December 3, 1935
Dear Mike,
Your letter of November 12 has just been received, and I want to answer it immediately to let you know how happy I am that you are so much better satisfied in Strasbourg. I am indeed happy to learn this, because from your previous letters I had gotten the impression, either correctly or incorrectly, that you were not as well satisfied as you might have been, and this made me feel bad.
I can see, however, that you are doing just what we all knew you would do, that is, entrenching yourself in the clinic and making yourself so valuable that you are part of the organization, and I am convinced that that is the secret of your getting more at the present time.
Professor Leriche certainly has outlined a number of problems for you, and it is indeed the thing to do, because the more you get accomplished there and the more you get done, the better it will be for you subsequently.
I was very much interested to learn that they were interested in the non-ligation inversion technic of appendectomy and am particularly pleased that you have been able to sell them the idea. I think that is a real victory and one of which you should be very proud.
I spent last week in St. Louis, attending the Southern Medical Association, where they had a very good meeting. It was the largest attendance of any other Southern Medical meeting they have ever had, and the program was very good. I enjoyed being in St. Louis, because, as you recall, I graduated from Washington University, and it gave an opportunity to visit with a number of my old schoolmates. Unfortunately, I was quite busy while I was there, as I was Secretary of the Surgical Section and also of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine. In addition to this, I presented three papers, one before the general scientific session on postoperative treatment, one before the lay crowd on pain in the abdomen, and one with Dr. Strong before the Pediatric Section on congenital hypertrophic stenosis. Everything went off all right, however, and I think everyone was quite well pleased with the meeting in general.
I leave for the Southern Surgical this week. Am enclosing a program as I thought you might be interested in it. I think it looks pretty good, although I had nothing to do with it except merely arranging it. In the Southern Surgical Association the Secretary merely accepts the titles which are sent in and doesn't arrange the program as the Secretary of the Southern Medical does. Hubert Royster, who is reading a paper on amebic of the liver, has asked me to discuss it. He wrote to me some time ago saying that he felt ashamed to get up and read a paper, because he is reporting only a few cases, especially after our work, which he was kind enough to say was the best thing that has ever been written. Apropos of the amebic abscess article, I received a long letter from Ludlow, who is in this country on a vacation. He was very complimentary about our article and stated that it was the best thing he had ever seen. He sent me a summary of an article which he is about to publish, based upon his own experience in several hundred cases of amebic abscess. His conclusions are just about the same as ours.
Akky is having a great time in his school. For his birthday, which you were so kind to remember, we sent him a rifle, as they have a very good rifle instructor, and he is extremely desirous of having his own gun, because he is able to shoot it oftener. It is a great opportunity for him, and we are all so happy that he likes it so well. We have definitely decided that he shouldn't come home for Christmas, although we hate the thoughts of not seeing him at that time. I believe it would be inadvisable for him to come, because, as you know, the weather might be bad at that time, and I wouldn't want to run the chance of his catching cold.
I imagine that Isabel will probably go out there for awhile after holidays.
Isabel and I am planning on leaving Thursday night for Hot Springs to attend the Southern Surgical Association meeting. Her sister from Chicago is going to stay with the children while we are away.
Let us know what you are doing all the time as we are more than interested in your activities.
Everyone in the Department joins me in sending our best regards.
Yours sincerely,
Alton Ochsner