Very excited! My new novel, Thawing A.C. Nielsen, is now up and available for "pre-sale" (just $2.99 for Kindle or other ebook format, then price goes up before the holidays) on Kindle here:
http://amzn.to/2bULRD1
Selling like crazy- please go to that link and consider ordering the ebook or at least sharing the info with other book enthusiasts! It's already hitting top 100 various genre lists on Amazon!
Newly posted there-- a 5-star review from one of the top reviewing companies! Until it goes "live for sale" there won't be any customer reviews or samples-- that happens Oct. 18th. There will also be a paperback version up soon. Check it out and please spread the word. I need all the publicity help I can get since I am not giving away my book to a mainstream publishing house!
I am wondering if any of you would consider reviewing the book. It will be released on Amazon/Kindle on October 18th. I need reviews from regular folks posted to amazon on the release day, if possible. You get a FREE pdf, word.doc or .mobi (Kindle ebook file) copy and plenty of time between now and mid-October to read it. Let me know, friends!
Today I'm sharing chapter 22 of "Thawing A.C. Nielsen". I hope you'll read it. I'm trying to share a chapter a day, although at some point I will have to take them all down as the book starts to go to press.
I am wondering if any of you would consider reviewing the book. It will be released on Amazon/Kindle on October 18th. I need reviews from regular folks posted to amazon on the release day, if possible. You get a FREE pdf, word.doc or .mobi (Kindle ebook file) copy and plenty of time between now and mid-October to read it. Let me know, friends!
The saga of Mr. T, the guinea pig, continues!!
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“Okay, everyone, it’s almost time to proceed. I’m excited about how things are going so far,” Kate said. “Right now, I’d like to introduce you to two new people in the room. First we have Dr. Ritika Pandey, Amman’s surgical assistant from his practice in Boston. If you’ve seen the famous elephant C-section video, that’s Ritika as his chief assistant.” Ritika smiled shyly and waved her hand at Kate, Mike, Norm, Chrissy, Deirdre, and two lab assistants present, Nick Costas and Jeremy Palvar.
“Let me tell you that Ritika did as much or more than I did that day. It was a team effort,” Amman said, smiling proudly at Ritika.
“Also,” Kate continued, “I am thrilled to introduce my friend and research associate Dr. Edouard Radelet, with whom I have worked in designing new cancer cryoprocedures. As you know, Edouard will be our MD, working with me to develop a protocol for human revivification. Edouard is from Haiti and he’s been leading a multinational initiative to close the enormous gap in health care between the have and have-not nations in the Caribbean. His passion for medicine and that winning smile of his has generated millions of dollars of donations for the cause from Fortune 500 corporations with Caribbean interests. He’s finishing up that work and soon will be the health minister of Trinidad and Tobago. All this and he’s still under forty! We’ll have him for a few months while he is between those two jobs. Please welcome Edouard.”
Everyone applauded. Mike walked over to give him an ultrafirm Cold Smokey Burgess handshake. Edouard was handsome and athletic, with a warm chestnut complexion and dark, piercing eyes.
“While most of you were sleeping,” Kate said, “Amman, Ritika, and Chrissy were here getting Mr. T ready for the final step. I was here to observe and record. The internal data and warming leads are in place and the computer has been raising the heat of the solution in the tank. We are ready to go, right now.”
Mike stood up and cleared his throat. “I want to thank everyone in this room and wish you good fortune, not good luck. I’m not a medical guy, but if there’s anything I can do, let me know. I don’t mind being a go-fer today for any of you!” Everyone smiled, then exited Kate’s office and reconvened in the operating room, donning surgical gowns and masks before they entered.
“Okay, have we got our cameras on, Norm?” Kate asked.
“Yup, ready to go.”
“Okay, Amman you are in charge. Everyone take your cue from Amman and Ritika, okay? Amman, we’ve got Dr. Radelet here plus lots of extra hands here if you need anything.”
Amman took over. He spoke in a firm voice, narrating as he went through the procedure, cameras rolling. “All right, people. Mr. T is now up to thirty-five degrees Celsius. We’ve matched up his outer and core temps over the last few hours. I’m removing him now from the tank. Here we go. And now we’ll place him on these towels to dry him. There we go—thank you, Dr. Pandey. Now fresh towels and the heating pads, please. Dr. Pandey, please remove the internal heating devices and sensors and let’s recheck all the traditional leads: EEG, EKG, blood pressure, everything.”
Ritika sprang into action. Kate had never seen anyone move so quickly. “Chrissy, are you getting standby readings on your equipment?” Ritika asked after a few moments.
“Yes, Ritika. Everything’s good,” Chrissy answered.
“Okay,” Amman continued. “All we need is about two more degrees of warmth. He looks good, I see no visible problems or damage. First we will insert a breathing tube to ventilate the lungs, supplying oxygen when the time comes. Once we’ve got the centrifugal pump going we’ll be removing cryosolution, and then we’ll be creating normal flow of oxygenated blood. Later, once we’ve established a pulse, the pump will assist removal of carbon dioxide until we’re certain he can breathe on his own. We will now make incisions to access his femoral arteries. The pumping cycle will begin on the left side and force the cryosolution out of the right artery. Dr. Saltieri’s glycol-mix cryosolution has hopefully minimized damage to Mr. T during his years in cryo. By the time we’ve got that exchange completed, Mr. T will be at thirty-eight degrees and ready for chest compressions followed by defib. Got it?” Amman made sure that everyone was with him. He looked up at the camera and smiled, appearing cool and confident.
Kate was trying her best to emulate Amman’s calm demeanor as he and Ritika started the procedure, but in truth her heart was pounding. She tried to breathe more deeply to see if that would help. Her tendency to let negative thoughts creep in got the better of her. What if the effort to revive Mr. T was an utter failure? Would a negative outcome that day be proof that the universe quite often loved to thumb its nose at human imagination and daring? Kate feared with all her soul the possibility that absolutely nothing would happen during the revival process, that Mr. T would just lie there like a blob or roadkill, or even worse, like some fuzzy stuffed toy mocking them. But, she thought, what if they at least got a spark? A heartbeat, some EEG activity, anything that would give them hope.
“Okay, we are ready to go to our final stage,” Amman announced about twenty minutes later. “All leads attached, body temperature is thirty-eight degrees, cryosolution out and blood already circulating via the centrifugal pump. His lungs and all passageways are clear. Dr. Radelet, would you free Dr. Pandey and me up a little and call out vitals for us when we get them. Do you mind? And now, Mr. Burgess and Miss Pearson, I am now going to bring your Mr. T back to you. I hope you like pets!”
“You bet!” Mike said, smiling broadly.
Amman began with chest compressions, about two per second, using his fingertips on the tiny animal. After about two minutes, he traded off with Ritika, in order to avoid fatigue in his hands.
“What’s going on, Amman?” Mike asked, concerned that nothing seemed to be happening.
“Standard procedure, Mike. Don’t worry. This is just our starting point.”
Ritika kept pumping away, her compressions intended to simulate the natural coughing mechanism and its effect on the heart. “That’s two minutes,” she announced.
“Okay, I’m taking back over, get the small dose epinephrine ready,” Amman said.
Kate couldn’t help herself, her whole body was becoming more and more tense. She found herself trying to breathe for Mr. T as Amman and Ritika did their work.
“All right, dose number one epinephrine administered,” Ritika announced. Amman continued his compressions. “Recheck the breathing tube, Amman.”
Amman stopped for a moment to double-check everything. “We’re good. No problem there. Moving on. Okay, Mike, now we bring out the artillery.” Amman tweaked the knobs of his favorite veterinary defibrillator, a bright yellow state-of-the-art machine he knew inside and out. He had brought it with him all the way from Boston. He picked up the small defib paddles, then turned and locked eyes with each person in the room, one by one, gaining their full attention. Kate’s maternal heartbeat sound waves continued to fill the air.
“All right, here we go. Three joules to start.” After Ritika applied gel to Mr. T’s chest, Amman picked up the paddles and positioned them, then simultaneously pressed the start buttons on each paddle with his thumbs. Zap. And… nothing… nothing. Everyone studied Amman. He was breathing deeply, almost as if he was willing his patient to copy him. To have a heartbeat, to fill his lungs, to live again. Amman didn’t look up, his focus was only on Mr. T. “Moving up to five joules. Here we go.” He repeated the process and everyone in the room held their breath. Zap. And… nothing… nothing… nothing again.
“Dr. Pandey, inject the second dose of epinephrine,” Amman instructed. “He’s a stubborn little guy, but I know he can do it. He’s coming back, people. Lord Dhanvantari and I can feel it.”
Ritika injected the stimulant, an amount so small a person would hardly even notice it, but for the little guinea pig this was a healthy dose, much bigger than the dose they had first administered.
“Here we go. Seven joules.” Amman once again centered his breathing. He placed the paddles and applied the shock again. Zap.
Beep… beep… beep….
Then nothing.
“You had it!” Radelet yelled. “Those were heartbeats. They were. I know it.”
“You’re right,” Ritika said. “Amman, you almost got him back. Ten joules?”
“Too high, Ritika, we’ll fry him. Maybe eight? And we can’t give him any more epinephrine. So now the joules are the only chance we have. Ready, everyone?” They all nodded, some staring intently at Amman, the others at the motionless Mr. T.
“Okay, double-check that cart. Is everything there? Lidocaine, yes? Okay, we’re going to get him this time. Here goes.” While Ritika applied more gel to Mr. T, Amman reached for a different set of paddles, then moved the dial on the machine one more notch to eight joules. He brought the paddles to Mr. T’s chest. Then zap. Still nothing. Kate’s heart was sinking.
“Again, Amman, again, Come on, do it!” Mike yelled.
“This is it, people. One more try. Here we go!” Amman declared.
Zap! The blast of eight joules of hair-raising electricity jolted the body into the air. Everyone gasped. Then they heard it—the magic sound.
Beep… beep… …beep… beep… beep-beep… …beep… …beep… beep… beep-beep… beep… beep… beep… beep… beep… beep… beep…
“We’ve got him! He’s alive! Listen, he’s trying to breathe,” Kate yelled, noticing the little snuffles and gasps the pig was emitting. Amman and Ritika swung into warp speed, while Edouard yelled out blood pressure and heart rate numbers. Mr. T’s heart and lungs were struggling to coordinate—to establish a rhythm, to live again. Amman, not satisfied with the halting breaths, administered chest compressions, far more gentle this time, while Ritika double-checked the blood gas monitors. Oxygen was going in and carbon dioxide out, everything as it should be. Soon Mr. T’s breathing became fairly regular.
“Dr. Pandey, be ready with that lidocaine. I don’t want him to lose this rhythm. Sure it’s fluttering a lot but for now it’s damn good, huh?” Amman said to Edouard, a huge grin on his face.
“Damn straight,” Edouard answered. “So, eight joules on that little body? That’s interesting. I’m glad you didn’t go wild and give him eighty!”
“Blood pressure now?” Amman asked Ritika, who had taken over reading the data.
“It’s up and down, but nothing too crazy. Maybe it will stabilize soon. Not sure. Do we need the lidocaine?”
“No, he’s fine for now, at least. The flutter is going away, see? We’ll just keep watching. And we’ve definitely got ROSC.”
“All that epinephrine and he’s still just lying there? What do you think of that?” Kate asked. “Oh I’m sorry, I should shut up, right?”
“He’s okay. Look at those vitals,” Amman said, nodding his head toward the monitors. “ROSC is return of spontaneous circulation, Kate. It’s a very good thing. His heart and lungs are ready to do all the work now. There are some crazy swings in the readings but there’s nothing there that says we’re going to lose him in the next few minutes. He may be close to normal soon. The epinephrine dosage was normal, Kate. The joules were a different story, but, hey, sometimes you do what you gotta do, right? Anyway, Mr. T will wake up when he’s ready, my dear Miss Pearson. Guinea pigs sleep a lot. Trust your friendly veterinarian, okay?”
“For sure, Amman,” Kate said. “I wasn’t doubting you. I study cells of creatures, you operate on them. What do I know?”
“Look at that EEG, people. Pretty damn nice. He’s got brain function. Oh my! Look, his heartbeat is synching with Kate’s synthesized mommy guinea pig beat, what do you know?” Amman grinned at Kate as he removed the breathing tube. Everyone stood and watched the EEG and all the other screens, readouts, blips and bleeps. This little piggy was alive and looking good—no big bad wolf was lurking close by. “Put a little blanket on him. I want to keep him nice and warm. Twenty-some years—that’s a long time to be chillaxing, right?” Everyone laughed, then realized that they could relax now, shake hands and congratulate each other. Mike pulled out his cell phone to call Franklin with the good news.
Amman put on his stethoscope and listened to Mr. T’s heart. Finding nothing wrong, he entertained his audience with guinea pig trivia. “Some of you don’t know much about these little fuzzballs, but I am here to tell you that they are wondrous creatures. They share a lot of design with humans, and that’s why they’re such a valuable lab animal. And of course, nowadays, lab animals don’t have the awful life they used to have. We vets were instrumental in pushing for reforms, but hardly anyone knows. Vitamin C was discovered through research on guinea pigs. Working on them helped further the development of a whole bunch of vaccines. Even such amazing things like replacement heart valves, and our modern anticoagulants and asthma medicine were brought to you by these guys. So anyway, I’m really pleased with everything I’m seeing here. He looks great. And you all are a great team. Thank you so much. But Kate is scared of how sleepy he is. How about we check for some reflexes to prove he’s really got the brain function the EEG equipment says he has. And maybe he’ll wake up and play with you, right, Kate?”
“Yes, right, Amman,” Kate said, feeling a bit picked on.
“Okay, let’s see… how about you, Mike? You can do an easy reflex test that will probably even work on a sleeping guinea pig. Wanna try it, big guy?”
Mike stepped forward. “Sure. What do I do?”
“Well, guinea pigs have awesome ears, inside and out. Great hearing and very sensitive to the touch. And they are really similar to human ear design and function. The first success in regrowing stereocilia, that’s inner-ear hair cells, was in guinea pigs a few years ago, meaning we might have a way to reverse hearing damage if we can develop it for humans. Just pinch the edge of his outer ear for a second. Give it a good pinch.” Mike did. Mr. T jerked a little, then went back to snoozing.
“There you go. Classic pig response. He’s awesome.” Amman beamed at Ritika as he removed all the leads attached to Mr. T.
“But still asleep,” Deirdre said mock-glumly, giving Kate a funny look as she said it.
“Okay, then, Kate, your turn. Next is the Preyer reflex, a test for deafness. Give a little whistle right by his ear and you’ll probably see his outer ear move, like maybe even wiggle. It’s a fun reflex to watch.” Kate stepped forward and bent down. She gave a soft whistle and sure enough, even though Mr. T sure looked totally asleep, the ears wiggled.
“That’s cool!” she said and stepped back.
“No, Kate, I don’t think we got the full response. Whistle louder,” said Amman. She whistled louder and got the same response.
“Hmm, that doesn’t seem right.” Amman appeared concerned. He hovered over the animal, checking him over again. Kate began to worry. Was there something wrong with Mr. T?
A few minutes went by as Amman continued to check the animal. Now everyone was looking worried. “Let’s try the whistle with something added and see what happens,” Amman said.
Clap! went Amman, slapping his palms together loudly while giving a shrieking whistle. Simultaneously the whole team jumped in surprise as Mr. T leaped into the air, opened his eyes, and started running wildly around the table. Everyone yelled and laughed.
“Catch him, catch him!” Nick yelled.
“He’s gonna run off the table. Quick, keep him from going over!” Norm said.
All Kate could do was laugh at this little circus act. The whole team jabbered away as they tried to catch Mr. T. Finally Chrissy got hold of him and petted him, calming him. The Amman and Mr. T show was a huge hit. Things settled down and then all eyes were on Amman.
“Amman, you could have scared him to death,” Kate accused.
“No, I think you might have that totally backward, Katherine.” Amman winked. “I scared him to life, you might say.”
“How did you know he was okay enough that you could pull off that crazy trick?” Chrissy asked, continuing to stroke a now very relaxed and happy Mr. T.
“Ten minutes ago,” Amman said, “when I first examined him really closely after the defib, I could see he was in REM sleep. His little eyes were moving about under his eyelids. Also, his little nose was twitching a tiny bit. I think he was having a nightmare about how bad your lab smells with some of the chemicals you have in here. He’d rather have sweet dreams about the scents of carrots and lettuce.”
“So all that reflex testing stuff was a big gag at our expense?” Mike asked.
“Yes, sorry. I couldn’t resist it. Didn’t you call any of the personal references I listed? The first thing they, or Ritika for that matter, would have warned you about me is that I am the world’s biggest practical joker!”
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