Saturday, March 16, 2013
Today is March 16, 2013. On March 16, 1964, 49 years ago, I was operated on by Dr. Warren C. Nagle. He saved my life. I was given less than 6 months to live and the doctors did not know why I was so sick. My right kidney was swelling 5-6 times its normal size. My body was slowly poisoning itself. Back in 1964 we did not have all the imagery scans that we do today. I went into surgery as a 16 year old not knowing whether I would live or die. I have a scar that spans my right side. Dr. Nagle opened me up and discovered the problem...a congenital defect which he was able to repair on the spot. It was a big surgery (unlike the laproscopic surgeries of today) and it took several months for me to recover but recover I did. I always think of Dr. Nagle on the March 16th date knowing that he saved my life. I just joined a geneology site where I can look up people and I found out he had just died. I did not know at the time that I had such a well-trained surgeon from Dartmouth and Harvard. The Guthrie Clinic was a small hospital and one accepted the doctors offered. I was born there and my mother had trained as an RN there. I have never forgotten the young doctor who operated on me and saved my life. I live near Buffalo, NY now. I am sure there are many, many other people out there who could write similiar condolences. I never met his family. I hope my personal history will only give them added comfort that Dr. Nagle was the best and he did such good in his lifetime as a physician.
