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Appreciating Nurses
By
Tom Quirk |
 Scituate
- Serendipity
is described as having fortunate and unexpected discoveries
and events occur by accident. The egos of some scientists
and inventors won’t allow them to acknowledge the role of
serendipity in their work; however, Pasteur allowed “in the
field of observation, chance favors only the prepared mind.”
Some of the more routine examples of serendipity were the
discoveries of Silly Putty, Teflon, Rayon, Post-it Notes,
Velcro, safety glass and the microwave oven. Leif Ericsson
was the first European
to land in North America, but not intentionally, rather to
escape a storm at sea. Christopher Columbus discovered a new
continent, when his real mission was a better route to
India.
On April 14, 2000, Karen Quirk suffered a ruptured brain
aneurysm while talking on the telephone with a friend. The
sudden silence, except for some background music,
serendipitously brought Jane to our home to investigate. Her
quick response, a 911 intervention and a community hospital
evaluation, led to a helicopter ride to the roof of the
Massachusetts General Hospital, and an anxious wait in the
ER.
Our family was gathered and we nervously awaited the next
step? Dr. Emad Eskandar the neurosurgical resident kept us
continuously updated throughout the evaluation process and
patiently explained the basics of a ruptured brain aneurysm.
Brain surgery was required. He would be the junior surgeon,
but the senior surgeon in the neurosurgical rotation was not
immediately known.
Our daughters suggested that I contact a relative, a
neurosurgeon in Chicago. My sense was even if he had a
recommendation, there wouldn’t be time to connect, given
this emergency situation? Daughters are persuasive and I
made the call. In the world of specialization, he turned out
to be a spine neurosurgeon. After consulting with his
“brain” associates, he recommended Dr. Chris Ogilvy. What do
I do now? Within minutes, serendipitously, Dr. Eskandar
advised that the senior neurosurgeon in the rotation was
indeed Dr. Ogilvy! The rest is history. Score one for
serendipity!
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About The
Author
For more information you may contact Tom Quirk at (781)
545-2300, extension 628 or via email at tfquirk@aol.com. For
more detailed information about brain aneurysms, please
visit the Brain Aneurysm Foundation’s web site at
www.bafound.org.
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