Uncle Doug

Stephanie’s Story…

Doug Kirk was my mom's youngest brother. He was born with a cleft lip and palate that required multiple surgeries as he grew. Doug was 15 years old when he underwent surgery for a tympanoplasty in 1965.

The doctors in Beardstown, Illinois didn't have an explanation for why his temperature spiked to over 109 degrees. They didn't know how to treat him, so they submerged him in ice. They called anywhere they could think of and the only information they could get was that Doug's temperature was the third highest anyone had ever seen and that he wasn't going to live.

So, life saving measures were discontinued and his death was labeled intraoperative hyperthermia. Years later, after several other family members had bad reactions to anesthesia, we finally had a name for the condition - Malignant Hyperthermia.
I spent 9 years working in the OR with very few side effects from anesthetic gases and I am now an OR nurse educator, sharing my knowledge and passion about the OR and MH with future OR nurses. 

As told by Stephanie Baker

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