Surgeon operates on doc who deliveredhim
SACRAMENTO — On July 7, 1969, a young obstetrician named Dr. Jim Affleck delivered a baby boy named Robert Kincade at Sutter Memorial Hospital in Sacramento, Calif.
More than 45 years later, that baby boy — now Dr. Kincade, a Sutter heart surgeon — performed surgery on the man who brought him into the world.
Their connection could have gone unnoticed.
Affleck, who retired in 1995 after 33 years at Sutter, was introduced to Kincade, one of his two heart surgeons, prior to his September procedure. Kincade, learning of Affleck's lengthy obstetrics career at Sutter, mentioned that he was born in the same hospital.
Curious about the coincidence, Kincade went home and dug out his birth certificate. There in the bottom right corner was Affleck's signature.
“I, of course, didn't remember it,” said Affleck, 83, who figures he delivered between 3,000 and 4,000 infants during his three decades at Sutter. “But I think that it's come full circle.”
In September, Kincade was one of two Sutter cardiovascular surgeons who inserted a new aortic valve in Affleck's chest using a minimally invasive procedure.The valve, which acquired U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval just this June, is small enough to be inserted through an artery in the groin and situated in the aorta. It avoids having to open up the chest cavity, a particularly risky procedure for older patients.“It's amazing to be able to offer this to people,” Kincade said. “And it's great to help (Affleck) out, because he really helped me out 45 years ago.”
