Calligraphy with thin dark lines is a rather difficult handcraft activity ! It is not the kind of painting which is made on a easel but is drawn on the flat support of a table. It needs precision and intense concentration. It is also appropriate to have degree in scuba diving ! Apnea is important to keep the concentration and to have a steady hand.

In fact, I am a kind of surgeon who put pacemakers through the internal jugular veins of babies few years old - This was done by a lateral purse on this vessel to avoid its ligature and preserve the flow of blood in this important vessel. May be it was to much ! but I wanted to do my best for these very unfortunate babies...I had a special box for the instruments, gold plated in the back, special small sharp scissors etc. This again draw the attention of the operating room nurses and created the psychological environment favorable for high concentration on these delicate approaches. As I am sure that many of you are interested I will describe the most difficult and hazardous operation that I did on a baby !

This baby was sent to me because at that time I had the largest experience in Paris concerning endocardial pacemaker technique which means inserting a wire in the heart under X-Ray control to connected to the pacemaker unit buried under the pectoral muscle.

The poor baby had the previous original technique of electrodes for stimulation mended on the surface of the heart. This was performed by surgery after opening the chest by a cut all along the sternum and opening the thorax like an attache case ! However, in this particular case an infection with Staphylococus aureus took place and I received the patient intubated undermechanical ventilation by a portable machine !

Worse, the electrodes and the pacemaker still able to perform its function was surrounded by pus. The heart was beating in the pus ! I knew that I was the very last hope for this baby. It was a unique challenge ! I started to try to sterilize all the area as far as I can do by careful cleaning with a very active antiseptic liquid. When this was done, I changed everything, surgical fields, cleaned the new surgical skin approach on the jugular vein with Iodine. I was able to put the endocardial pacemaker without too much problem. I finished by withdrawing all the epicardial leads and the infected pacemaker. This was easy!

The baby was still alive at the end of the operation ! The heart was properly paced, my job was finished. The patient left the operating room with the thorax left open and under mechanical ventilation. I was exhausted but convinced that I really did my best even if the prognosis was catastrophic.

I had nothing else to do than to keep my fingers crossed !

The patient came back to the referring hospital safely. I received no news during three years. One day I unexpectedly received in consultation a beautiful little girl that I never know except that her name was not forgotten...

I am sure that many of you will understand why I concentrated on medicine and stop to do painting during several decades...