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    December 19

    The Blind People and The Elephant

     

     

    This is an old Hindu fable about a group of blind people who come across various different parts of an elephant. Each one grabs a piece and starts to describe their impression of how the entire animal would be.

    The first blind person grabs a leg of the animal and proclaims with satisfaction: "It is tall straight and big; the creature must be like a tree."

    "No, no you fool! It is like a hard, thin rope!" indicated the one having examined the tail.

    "Both of you could not be further from the truth. For you see;" says the third, who holds the elephant’s ear. "It is more like a huge, flat, leathery leaf."

    Scoffing, the fourth declares, "How can you all be both blind and stupid? An elephant is most obviously like a very thick and flexible, strong snake!" — this, of course, from the one holding the trunk.

    Of course none of the four had any realistic idea of what the elephant truly was as a whole. Each person had their own partly true judgment of the giant animal. Yet none alone was sufficient as to fully understand the mystery of its being.

    The elephant is a metaphor for Life and its entire vastly mysterious entirety. In addition, the four blind people symbolize the numerous views of perception; religion, philosophy, science, art, etc. Each vein of perception carries a tiny piece of relevance. And similar to the blind people, we are all tempted to mistake that relevance as the whole truth.

    Just Rest

     

     

    Once there was a man who hated his own shadow. When he walked and found that his shadow was close behind him, he began to walk faster and faster. But the faster he moved, the closer his shadow came.

    So he ran like a madman.. and in the end, he dropped dead. Those who do not understand the Dao are just like the man who hated his shadow. It is actually very easy to be rid of one’s shadow — just rest under a tree. Just rest.

    The Real Meaning Of Peace

     

     

    There once was a king who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried. The king looked at all the pictures. But there were only two he really liked, and he had to choose between them.

    One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror for peaceful towering mountains all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace. The other picture had mountains, too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky, from which rain fell and in which lightning played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all.

    But when the king looked closely, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest - in perfect peace.

    Which picture do you think won the prize? The king chose the second picture. Do you know why?

    “Because,” explained the king, “peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace.”

    November 17

    Cardiopulmonary bypass

    Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) is a technique that temporarily takes over the function of the heart and lungs during surgery, maintaining the circulation of blood and the oxygen content of the body. The CPB pump itself is often referred to as a Heart-Lung Machine or the Pumper. Cardiopulmonary bypass pumps are operated by allied health professionals known as Perfusionists in association with surgeons who connect the pump to the patient's body. CPB is a form of extracorporeal circulation.

    Uses of cardiopulmonary bypass...

    Cardiopulmonary bypass is commonly used in heart surgery because of the difficulty of operating on the beating heart. Operations requiring the opening of the chambers of the heart require the use of CPB to support the circulation during that period.

    CPB can be used for the induction of total body hypothermia, a state in which the body can be maintained for an hour or more without perfusion (blood flow). If blood flow is stopped at normal body temperature, permanent brain damage normally occurs in three to four minutes — death may follow shortly afterward.

    ECMO is a simplified form of CPB sometimes used as life-support for newborns with serious birth defects, or to oxygenate and maintain recipients for organ transplantation until new organs can be found.

    Surgical procedures in which cardiopulmonary bypass is used

    History

    Dr. Clarence Dennis led the team that conducted the first known operation involving open cardiotomy with temporarary mechanical takeover of both heart and lung functions on April 5, 1951 at the University of Minnesota Hospital. The patient did not survive due to an unexpected complex congenital heart defect. This followed four years of laboratory experimentation with dogs.[1]

    John Gibbon is credited with developing the first truly practical heart-lung bypass machine; he performed the first successful surgery with it on May 6, 1953 in Philadelphia, an atrial septal defect repair. But although he is accredited with the invention, many suspect that he was not awarded the Nobel Prize for it because of his failure to mention the other members of the team working with him. Other surgeons such as Bernard J. Miller, a young doctor at the time, created many of the pieces that make the machine function.

    Components of cardiopulmonary bypass

    Cardiopulmonary bypass consists of two main functional units, the pump and the oxygenator which remove oxygen deprived blood from a patients body and replace it with oxygen-rich blood through a series of hoses.

    Tubing

    The components of the CPB circuit are interconnected by a series of tubes made of silicone rubber, or PVC. The tubing in the CPB circuit is similar to transparent garden hose.

    Pumps

    Roller pump

    The pump console usually comprises several rotating motor-driven pumps that peristaltically "massage" tubing . This action gently propels the blood through the tubing. This is commonly referred to as a roller pump, or peristaltic pump.

    Centrifugal pump

    Many CPB circuits now employ a centrifugal pump for the maintenance and control of blood flow during CPB. By altering the speed of revolution (RPM) of the pump head, blood flow is produced by centrifugal force. This type of pumping action is considered to be superior to the action of the roller pump by many because it is thought to produce less blood damage (Hemolysis, etc.).

    Oxygenator

    The oxygenator is designed to transfer oxygen to infused blood and remove carbon dioxide from the venous blood. Cardiac surgery was made possible by CPB using bubble oxygenators, but membrane oxygenators have supplanted bubble oxygenators since the 1980s.

    The oxygenator was first conceptualised in the 17th century by Robert Hooke and developed into practical extracorporeal oxygenators by French and German experimental physiologists in the 19th century. Bubble oxygenators have no intervening barrier between blood and oxygen, these are called 'direct contact' oxygenators. Membrane oxygenators introduce a gas-permeable membrane between blood and oxygen that decreases the blood trauma of direct-contact oxygenators. Much work since the 1960s focused on overcoming the gas exchange handicap of the membrane barrier, leading to the development of high-performance microporous hollow-fibre oxygenators that eventually replaced direct-contact oxygenators in cardiac theatres.[2]

    Another type of oxygenator gaining favour recently is the heparin-coated blood oxygenator which is believed to produce less systemic inflammation and decrease the propensity for blood to clot in the CPB circuit.

    Cannulae

    Multiple cannulae are sewn into the patient's body in a variety of locations, depending on the type of surgery. A venous cannula removes oxygen deprived blood from a patients body. An arterial cannula is sewn into a patient's body and is used to infuse oxygen-rich blood. A cardioplegia cannula is sewn into the heart to deliver a cardioplegia solution to cause the heart to stop beating.

    Venous Arterial Cardioplegia
    Right atrium Proximal aorta, distal to the cross-clamp Proximal aorta, proximal to the cross-clamp
    Vena cavae Femoral artery Coronary sinus (retrograde delivery)
    Femoral vein Axillary artery Coronary ostia
    Distal aorta Bypass grafts (during CABG)
    Apex of the heart

    Cardioplegia

    Main article: Cardioplegia

    A CPB circuit consists of a systemic circuit for oxygenating blood and reinfusing blood into a patient's body (bypassing the heart); and a separate circuit for infusing a solution into the heart itself to produce cardioplegia (i.e. to stop the heart from beating), and to provide myocardial protection (i.e. to prevent death of heart tissue).

    Operation

    A CPB circuit must be primed with fluid and all air expunged before connection to the patient. The circuit is primed with a crystalloid solution and sometimes blood products are also added. The patient must be fully anticoagulated with an anticoagulant such as heparin to prevent massive clotting of blood in the circuit.

    Complications

    CPB is not benign and there are a number of associated problems:

    • Postperfusion syndrome (also known as Pumphead)
    • Hemolysis
    • Capillary Leak Syndrome
    • Clotting of blood in the circuit - can block the circuit (particularly the oxygenator) or send a clot into the patient.
    • Air embolism
    • Leakage - a patient can rapidly exsanguinate (lose blood perfusion of tissues) if a line becomes disconnected.

     References

    1. ^ Dennis C, Spreng DS, Jr., Nelson GE, et al. Development of a pump-oxygenator to replace the heart and lungs; an apparatus applicable to human patients, and application to one case. Ann Surg 1951; 134:709-721
    2. ^ Lim M (2006). "The history of extracorporeal oxygenators". Anaesthesia 61 (10): 984-95. PMID 16978315

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart-lung_machine

    Cardiac surgery

    Cardiac surgery is surgery on the heart and/or great vessels performed by a cardiac surgeon. Frequently, it is done to treat complications of ischemic heart disease (for example, coronary artery bypass grafting), correct congenital heart disease, or treat valvular heart disease created by various causes including endocarditis. It also includes heart transplantation.

     

    History

    The earliest operations on the pericardium (the sac that surrounds the heart) took place in the 19th century and were performed by, among others, Francisco Romero,[1] Dominique Jean Larrey, Henry Dalton, and Daniel Hale Williams. The first successful surgery on the heart itself, performed without any complications, was by Dr. Ludwig Rehn of Frankfurt, Germany, who repaired a stab wound to the right ventricle on September 7, 1896.

    Surgery on the great vessels (aortic coarctation repair, Blalock-Taussig shunt creation, closure of patent ductus arteriosus), became common after the turn of the century and falls in the domain of cardiac surgery, but technically cannot be considered heart surgery.

     Closed heart surgery

    Surgery on the great vessels was followed by the development of closed heart surgery, where the surgeon blindly worked on the beating heart. It left a great deal to be desired, but had much to offer for great risk. Palliation of severe mitral valve stenosis, which was common in the past due to rheumatic fever, could be accomplished by poking a finger into the (mitral) valve through an incision in the left atrium.[2] If a finger didn't do, a knife was passed through the incision to cut out tissue. Following successful treatment of mitral stenosis, a special cutter for aortic valve stenosis was developed, that maneuvered through an incision in the left atrium, accomplished much the same thing as the surgeon's finger in a stenosed mitral valve.

    Operations under hypothermia

    It was soon discovered that the repair of intracardiac pathologies required a bloodless and motionless environment, which means that the heart should be stopped and drained of blood. The first successful intracardiac correction of a congenital heart defect using hypothermia was performed by Dr. C. Walton Lillehei and Dr. F. John Lewis at the University of Minnesota on September 2, 1952. The following year, Soviet surgeon Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Vishnevskiy conducted the first cardiac surgery under local anesthesia.

     Operations on the open heart

    Surgeons realized the limitations of hypothermia - complex intracardiac repairs take more time and the patient needs blood flow to the body (and particularly the brain); the patient needs the function of the heart and lungs provided by an artificial method, hence the term cardiopulmonary bypass. Dr. John Heysham Gibbon at Jefferson Medical School in Philadelphia reported in 1953 the first successful use of extracorporeal circulation by means of an oxygenator, but he abandoned the method, disappointed by subsequent failures. In 1954 Dr. Lillehei realized a successful series of operations with the controlled cross-circulation technique in which the patient's mother or father was used as a 'heart-lung machine'. Dr. John W. Kirklin at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota started using a Gibbon type pump-oxygenator in a series of successful operations, and was soon followed by surgeons in various parts of the world.

     Modern beating-heart surgery

    Since the 1990s, surgeons have begun to perform "off-pump bypass surgery" - coronary artery bypass surgery without the aforementioned cardiopulmonary bypass. In these operations, the heart is beating during surgery, but is stabilized to provide a (almost) still work area. Some researchers believe this approach results in fewer post-operative complications (such as postperfusion syndrome) and better overall results (studies results are controversial as of 2007, surgeon's preference and hospital results still play a major role).

    Minimally invasive surgery

    A new form of heart surgery that has grown in popularity is robotic heart surgery. This is where a machine (today by far and away the most popular is the da Vinci surgical system by Intuitive Surgical) is used to perform surgery while being controlled by the heart surgeon. The main advantage to this is the size of the incision made in the patient. Instead of a incision being at least big enough for the doctor to put his hands inside, it does not have to be bigger than 3 small holes for the robot's much smaller hands to get through. Also, a major advantage to the robot is the recovery time of a patient, instead of 6 months of recovery time, some patients have recovered and resumed playing athletics in a matter of weeks.[citation needed]

     Risks

    The development of cardiac surgery and cardiopulmonary bypass techniques has reduced the mortality rates of these surgeries to relatively low levels. For instance, repairs of congenital heart defects are currently estimated to have 4-6% mortality rates.[3][4]

    A major concern with cardiac surgery is the incidence of neurological damage. Stroke occurs in 2-3% of all people undergoing cardiac surgery, and is higher in patients at risk for stroke. [citation needed] A more subtle constellation of neurocognitive deficits attributed to cardiopulmonary bypass is known as postperfusion syndrome (sometimes called 'pumphead'). The symptoms of postperfusion syndrome were initially felt to be permanent,[5] but were shown to be transient with no permanent neurological impairment.[6]

     See also

     References

    1. ^ Aris A. Francisco Romero, the first heart surgeon. Ann Thorac Surg 1997 Sep;64(3):870-1. PMID 9307502
    2. ^ Bigelow WG. Cold Hearts: The Story of Hypothermia and the Pacemaker in Heart Surgery. McClelland and Stewart Limited. 1984. ISBN 0-7710-1414-7.
    3. ^ Stark J, Gallivan S, Lovegrove J, Hamilton JR, Monro JL, Pollock JC, Watterson KG. Mortality rates after surgery for congenital heart defects in children and surgeons' performance. Lancet 2000 March 18;355(9208):1004-7. PMID 10768449
    4. ^ Klitzner TS, Lee M, Rodriguez S, Chang RR. Sex-related Disparity in Surgical Mortality among Pediatric Patients. Congenital Heart Disease 2006 May;1(3):77. Abstract
    5. ^ Newman M, Kirchner J, Phillips-Bute B, Gaver V, Grocott H, Jones R, Mark D, Reves J, Blumenthal J (2001). "Longitudinal assessment of neurocognitive function after coronary-artery bypass surgery.". N Engl J Med 344 (6): 395-402. PMID 11172175. 
    6. ^ Van Dijk D, Jansen E, Hijman R, Nierich A, Diephuis J, Moons K, Lahpor J, Borst C, Keizer A, Nathoe H, Grobbee D, De Jaegere P, Kalkman C (2002). "Cognitive outcome after off-pump and on-pump coronary artery bypass graft surgery: a randomized trial.". JAMA 287 (11): 1405-12. PMID 11903027. 

     Further reading

    • [edited by] Lawrence H. Cohn, L. Henry Edmunds, Jr (2003). Cardiac surgery in the adult. New York: McGraw-Hill, Medical Pub. Division. ISBN 0-07-139129-0.  Full text online
     

    WISDOM WORDS

    Peter F. Drucker:

    There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.

    Abraham Lincoln:

    Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing.

    Albert Einstein:

    Try not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of value.

    Albert Schweitzer:

    Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.

    Alex Noble:

    If I have been of service, if I have glimpsed more of the nature and essence of ultimate good, if I am inspired to reach wider horizons of thought and action, if I am at peace with myself, it has been a successful day.

    Anna Pavlova:

    To follow without halt, one aim; there is the secret of success. And success? What is it? I do not find it in the applause of the theater; it lies rather in the satisfaction of accomplishment.

    Barbara Jordan:

    All my growth and development led me to believe that if you really do the right thing, and if you play by the rules, and if you've got good enough, solid judgment and common sense, that you're going to be able to do whatever you want to do with your life.

    Benjamin Disraeli:

    The secret of success is constancy to purpose.

    Benjamin Franklin:

    There are no gains without pains.

    Bernadette Devlin:

    Yesterday I dared to struggle. Today I dare to win.

    Bessie Stanley:

    He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much; who has gained the respect of intelligent men and the love of little children; who has filled his niche and accomplished his task; who has left the world better than he found it, whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul; who has never lacked appreciation of earth's beauty or failed to express it; who has always looked for the best in others and given them the best he had; whose life was an inspiration; whose memory a benediction.

    published 11/30/1905 in the Lincoln (Kansas) Sentinel - an adaptation of this is often attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson, though nothing like it has been found in his writings.


    Bessie Stanley (adapted; erroneously attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson):
    Success

    To laugh often and much;
    To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
    To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
    To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;
    To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
    To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
    This is to have succeeded.

    November 09

    Law of the Seed

    This is a very good piece of thought. Read carefully and relate it to your life. The Law of the Seed

    Take a look at an apple tree. There might be five hundred apples on the tree and each apple has ten seeds. That's a lot of seeds!

    We might ask, "Why would you need so many seeds to grow just a few
    more apple trees?"

    Nature has something to teach us here.
    It's telling us:

    “Not all seeds grow. In life, most seeds never grow”.

    So if you really want to make something happen, you had better try more than once."

    This might mean:

    You'll attend twenty interviews to get one job.

    You'll interview forty people to find one good employee.

    You'll talk to fifty people to sell one house, one car, one vacuum cleaner, one insurance policy, or a business idea

    And you might meet a hundred acquaintances just to find one special friend.

    When we understand the "Law of the Seed", we don't get so disappointed.

    We stop feeling like victims.

    We learn how to deal with things that happen to us.

    Laws of nature are not things to take personally.


    We just need to understand them - and work with them.

    IN A NUTSHELL
    Successful people fail more often. But they plant more seeds.

    When things are beyond your control, here's something that you must
    NOT DO so as to avoid misery in your life:
    - You must not decide how you think the world SHOULD be.
    - You must not make rules for how everyone SHOULD behave.
    - Then, when the world doesn't obey your rules, you get angry!
    - That's what miserable people do!
    On the other hand, let's say you expect that:
    -Friends SHOULD return favours.
    -People SHOULD appreciate you.
    -Planes SHOULD arrive on time.
    -Everyone SHOULD be honest.
    - Your husband or best friend SHOULD remember your birthday.

    These expectations may sound reasonable. But often, these things won't
    happen!

    So you end up frustrated and disappointed.

    There's a better strategy:
    Demand less, and instead, have preferences!

    For things that are beyond your control, tell yourself:
    "I would prefer this, but if that happens, it’s OK too!"

    This is really a change in mindset. It is a shift in attitude, and it gives you more peace of mind ...

    You prefer that people are polite ... but when they are rude, it doesn't ruin your day. You prefer sunshine ... but if it rains, it is ok too!

    To become happier, we either need to:
    a) Change the world, or
    b) Change our thinking.

    It is easier to change our Thinking!

    IN A NUTSHELL
    It is not the problem that is the issue, but rather it is your attitude attending to the problem that is the problem.
    It's not what happens to you that determines your happiness.
    It's how you think about what happens to you!

    END

    When you leave office today.

    Study this small story; I hope that makes a BIG change in you.

    Professor began his class by holding up a glass with some water in it. He held it up for all to see & asked the students,' How much do you think this glass weighs?'

    '50gms!' .... '100gms!' ..... '125gms' .. the students answered.

    'I really don't know unless I weigh it,' said the professor, 'but, my question is: What would happen if I held it up like this for a few minutes?'

    'Nothing' the students said.

    'Ok what would happen if I held it up like this for an hour?' the professor asked.

    'Your arm would begin to ache' said one of the student 'You're right, now what would happen if I held it for a day?'

    'Your arm could go numb, you might have severe muscle stress & paralysis & have to go to hospital for sure!' ventured another student & all the students laughed.

    'Very good. But during all this, did the weight of the glass change?‘ asked the professor.

    'No'

    Then what caused the arm ache & the muscle stress?' The students were puzzled.

    'Put the glass down!' said one of the students

    'Exactly!' said the professor.' Life's problems are something like this. Hold it for a few minutes in your head & they seem OK. Think of them for a long time & they begin to ache. Hold it even longer & they Begin to paralyze you. You will not be able to do anything. It's important to think of the challenges (problems) in your life, but EVEN
    MORE IMPORTANT to 'put them down' at the end of every day before You go to sleep. That way, you are not stressed, you wake up every day fresh & strong & can handle any issue, any challenge that comes your way!'

    So, when you leave office today,
    Remember to 'PUT THE GLASS DOWN TODAY! '

    Money is Not the Man Maker

    I saw a pot-bellied fool putting on some expensive clothes while sitting on a fine Arab horse. A bystander asked me: "What do you think of these fine silks on that idiot?"

    "It is like bad writing in gold ink. That idiot has no moral qualities of human beings. All his pretences are fake and none is real, all his possessions were acquired dishonestly; he is fit only for a slaughter-house. A person of quality may fall on hard days, but never think his quality is any the less for his being impoverished. A man who makes quick money dishonestly can plate his house in gold, yet no one will forget the base stock he sprang from."