Something the Lord Made is a story about the development and incredible miracle of the Blue Baby procedure. The movie is based upon how Vivien Thomas, a young black lab technician, and Dr. Alfred Blalock, a wealthy white physician, are brought together in friendship and medical research of a procedure to save cyanosis, bluish skin, children. The movie is based upon these two men, who defied the rules of their time to launch both a medical and a civil rights revolution.
The medical impact that Thomas and Blalock had on the John Hopkins hospital will not only save lives but lead to familiar procedures such as coronary bypass surgery. Cyanosis is a condition that caused by the lack of oxygen in the blood, causing a bluish pigment to the skin. This condition aroused Dr. Helen Taussig of John Hopkins hospital, she developed a theory “that cyanosis was due to the construction (tightening) of the pulmonary artery.
” (Medical Discoveries).
Taussig brought this information to Blalock, who had a reputation as an excellent vascular surgeon, and was conducting research in blood vessel bypass surgery. Blalock took this interest and executed the operation on hundreds of dogs, with the help of Vivien Thomas, to create the Blue Baby Syndrome upon a dog. With this dog now showing symptoms of Cyanosis Syndrome, Thomas and Blalock are now able to conduct the surgery of “anastomosis, or joining, of the subclavian to the pulmonary artery, which had the effect of increasing blood flow to the lungs” (Wikipedia).
This new development was then taken to the hospital and conducted on a human patient with success, the surgery was later named Blalock-Taussig shunt. Due to triumph of the surgery, this lead to a broader aspect of vascular heart surgery, and will save countless lives. Not only was there prevail with the surgery, Thomas also devised medical equipment used in the surgery. His medical equipment included “a heavy spring device that could apply varying levels of pressure” (Shelley), which created a new understanding of shock.
He also invented “pulse oximetry, defibrillation, and automatic laboratory analysis” (Kennedy). Thomas’ inventions and contribution the surgery has lead to extraordinary findings and promising hope for cyanosis patients. Thomas and Blalocks determination and hard work changed medical history and saved lives. Not only did Thomas and Blalock change medical history but they also started a civil revolution. Thomas came to the hospital during the time of racial segregation, when it was unheard of for a African American man to be wearing a lab coat, and it was enough to make people stop and stare.
But it was his skill in the laboratory, rather than his skin color, that raised eyebrows. Even though his skills prevailed, he was still paid and treated as a janitor. The 34-year partnership between the two was complicated and contradictory. On one hand, Blalock defended his choice of Thomas to his superiors and to colleagues, and on the other hand, there were limits to his tolerances such as: pay, academic acknowledgement, and social interaction outside of work.
After Blalocks death, Thomas continued at Hopkins for 15 more years and trained a number of African American lab technicians. In 1976, Thomas was awarded with an Honorary Doctorate. Something the Lord Made is a moving story of two men who changed the history in the medical field and the ways of segregation. Vivien Thomas and Alfred Blalock marked their name in history, saving myriad lives and changing the world. Their legacy will live on at John Hopkins as their pictures hang side by side.
