Into the heart, a medical odyssey

Back to Chapter One: Rivers of Blood

The Lilleheis on their wedding day

Chapter 2:
Invasive Procedures

In the fall of 1949, Walt Lillehei was shaving when he noticed a small bump just in front of his left ear. He figured the worst it could be was a benign tumor of the parotid gland — a harmless affair. He was in no hurry to do anything about it. He was much too busy.

Owen Wangensteen, University Hospital's chief of surgery, had just made Lillehei the senior resident. If all went well, he'd soon join Wangensteen on the University of Minnesota faculty. He'd have his own lab. He'd direct his own research. He'd decide on his life's work. And if Wangensteen's hunch proved true, someday he'd win the Nobel Prize.

The bump on his face grew.

Shortly before New Year's, Wangensteen himself noticed it. But like Lillehei, he figured it was nothing much.

You ought to have one of the guys take it out, said the chief. He can do it under local anesthesia — you'll barely have to interrupt your schedule.

Lillehei finally found time in February of 1950. David State, a friend, did the surgery. State specialized in the parotid gland, which lies dangerously close to the nerve that controls facial movement: cut it — as careless doctors sometimes did — and your face could be ruined. An eye might droop, your mouth sag — forever. But this surgeon was the best, and his excision was flawless, not even a brush with danger. The lump was encapsulated, a good sign. The pathology department deemed it a benign tumor or a harmless enlarged lymph node. The pathologists would do a second, more in-depth examination, but that was just standard practice. Rarely did anything turn up.

This time it did.

``The node shows extensive distortion of normal structure....'' reported the University Hospital pathology department. ``Diagnosis: lymphosarcoma.''