Sharing Mayo Clinic - January 2015 Archives

  For most organ transplant recipients, receiving the “gift of life” is a one-time experience. But for Nellie Betancourt, battling the hepatitis C virus that had been in hiding in her body for years required another “second chance at life,” thanks to a second generous donor and a new generation of anti-viral drugs. Betancourt, a 56-year-old mother of two and grandmother of seven from Puerto Rico, was first diagnosed with elevated liver enzymes during a routine exam in 1995. Further testing revealed a positive result for the hepatitis C virus, which resulted in several rounds of standard anti-viral drug treatments over the next several years, none of which were successful in effectively managing her disease. This began a 20-year battle with hepatitis C that was to eventually include two liver transplants performed at Mayo Clinic’s Florida campus. “By 2002, I was told that my liver enzymes were rapidly increasing, and that I’d eventually need a liver transplant or face liver failure,” says Betancourt. “I was only 42 years old at the time.”

To recognize the 125th anniversary of nurse anesthetist education and the role of nurse anesthetist at Mayo Clinic, Sharing Mayo Clinic will include a special series of posts throughout the coming year. These vignettes will describe how nurse anesthesia education has changed over time and will highlight influential Mayo Clinic nurse anesthetists. Those featured received their education at Mayo Clinic and went on to be instrumental in providing anesthesia education and make significant contributions to anesthesia practice. Written by Joan Hunziker-Dean One of the most celebrated, internationally recognized pioneer nurse anesthetists from Mayo Clinic is Alice Magaw. Her five published articles between 1899 and 1906 in medical journals detail the technical aspects of administering open drop ether anesthesia. Her research and clinical findings set new standards for safer delivery of anesthesia in those early days. Visiting surgeons who came to Rochester to observe the Mayo doctors perform surgery noted the skills of this nurse anesthetist and sent their nurses to Rochester to learn the art of giving open-drop ether. Even physicians from around the world noted her techniques in correspondence they sent related to their Mayo visits. Magaw’s legacy is the delivery of 14,000 anesthetics without a single anesthesia-related death. She was given the title Mother of Anesthesia by Dr. Charles H. Mayo. Magaw moved to Rochester with her family in 1882. She befriended Edith Graham, who encouraged her to go to nurses training. Both women attended the two-year nurses training course at the Chicago Women’s Hospital and graduated in 1889. Magaw moved back to Rochester in 1893 and worked first as a staff nurse at Saint Marys Hospital. She learned to give anesthetics from Edith Graham, wife of Dr. Charles H. Mayo and the first trained nurse and anesthetist at Saint Marys Hospital.

Kristine Long, a patient at Mayo Clinic's Arizona campus, has had an incredible journey as a three-time Hodgkin's lymphoma survivor. In the course of her struggle, she ...