March 15, 2011

Dear Louie,

85 years ago, my mother gave birth, with the aid of extraction forceps. The delivery was successful, but I bear a scar on the right parietal aspect of my head from the extraction. Technology wasn‘t much, but kids had been born for centuries. She had minimal pre-delivery sedation, one nurse attendant, and a physician trained in the 1920s. But it worked out well.

85 years later on the same day, I had a surgical procedure; the freeing up of a small nerve in the palm of my left hand. A carpal tunnel release. In the surgical suite was the hand surgeon, an anesthesiologist, two nurses. The equipment was housed in a large surgical suite, monitors were in place, air conditioning and air exchange was operating; large spotlights were used; a bier block technique produced anesthesia, supplemented by i.v. assist sedation. The surgery lasted 20 minutes and I was back in my room. One hour later home. Needed two Tylenol at bedtime, and today I am typing. Contrast that to the delivery. After labor of eight hours, a hangup and relief to the struggling mother by forceps extraction with open drop ether, not enough for anesthesia, just enough for nausea. Then the event was followed by twenty years of "strict" control, many worries, many hours of direction, some hope for the future, worry of a World War crisis, observation of work habits, and encouragement of school attendance, many nights of anxiety for the developing son, many minutes of almost despair when compliance was poor with direction. My what a following struggle of years for those eight hours of labor, and nine months of sheltered hatching.

A number of years ago, I found the hospital bill - 12 dollars for five days, 6 dollars for labor and delivery, and the M.D. charges $25, for delivery - no mention of forceps.

I haven't received the bill for the carpal tunnel release, but I'll bet it will total $2500 for surgery, anesthesiology, and six hours in outpatient care; three of which were because of the late arrival of the surgeon.

And I will give you odds, the result will not last another 85 years.

But we will take as much as we get, knowing that our learning curve will be nothing like it was 85 years ago.

And hello to you all,

Jim