Joe Bunch
Back in the 1960's
When transplants were quite new
I worked for M.Debakey
A heart surgeon I knew
He had a sweet male patient
His name it was Joe Bunch
He told us to remember it
By rhyming it with punch.
Joe had this tired and worn out heart
Left side was almost gone
He lived hooked up to a machine
With a tube 50 ft long.
The machine kept him breathing
The tube was filled with air
To which oxygen was added
Cause he had none to spare
Occasionally we'd see him
In the hall outside his room
Shuffling along a little bit
Escaping from his doom
One day we got excited
We knew Joe's heart had come
They put it in a cylinder
Inside this this little room
They did surgery in the morning
He lived for 15 days
But he helped pave the way
For others who would survive some day
Debakey became world famous
When they added up his score
It totaled 60,000 that were
Rescued from death's door
For he was a noble pioneer
Pertaining to the heart
He invented valves and other things
Even an artificial heart
Joe Bunch I still remember
For the things I saw that day
Like a living beating human heart
In a canister displayed.
In the year 1966-67, I worked
For Methodist Hospital in the
Houston Medical Center as a
Non medical coordinator of services
for the transplant unit.
Transplants were failing at an alarming rates
They had not yet developed the proper anti-rejection
drugs. During that time I saw some strange research stuff
like pigs with hearts attached outside their bodies
But most of all I'll never forget the eerie sight of a human
heart beating all by itself, inside a glowing light in a white barrel
looking devise, it looked like something right of a science fiction
movie screen. They were testing that heart to see if they
could find some medication that delay rejection time past the then
60 to 90 day life span the new heart provided.
By jollynoblefrog
© 2008 jollynoblefrog
(All rights reserved)
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