Submitted by: Jennifer Wenger

People in the 1940s did not believe that women could become surgeons, but a strong, determined woman was on her way to proving them wrong. Even if her dean strongly objected to her aim of becoming a surgeon, he still wrote a recommendation for his student. At every one of the job interviews she went to, the surgeons laugh after reading her recommendation, making her wonder why until the fourth screening doctor who bursts out laughing finally reveals to her why. The lines that read, To whom it may concern, this woman is large, powerful and tireless, was what made them crack. All four surgeons got impressed and offered her the job. Even after this, she has proven how great she is, as seen by her admirers.

Her lifelong achievements rose from starting an exceptional volunteer group who helps Africa fight disease and deaths, expertly run an existing research laboratory, work with many relief organizations to bring aid to third world countries, and finally she is still able to keep up with her private practice while never looking at the amount of money she could earn. Prevention of skin cancer was what caused her to create a line of skin care products that will help in this.

In her career as a specialist in reconstructive and plastic surgery, she helps out the terribly burned or injured patients and she recalls that the worst cases she handled were the ones from the suburbs in northern New York. She is a supreme working mom with the way she raises eight children. The terms such as accomplished, kind, humble, driven, energetic and generous are just some of the words that best describe her, but she is also an enduring woman as seen how she survived the painful death of two of her teenage boys from an ailment in the blood that was very fatal.

Being the middle child of a doctor and sculptor made her that way. Her mother hoped that a career in opera would do her good but this was never how she envisioned herself to be. She recalls that her father was noble enough to care even for people who could not pay. She would be present during his medical duties as well as his surgeries.

Back then she already knew in her heart that she’d be taking up a medical course. Back in those times, her move was not common yet her father’ reaction did not seem like she made a drastic step. Since she was brought up this way, she never grew up with any doubts toward her abilities as doctor or felt any discrimination among the people she works with in her chosen field. She was an unconventional person ever since. She shares that things are harder for women now that they were for her then. The male doctors she was with never found her as a competition. She quips that she works beyond what she was almost confined in.

Animals were her first love. As a young kid, she’d happily stay in tents with dogs while staying in Maine. A small all girls school transformed her from a forest dweller into a student thus paving the way for her to enter into this big medical university in New York. But she still attended class with two beagle puppies in a knapsack and a crow on her shoulder.

Even before she garnered the title of being the first female to finish a degree in surgery, she already bore two children, both girls, to a fellow med student she married. Later, she never stopped even to breathe to achieve her aims. Making her speak up about her work and how it blossomed was a hard task. She rarely talks about her achievements but this modest lady does admit that juggling her busy career with her large family can be quite taxing.

She fell in love and married a doctor and she bore him five children, but she also chose to adopt his other kids in his first marriage. People wanted to see how it was like being with a mother who begins her day at 5 in the morning, toiled for hours through the rest of the day, and then would still have strength to read books until 1 A.M.! Well, although her daughters had opposing comments, it was very certain that such a life was not all that easy for them. The daughter that became an oncologist shares that it was very common for them to always see their mother hard at work. Bringing her work and children together was something she was always keen upon. Over the dinner table, we had conversations about some people’s misfortunes.

Her adopted daughter had a huge role to fulfill. She was the one they looked on to raise the younger children for she was the eldest. She feels so weary when made to abide by her motherly duties as she is barely even at home. She didn’t have time for us because she was very driven to do her work. She recounts the standing joke in their family being that whenever people would look for her, they would say that she was not at home for she was out saving lives. The sense of fun her mother possessed was the thing another daughter revealed. Some of the ways by which she surprises her kids is by being at their soccer games with a pompom and a megaphone, or even joining local parades by wheeling in a fire engine!

Among her three sons, two were born with a congenital blood disease called Fanconi’s anemia, which made them go on blood transfusion session repeatedly. Both contracted AIDS through transfusions before anyone really knew what AIDS was. A year between their deaths, they died a very young age one at 13 and the other at 17. Her husband left her when their second son died around this time, her youngest female child also went away to study college. Despite her busy practice, suddenly there was a void in her life she had to fill.

All was lost, all of a sudden. Seeing how she moved from full house to empty shoved her to fly to Africa. Though she had never been there before, Africa still mesmerized her when she was younger. Flying to Kenya, she aimed to understand animal problems further. Then she visited the hospitals in the region with among the world’s highest infant mortality rates and worst instances of AIDS.

A nonprofit group set for bringing in medical training, treatment and equipment was set up for the people in Eastern Kenya during her return. In their vision to learn more about AIDS, she takes medical doctor companions there. The last trip she took to Kenya saw her last breath as robbers beat her up along with her medical student companion.

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