Happy Friendship Day

Someone sent me a nice and an emotional email this morning. I am publishing to share excerpts from it, on the occassion of friendship day.

I've learned that , no matter what happens , how bad it seems today , life does go on , and it will be better tomorrow.

I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles four things: a rainy day, the elderly, lost luggage, and tangled wired lights.

I've learned that , regardless of your relationship with your parents , you'll miss them when they're gone from your life.

I've learned that making a 'living' is not the same thing as making a 'life.'I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.

I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands. You need to be able to throw something back.

I've learned that if you pursue happiness , it will elude you But , if you focus on your family , your friends , the needs of others , your work and doing the very best you can , happiness will find you.

I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart , I usually makethe right decision.I've learned that even when I have pains , I don't have to be one.

I've learned that every day , you should reach out and touch someone. People love that human touch -- holding hands , a warm hug , or just a friendly paton the back.

I've learned that I still have a lot to learn.

FRIENDSHIP CANDLE IS NOTICED AT THE END....

AND THE DATE THE CANDLE WAS STARTED SURPRISES YOU.

I am not going to be the one who lets it die. I found it believable -- angels have walked beside me all my life--and they still do. This is to all of you who mean something to me , I pray for your happiness.

The Candle Of Love, Hope & Friendship is being sent to you by me, who loves you and has kept it alive by sending it to you. Don't let The Candle of Love , Hope and Friendship die. Pass it On To All Of Your Friends and Everyone You Love!

May God richly bless you!

Inventor, Transplant Surgeon Dr Adrian Kantrowitz dies Nov 19, 2008

CVTS ICU, SGPGI Lucknow: Whilst we were putting IABP around midnight last night in a young man of 45, who had a massive heart attack a few days ago, now awaiting his emergency coronary bypass surgery few hours later, I had no idea that he inventor, who developed and provided us with this wonderful life saving device has passed away almost the same time.

Dr Adrian Kantrowitz, the surgeon who performed the first human heart transplant in the US, the second worldwide, died late last week at age 90 from complications from heart failure.

In a surgical career of more than 6 decades, Kantrowitz is credited with designing and using more than 20 medical devices that aided circulation and vital functions, including the intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP), the left ventricular assist device (LVAD), and an early version of the implantable defibrillator.

Kantrowitz will forever be remembered as the first surgeon in the US to perform a heart transplant. On December 6, 1967, he implanted a heart into a baby with a fatal heart defect, doing so just three days after South African surgeon Dr Christiaan Barnard performed the world's first cardiac transplant.

New York Times notes that Kantrowitz had practiced hundreds of heart transplants in animals over the previous four years and had been on track to be the first to surgically implant a human heart. The previous year he had been prevented at the last minute because the donor infant had not been declared brain dead.

In addition to replacing hearts, he "concentrated on finding ways to supplement the work of the natural heart with an impressive array of circulatory devices of his own invention." Of these, the most noteworthy invention was the LVAD, which he implanted for the first time in 1972. The IABP, invented in 1967, has been used in roughly three million patients since the 1980s when it went into general use.

Born in New York City on October 4, 1918, Kantrowitz graduated from New York University with a degree in mathematics. He attended the Long Island College of Medicine, which is now part of SUNY Downstate Medical Center, and interned at Brooklyn Jewish Hospital. His medical education was fast-tracked, however, as part of an accelerated program to supply doctors for World War II. He joined the Army Medical Corps as a battalion surgeon, where he served for two years.

In 1948, Kantrowitz practiced surgery at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx and later moved to the Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, where he held a surgical post. In 1970, Kantrowitz moved his entire team to Detroit, teaching at Wayne State University School of Medicine and practicing at Sinai Hospital.

Kantrowitz is survived by his wife, Jean, and his three children, Niki, Lisa, and Allen, all of whom are doctors.

Our hearfelt condolosence to the family and sincere gratitude to the inventor who has helped in saving millions of lives including the one who is father of 3 young kids, whom I have operated today.

May Dr Kantrowitz devine soul live in peace.