Medical Monday #2: Monkey Lungs!

This is the second episode in our Heart Month 2023 Medical Monday series. In last week's Wednesday Writer Chat, Anna talked to author Richard Schwindt about his life and he was born in the 1950s with a congenital heart condition. He informed Anna that monkey lungs helped to keep him alive through one of his surgeries. 

Curious about what procedure would utilize monkey lungs, Anna did some research and found an article in the December 2021 journal Perfusion Theory and she shared it with her husband, who is a certified, registered nurse anesthetist. He also looked deeper on the Internet to see what he could find out about this curious time in congenital heart disease history.

This episode not only reveals what Frank and Anna discovered online but some personal anecdotes from Frank about working in the operating room, as well as some interesting facts about Dr. William Thornton Mustard. 

Links mentioned in this episode:

Dr, Mustard’s Macabre Monkey Machine by Gary Grist and Kelly Hedlund

https://perfusiontheory.com/history/dr-mustards-macabre-monkey-machine-by-gary-grist-and-kelly-hedlund/

Richard's Schwindt's episode:  https://www.buzzsprout.com/62761/12209194