Heritage Snapshot: Part 90

Over the years the Loma Linda University Overseas Heart Surgery Team has consisted of hundreds of nurses, respiratory therapists, technicians, cardiologists, and surgeons. In 2002, many of them convened in honor of Dr. Ellsworth Wareham’s 87th birthday. Numerous tributes to both co-founders, Drs. Wareham and Joan Coggin, illustrate the emotion, camaraderie, rich memories, and humor experienced by team members. They identified themselves as real people, from rascals and rogues to timid souls who got out of the box of their daily routines, got a glimpse of the rest of the world, and involved themselves in a humanitarian mission they could all be proud of. They saw Dr. Wareham offer up his arm when a young child needed a blood transfusion. They taught the Vietnamese how to throw Frisbees. They named a miracle lady “Mrs. Lazarus.” They marveled at the fact that most of them were J’s: Joan, John, Judy, Joyce, Jim, John, Jerry, Jerry, and Janette. “Even though there was an ‘E’ [Ellsworth] in there, he fit in quite well.” Through their experiences, two nurses, Joyce Johnston-Rushe and Janette Whittaker-Allen became like sisters. Regarding the banter she witnessed, Janette said that working with Drs. Wareham and Coggin was like working with Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore. Such banter appeared later in the evening when Dr. Wareham gave a tribute to all of the heart surgeons who had participated over the years, many of them as residents: “I would like to take credit for all the surgery that was done and all the fine results because it’s awfully hard to pour it on too heavy for a surgeon. They seem to have a natural immunity to getting too much flattery... I’ve often said, ‘I wish that they would allow us to have some sort of a contest and bring in the surgeons that have been trained in various centers.’ And I said, ‘I’ll stack ours up against any of them.’ And so at this time, I would like for everybody who’s gone overseas with the Heart Team and who is a surgeon—I don’t mean to denigrate any other specialists, mind you—I’d like to have every surgeon who’s gone overseas with us, the Heart Team, to stand at this time, would you? Now you’re looking at the finest group of surgeons in this country. You may be seated, I know you don’t want to be, but you’re gonna be seated. You’d like to stand and be acknowledged all evening.” Then, in a serious vein, the group recounted memorable stories. That little boy came back from surgery pink, awake, and a joy to his parents. The time when Dr. Coggin and Dr. Leonard Bailey’s wife, Nancy became trapped in an airport in India for three days because of religious uprisings. Worship on weekends in a member’s apartment. When an airport clerk in Bahrain told Dr. Coggin the plane was fully booked, Dr. Coggin said, “I’ll just wait, thank you.” When a plane arrived, it was much larger than anticipated. The attendant didn’t realize that Dr. Coggin had connections with some prince of transportation. In one country, local officials announced they would not be ready for another week or two. Dr. Wareham would say, “We’re gonna operate tomorrow.” They talked about all the organizations who helped transport their equipment and supplies: the Chinese American Physicians Association, the Ministry of Defense and Aviation, The Whittaker Corporation, Olympic Airlines, and Flying Tigers. They acknowledged culture shock, the practice of medicine by tattoo, vivid scenes of clay houses, operating rooms with peeling paint, open windows, and flies, electricity and pumps stopping, different religions, totalitarian governments, and communism. They showed pictures, one of a young Leonard Bailey pausing to have prayer before surgery. They talked about keeping a patient going through 45 minutes of open heart massage, and how the patient survived. In Vietnam, Dr. Coggin flew in a military helicopter to the war zone on the Cambodian border to transport some injured patients, much to Dr. Wareham’s consternation. He wanted to go himself! Before ending the event, someone got the floor and announced, “I would like to propose a toast to Joan Coggin, to Ellsworth Wareham, and to the countless patients all over the world that have been helped, that are being helped, and that will continue to be helped in the future, because of their leadership and because of the efforts of all of you in this room.” In closing Janette Whittaker-Allen paid tribute to Drs. Coggin and Wareham, “for giving us all the opportunity to be part of this Heart Team. And I personally want to thank you for changing my life, giving me these opportunities, and helping each one of us to be part of a huge miracle, the Heart Team.” With compassion and skill, members of the Loma Linda University Overseas Heart Surgery Team contribute magnificent entries into the diary of human history. As ambassadors for the United States, Loma Linda University, and Christianity, they continue the healing ministry of The Great Physician. That is, “To Make Man Whole.”