Saum slides his hand delicately down under the heart. He turns it slightly to locate the left anterior descending artery. Then he puts a new sponge in the cavity, covers the opening with a blue cloth, and waits. Meanwhile, Whitman is working to separate the radial artery from its bed of tissue, veins and nerves in the left forearm. It is taking longer than expected.
Arteries are much better than veins.
It is an hour of pain in exchange for 15 years of duration of the bypass. Then the artery is out of Nally's arm. It looks like a worm pulled from the ground on a wet morning. The gaping arm wound is washed then sewn and reinforced with metal staples. Arteries used in bypasses remain open longer than veins.