Although I’m not planning on checking out anytime soon, following quadruple bypass surgery I’ve begun to seriously contemplate my own mortality. And so, before the final chapter is closed I decided to write this autobiography particularly for my children, Jill and Jim. But expressly for Jill since over the past several years she’s developed a keen interest in genealogy and assembled a collection of old photographs and assorted documents that trace our Family history. I hope this modest contribution will complement her efforts and perhaps fill some voids. I also hope it will answer some questions for Jim since regrettably our father son relationship was disrupted when he was in his teens and we were unfortunately separated by time and distance.
While recovering from open heart surgery I was searching the internet for information regarding cardiovascular disease and ran across an article about post perfusion syndrome, more commonly known as the “pump head syndrome”. I never heard of it before and thought; what the hell is the Pump Head? Pump head is the loss of cognitive ability following open heart surgery caused by a reduction of oxygen to the brain while blood is circulated by a mechanical pump. I began to wonder if I actually have the pump head syndrome [JJ1] [JJ2] but don’t know it because I have the Pump Head syndrome! I have to admit, occasionally I do have a “senior moment” and experience a temporary memory lapse when struggling to remember certain names and events. Could it be the dreaded pump head? Or do I just have a lot more stuff to remember now than when I was younger?
As a famous sage once said, there are three categories of information regarding people, places and events. First are “the known knowns”. These are things we know that we know. Then there are the “known unknowns”. That is to say, these are things that we know we don’t know. Then there are the “unknown unknowns”. These are things we don’t know we don’t know. So, a primary motive for writing this collection of essays was an attempt to highlight the “known knowns” and some or most of the “known unknowns” thus forcing myself to undergo a kind of self-test to see how much I can actually remember of the “known knowns” and “known unknowns”. The “unknown unknowns” will remain however…. Well…… unknown. And since writing is always an exercise in clear thinking it also afforded an opportunity to engage in some mental gymnastics as a precaution to stave off the dreaded pump head as long as possible. You can decide if I’ve been successful or not. Oh, and by the way, if you find some things in this collection of essays you think are really stupid or plain outright wrong just blame it on the pump head syndrome. I’m now at the age where I can safely say I’ve seen it all, I’ve heard it all and done it all. I just can’t remember it all. End of disclaimer. Now, down to business.
[JJ1]https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/pumphead-heart-lung-machine/
[JJ2]https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/disease-may-cause-pumphead/
Long Story Short: A Collection of Stories by Hal Gunardson 