Tribble Md Curt
University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, Virginia.
Heart Surg Forum. 2018 Jun 8;21(3):E229-E234. doi: 10.1532/hsf.2044.
To paraphrase the lyrics of a song by Matchbox Twenty ("It's 3AM, I must be lonely"), it's 3 AM, I must be on a Lear jet. We're heading out to get a pair of lungs for a transplant. It's pitch black out tonight, and there's small rain falling. At least it's not ice or snow, which we've heard is falling to the north of us. I am glad that we'll be heading south on this run. These organ procurement runs tend to violate one of the basic safety rules of flying, which is to avoid, whenever possible, being required to fly. The edgy flights tend to stick in one's mind, of course. I've flown, literally, into a hurricane (Isaac), slid around on icy runways in Michigan and New York, and landed at the same mountaintop airport that was featured in the movie 'We Are Marshall' (which recounted the story of the fatal crash of a plane carrying Marshall University's football team back from a game in North Carolina). I have one of my splendid surgery residents with me. We settle in for the ride south. There'll be time for a nap, if I can get comfortable. But, I'm awake now, and I'm reminded of the overall mission that we are on. Inevitably, I find myself reflecting on my three decades as a transplanter of hearts and lungs and recalling some of my most memorable patients and the lessons I have learned from them and their families. Memories and lessons that will always be with me.
套用火柴盒二十乐队一首歌的歌词（“凌晨三点，我一定很孤独”），现在是凌晨三点，我一定是在一架里尔喷气式飞机上。我们正要出发去获取一对用于移植的肺。今晚外面漆黑一片，还下着小雨。至少不是冰或雪，我们听说在我们北面正在下雪。我很高兴这次行程我们将朝南飞行。这些器官获取行程往往违反飞行的一项基本安全规则，即尽可能避免必须飞行。当然，这种紧张的飞行往往会让人铭记于心。我真的曾飞入一场飓风（艾萨克飓风），在密歇根和纽约结冰的跑道上滑行，还降落在电影《我们是马歇尔》中出现过的同一个山顶机场（这部电影讲述了一架载着马歇尔大学橄榄球队从北卡罗来纳州一场比赛返回途中坠毁的致命事故）。我身边有一位出色的外科住院医师。我们安顿下来准备向南飞行。如果我能舒服些，会有时间小憩一会儿。但我现在醒着，这让我想起了我们正在进行的总体任务。不可避免地，我发现自己回想起作为心脏和肺移植医生的三十年，回忆起一些我最难忘的患者以及我从他们和他们家人身上学到的经验教训。这些回忆和经验教训将永远与我相伴。
