progress I asked my uncle, Dr. Sig Gundersen, Sr., if he would keep the animal on his farm. Six months later, he called me to say the calf now weighed 1,600 pounds and was eating him out of house and home.
But most of my heart patients had two legs, not four, like Ramona who was born with an abnormal connection between her aorta and pulmonary artery. Her surgery was to correct this defect. While Ramona was my first pediatric patient as a heart surgeon at Gundersen Lutheran, I had studied under Robert Gross, MD, a pioneer in pediatric heart surgery at Boston Children’s Hospital and spent a year receiving advanced training in Newcastle, England. I had also done the procedure as a resident, so I knew I could do it.
Although the operation more than 40 years ago was a success, I was pleased to learn that Ramona is now 50 years old and runs marathons. I’m retired from surgery, but a few times a year someone will come up to me, remind me that I was their heart surgeon and thank me. It’s a happy reminder of all those good days.
