Given New Heart Valve

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31042, 23 April 1966, Page 20

Given New Heart Valve

"The Press” Special Service AUCKLAND, April 22. As soon as Mr G. McShean. of California, returns home from New Zealand he is going to buy himself a bicycle as a birthday present. A successful heart operation in the cardio-thoracic unit, Green Lane Hospital, involving an aortic valve replacement with human tissue, will allow Mr McShean to take up his former hobby of cycling. Through his job as a librarian at Stanford University, California, 29-y ear-old Mr McShean had access to literature in the medical

school library and decided he would prefer New Zealand surgery because human tissue was used. Stanford, he found had excellent heart surgeons but they used plastic heart-valve replacement, which meant patients undergoing that type of operation had to use anticoagulants for the rest of their lives to thin the blood. Therefore the librarian left his young wife in the care of their dog, Shandy, an apricot coloured poodle, and flew to Auckland. Mrs McShean had never been left alone before but, unfortunately, no sooner was

her husband in a hospital bed at Green Lane than Shandy also went into hospital with a nose infection and stayed there for two weeks.

Mr McShean will fly home next Tuesday after 10 weeks in Auckland. During the latter part of his stay he has been convalescing in the home of friends at St. Hellers. He will return to his work, fit and well, early in June. Mr McShean is full of praise for the work of the cardio-thoracic unit at Green Lane Hospital but he said: “The hospital staff’ outshines the hospital buildings.” However, the hospital is to be improved. A new cardiothoracic unit will be incorporated in the second stage of the building programme at Green Lane. Excavations for this work began recently.