Five Quarts: A Personal and Natural History of Blood (27 page)

In time Odysseus does make it back to the land of the living, although his return is not met with cheers. “What audacity,” the goddess Circe barks at him, “to descend alive into the house of Hades! Other men die once; you will now die twice.” She makes this sound like a curse, which has always struck me as odd. But then, I remind myself, what flows through Circe’s veins—ichor, the blood of the gods—gives her immortality. To her, death is but an abstraction. To a mortal, however, twice dead would mean twice alive.

A series of conversations Steve and I had not long ago with a good friend on the East Coast centered on a similar theme. At age seventy-one, Maurice confided one afternoon that he didn’t expect to reach his next birthday. True, he wasn’t in robust health—he’d had a major heart attack some years earlier and had recently been hospitalized with a dangerous blood clot—but his prediction had less to do with a particular diagnosis than a gut feeling. His father and his older brother had never reached seventy-two, both having died just shy of that age. Why should he be spared? As the day approached, his weakening health seemed to portend that he was indeed on schedule to expire. But the Fates decided otherwise, choosing not to snip his life’s thread. Tuesday followed Monday, and, wonder of wonders, Wednesday showed up, too. Maurice woke up and found himself in blue-skied Elysium, somehow relocated to northern Connecticut.

“I’m living my afterlife,” he told us a few days later, sounding healthier and more joyful than he had in years, “and I’m going to treat it with great respect.” Steve was on the exact same page. He, too, had never expected to reach a milestone, forty, yet he celebrated his fortieth birthday in relatively good health last April. I just quietly listened in on these two survivors—one young for his years, the other old beyond his—as they laughed at their windfall. Then a wonderful realization came to me: As a couple, Steve and I have only just started living our afterlife. We may not even be halfway through our story.

Insomniac that I am, when death does come to take me, chances are I will not be asleep. I’m okay with that. I’d prefer to be alert to the last, conscious of every footfall.

If I should die of natural causes, I will actually undergo two deaths, I’ve come to understand. As clinical death nears, your breathing becomes shallower, you fade into unconsciousness, and, finally, your heart, blood, and respiration come to a stop. Is your last clear thought one of terror as your inner motion slows? Or is it of ultimate peace, the sense that, in stillness, the soul can burst free?

Despite the seeming unambiguousness of the term, clinical death is a reversible state, a transition between life and death. But if circulation and breathing are not quickly restored, you progress to brain death, from which no return is possible. By this point, blood has already begun to settle, prey to gravity.

With both hands, I make tight fists, impeding the blood flow into them. My knuckles go white, the skin actually cools, then, after a minute’s squeeze, I release. The blood rushes in, a red tide pinkening my palms. The seams darken, the twin ridges of yellowy callus blush. Last, I feel tingling, circulation returning to my fingers. The blood echoes my heartbeat, each finger drumming from within.

R
EFERENCES

GENERAL

The following sources are used repeatedly through the book. References for individual chapters are listed below.

Blood: Art, Power, Politics, and Pathology.
Edited by James Bradburne. Munich, London, and New York: Prestel Verlag, 2001.

Bulfinch, Thomas.
Bulfinch’s Mythology.
New York: Modern Library, 1998.

Encarta Encyclopedia.
Standard Edition. Microsoft: 2002.

Friedman, Meyer, and Gerald W. Friedland.
Medicine’s 10 Greatest Discoveries.
New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1998.

Graves, Robert.
The Greek Myths: Volumes 1 and 2.
Revised Edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1960.

Miller, Jonathan.
The Body in Question.
New York: Random House, 1978.

Nuland, Sherwin B.
The Wisdom of the Body.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1997.

Starr, Douglas.
Blood: An Epic History of Medicine and Commerce.
New York: Quill/HarperCollins Publishers, 2000.

Wintrobe, Maxwell M.
Blood, Pure and Eloquent.
New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1980.

———.
Hematology: The Blossoming of a Science.
Philadelphia: Lea & Febiger, 1985.

Wintrobe’s Clinical Hematology.
Tenth Edition. Edited by G. Richard Lee, M. D., et al. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins, 1999.

ONE

Aristotle.
Parts of Animals
(
De Partibus Animalium
). Translated by A. L. Peck. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1955.

Encyclopedia Mythica Web site. September 2001 and May 2002.
www.pantheon.org
.

Gods and Heroes of the Greeks: The Library of Apollodorus.
Translated by Michael Simpson. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1976.

Hornik, Susan. “For Some, Pain Is Orange.”
Smithsonian
(February 2001): 48–56.

TWO

Brain, Peter.
Galen on Bloodletting.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986.

Cozzo, Rosemary. Interview with author. San Francisco, Calif., April 19, 2002.

Davis, Audrey, and Toby Appel.
Bloodletting Instruments in the National Museum of History and Technology.
Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1979.

Doby, Tibor.
Discoverers of Blood Circulation: From Aristotle to the Times of Da Vinci and Harvey.
New York: Abelard-Schuman Ltd., 1963.

Hall, Marshall.
Researches Principally Relative to the Morbid and Curative Effects of Loss of Blood.
Philadelphia: E. L. Carey and A. Hart, Publishers, 1830.

Mathé, Jean.
Leonardo Da Vinci: Anatomical Drawings.
New York: Crown Publishers, 1978.

Morens, David M. “Death of a President.”
New England Journal of Medicine
341, no. 24 (December 9, 1999): 1845–1849.

Morgan, John. “Was Washington’s Death Malpractice?”
USA Today on the Web,
February 22, 2000, and May 31, 2002.
www.usatoday.com
.

Siegel, Rudolph E. “Galen’s Concept of Bloodletting in Relation to His Ideas on Pulmonary and Peripheral Blood Flow and Blood Formation.”
Science, Medicine and Society in the Renaissance: Essays to Honor Walter Pagel.
Volume One. Edited by Allen G. Debus. New York: Science History Publications, 1972.

THREE

Amber, R. B., and A. M. Babey-Brooke.
The Pulse in Occident and Orient.
New York: Santa Barbara Press, 1966.

Broadbent, William Henry.
The Pulse.
Oceanside, N.Y.: Dabor Science Publications, 1977. Reprint of the 1890 edition published by Cassell & Company, Ltd., London.

Huang Ti Nei Ching Su Wen
(
The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine
). New Edition. Translated by Ilza Veith. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1966.

The Life of Sir William Broadbent.
Edited by M. E. Broadbent. London: John Murray, 1909.

McCloud, Scott.
Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art.
Northampton, Mass.: Kitchen Sink Press, 1993.

Naqvi, N. H., and M. D. Blaufox.
Blood Pressure Measurement: An Illustrated History.
New York: Parthenon Publishing Group, 1998.

Nuland, Sherwin B.
The Mysteries Within: A Surgeon Reflects on Medical Myths.
New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000.

Seidel, Henry M., et al.
Mosby’s Guide to Physical Examination.
Third Edition. St. Louis: Mosby, 1995.

Zimmerman, Leo M., and Katharine M. Howell. “History of Blood Transfusion.”
Annals of Medical History
IV, no. 5 (September 1932): 415–433.

FOUR

Angier, Natalie.
Woman: An Intimate Geography.
New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1999.

Butler’s Lives of the Saints.
New Concise Edition. Edited by Michael J. Walsh. Great Britain: Burns & Oates Ltd., 1991.

Dean-Jones, Lesley.
Women’s Bodies in Classical Greek Science.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994.

Delaney, Janice, Mary Jane Lupton, and Emily Toth.
The Curse: A Cultural History of Menstruation.
Revised Edition. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1988.

Frazer, James.
The Golden Bough.
Abridged Edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1996.

The Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version. New York: Meridian, 1974.

Museum of Menstruation Web site. February–April 2002.
www.mum.org
.

Pinkson, Thomas. “Sacred Feminine.” Nierica—The Sacred Doorway Web site. March 30, 2002.
www.nierica.com
.

Raymond of Capua.
The Life of St. Catherine of Siena.
Translated by George Lamb. London: Harvill Press, 1960.

Ross, John Alan. “Plateau.”
Handbook of North American Indians.
Volume 12. Edited by Deward E. Walker Jr. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1998.

Teit, James A., and Franz Boas.
The Salishan Tribes of the Western Plateaus.
Extract from 45th B.A.E. Annual Report, 1927–1928.

Teresa of Avila.
The Life of Saint Teresa of Avila by Herself.
Translated by J. M. Cohen. New York: Penguin Books, 1957.

———.
The Life of Saint Teresa of Avila.
Translated and edited by E. Allison Peers. Catholic First Web site. February 28, 2002.
www.catholicfirst.com
.

“Women Were Considered Ritually Unclean.” Women Priests Web site. April 10, 2002.
www.womenpriests.org
.

FIVE

“Antony van Leeuwenhoek.” UC Berkeley Museum of Paleontology Web site. August 22, 2002.
www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/leeuwenhoek
.

Dobell, Clifford.
Antony van Leeuwenhoek and His “Little Animals.”
New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1932.

Jones, Thomas E. History of the Light Microscope Web site, © 1997. April 15, 2002.
www.utmem.edu/~thjones/
.

Schierbeek, Abraham.
Measuring the Invisible World.
London and New York: Abelard-Schuman, 1959.

Shinn, Al. Interview with author. Berkeley, Calif., August 28, 2002.

Turner, Gerard L’E.
Collecting Microscopes.
New York: Mayflower Books, 1981.

Verrier, Nancy Newton.
The Primal Wound: Understanding the Adopted Child.
Baltimore: Gateway Press, 1993.

SIX

Bäumler, Ernst.
Paul Ehrlich: Scientist for Life.
Translated by Grant Edwards. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1984.

Dr. Ehrlich’s Magic Bullet,
1940, 103 minutes. Warner Bros. Pictures Video. Directed by William Dieterle.

Hirsch, James G., and Beate I. Hirsch. “Paul Ehrlich and the Discovery of the Eosinophil.”
The Eosinophil in Health and Disease.
Edited by Adel A. F. Mahmoud, et al. New York: Grune & Stratton, 1980.

Marquardt, Martha.
Paul Ehrlich: Als Mensch und Arbeiter.
Berlin: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart, 1924.

———.
Paul Ehrlich.
New York: Henry Schuman, 1951.

Paul Ehrlich Institute Web site. January 9, 2002.
www.pei.de.htm
.

Pavao, Joyce Maguire.
The Family of Adoption.
Boston: Beacon Press, 1998.

Rhoads, Cornelius P. “Paul Ehrlich in Contemporary Science.”
Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine
30, no. 12 (December 1954): 976–987.

Silverstein, Arthur M.
Paul Ehrlich’s Receptor Immunology: The Magnificent Obsession.
San Diego: Academic Press, 2002.

SEVEN

Bäumler, Ernst.
Paul Ehrlich: Scientist for Life.
Translated by Grant Edwards. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1984.

Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan.
Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories.
Volume One. New York: Bantam Books, 1986.

Ehrlich, Paul. “On Immunity with Special Reference to Cell Life.” Croonian Lecture, Royal Society of London, March 22, 1900. Theoretical Immunology Web site. January 11, 2003.
www.crystal.biochem.queensu.ca/forsdyke/theorimm.htm
.

Hoffmann, Georg, and Brendt Birkner.
The Blood Handbook.
Point Roberts, Wash.: Hartley & Marks, Publishers, 1991.

Silverstein, Arthur M.
Paul Ehrlich’s Receptor Immunology: The Magnificent Obsession.
San Diego: Academic Press, 2002.

Steranko, James.
The Steranko History of Comics.
Volume One. Reading, Penn.: Supergraphics, 1970.

Winger, Edward. Interviews with author. San Leandro, Calif., October 9, 2001, and February 7, 2003.

EIGHT

Abate, Tom. “Hidden Epidemic: Researchers, Policymakers Debate Tactics in Battle Against Hepatitis C.”
San Francisco Chronicle
Web site. August 2, 2001.
www.sfgate.com
.

Armstrong, Walter. “The Untouchables.”
Poz
(July 2001): 40.

California Health and Safety Code, Section 118340. California Department of Health Services Web site. March 18, 2002.
www.dhs.cahwnet.gov
.

Carroll, Chuck. “Jail Term Ordered for Reusing Needles.”
Mercury News
Web site. August 16, 2002.
www.bayarea.com
.

Kennedy, Lisa. “The Miseducation of Nushawn Williams.”
Poz
(August 2000).

Orcoff, Jerry. Interviews with author. San Jose, Calif., July 18, 2002, and February 17, 2003.

Rohde, David. “A Health Danger from a Needle. . . .”
New York Times
(August 6, 2001): 1.

Sanderson, Dale. Interview with author. San Jose, Calif., February 26, 2003.

Seyfer, Jessie. “Former Clinic Worker Facing 5-Year Sentence.”
Mercury News
Web site. June 5, 2002.
www.bayarea.com
.

NINE

American Porphyria Foundation Web site. April 2003.
www.porphyriafoundation.com
.

Bankard, Bob. “The Dracula Guide.” Philly Burbs Web site. March 2003.
www.phillyburbs.com/halloween2001/dracula
.

Baring-Gould, Sabine.
The Book of Were-Wolves.
New York: Causeway Books, 1973.

Belford, Barbara.
Bram Stoker.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1996.

Eckstein, Gustav.
The Body Has a Head.
New York: Harper & Row, 1970.

Florescu, Radu R., and Raymond T. McNally.
Dracula: Prince of Many Faces.
Boston: Back Bay Books, 1989.

Grossman, Mary Kay. Interview with author. Spokane, Wash., August 20, 2003.

Lane, Nick. “Born to the Purple: The Story of Porphyria.”
Scientific American
Web site. December 16, 2002.
www.sciam.com
.

———. “New Light on Medicine.”
Scientific American
(January 2003): 38–45.

Lassek, A. M.
Human Dissection: Its Drama and Struggle.
Springfield, Ill.: Charles C. Thomas Publisher, 1958.

MacMillan Illustrated Animal Encyclopedia.
Edited by Dr. Philip Whitfield. New York: MacMillan Publishing Co., 1984.

McNally, Raymond T.
Dracula Was a Woman: In Search of the Blood Countess of Transylvania.
New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1983.

Persaud, T.V.N.
A History of Anatomy: The Post-Vesalian Era.
Springfield, Ill.: Charles C. Thomas Publisher, 1997.

Porphyria: A Royal Malady.
London: British Medical Association, 1968.

Shelley, Mary.
Frankenstein.
Author’s introduction, 1831 edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1969.

Stoker, Bram.
Dracula.
Introduction by Leonard Wolf. New York: Signet Classic, 1965 and 1992.

TEN

Aronson, Theo.
Grandmamma of Europe: The Crowned Descendants of Queen Victoria.
Indianapolis and New York: Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1973.

Ingram, G.I.C. “The History of Haemophilia.”
Journal of Clinical Pathology
29 (1976): 469–479.

Mannucci, Pier M., and Edward G. D. Tuddenham. “The Hemophilias—From Royal Genes to Gene Therapy.”
New England Journal of Medicine
344, no. 23 (June 7, 2001): 1773–1779.

National Hemophilia Foundation Web site. June 2003.
www.hemophilia.org
.

Neveu, Cindy. Interviews with author. Berkeley, Calif., June 23 and 26, 2003.

Pope-Hennessy, James.
Queen Mary.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1960.

Potts, D. M., and W.T.W. Potts.
Queen Victoria’s Gene.
Great Britain: Sutton Publishing Ltd., 1995.

Pullum, Christine. Telephone interview with author. June 10, 2003.

Resnik, Susan.
Blood Saga: Hemophilia, AIDS, and the Survival of a Community.
Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999.

Shemophilia Web site. June 2003.
www.shemophilia.org
.

Zeepvat, Charlotte.
Prince Leopold: The Untold Story of Queen Victoria’s Youngest Son.
Great Britain: Sutton Publishing Ltd., 1998.

ELEVEN

Action Comics
#403, “Attack of the Micro-Murderer” (August 1971). Cary Bates (writer) and Swan & Anderson (artists). New York: DC Comics.