No One Has to Suffer

When my father started at Tulane Medical School he was 32 and his classmates were in their early twenties. They were the last of the true “fix it; and then you are done doctors”. Alton Oschner and Michael DeBakey were in his class. Oschner taught surgery, my Dad taught anatomy and physiology. Michael DeBakey specialized in heart surgery and later he was known world wide when he went to Russia to perform Boris Yelson’s heart operation. During the 1940s war effort, my Dad was in the Naval Reserves and specialized in treating tropical diseases like malaria - a parasite that destroys the liver. He trained the Marine and Navy medics about first aid and protocol for treating diarrhea, hepatitis and malaria before they were deployed to the Pacific theater of the war. In those days Oschner made a big name for himself when said “cigarettes were bad for your health and could lead to cancer.” Those were times when it was “macho” to smoke and inhale like all the movie stars; so publicly announcing that cigarettes were dangerous, Oschner definitely went against the status quo trend. Big tobacco and the AMA did not like it. They colluded and tried unsuccessfully to publicly smear his reputation. Soon Oschner worked hard to successfully petition the Surgeon General to put a warning label on all tobacco products. Because of this, the medical field got polarized and political in New Orleans in the late 1940s after the war. This was also the time when my Dad got physician of the year and Oschner wanted him as his partner to start a clinic. During that same time while my Dad was vacationing in Northwest Florida in 1949, the US Military wanted a doctor in the area. A city consul contingency with a group of military brass approached my father to be locally available for any medical emergency dealing with their pilots and government personnel. He accepted and moved to the area in 1950. This was a good option with his internship already done and he would be moving away from the politics in New Orleans. My father was highly trained in diseases, surgery and internal medicine. He stood shoulder to should with the most gifted physicians of that day and was the “right stuff” for what the military wanted. In early 1950s rural Florida there were no hospitals; there were just military bases and small fishing fleets. My Dad had his black bag and made house calls, whether it was on the military base or on a local fishing boat. So anytime a President like Eisenhower, Kennedy or Johnson came to one of the military bases in Northwest Florida my Dad was notified to be on high alert and on call 24/7. He was the go to doctor for the local fisherman and the military in the area, including Eglin Air Force Base and the Pensacola Naval Air Station. My Dad’s reputation grew. In town he was the old fashion family doctor practicing what he and his classmates believed - the Hippocratic Oath - that they all took at graduation. “Do no harm; let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food.” They strongly believed and practiced that. It became part of their DNA core as physician healers. Their first regiment was good nutrition, exercise and practical solutions; these were all part of their health protocols with surgery and meds administered only when needed; usually second or third in the diagnostic consideration process. Oschner and my father knew the key to sound function was good liver health and the key to healthy structure was staying fit. So to this day the Oschner Clinic has the best record for liver transplants compared to the rest of health care industry in the whole nation. Why? Well one reason why is Oschner like my Dad pushed the holistic philosophy that they call complementary medicine today. They followed all surgeries and treatments with extensive rehabilitation and adjunct treatments including massage, exercise and nutrition programs. The result is their patients live longer and feel better. At his clinic in Ft. Walton Beach, FL, my Dad practiced this too. Some of the most important aspects of liver function I learned from my Dad, wisdom gained only from experience and not in any books.