St. Elsewhere (TV Series)

Bypass (1982)

William Daniels: Dr. Mark Craig

Quotes 

• Dr. Mark Craig : [breezes into the room, almost bumping into a nurse on the way out]  Excuse me.

  [Immediately opens Broadwater's file] 

  Dr. Mark Craig : Mr Broadwater. How are we this morning?

  Mr. Broadwater : Feelin' pretty good.

  Dr. Mark Craig : Well, I have some good news, and I have some bad. Two of the major vessels to your heart, the left anterior descending artery, and the circumflex artery, are 90% obstructed.

  Mr. Broadwater : [stunned]  But I feel fine.

  Dr. Mark Craig : You didn't feel "fine" when you had those chest pains walking up a flight of stairs, now did you?

  Mr. Broadwater : Did I have a heart attack?

  Dr. Mark Craig : No, but when we put you on the treadmill, your electrocardiogram indicated ischemia. And the angiography - do you remember when we put the dye through the heart? Revealed obstructions... VERY serious obstructions.

  Mr. Broadwater : [clutches his chest, breathing heavily]  90% obstructed?

  Dr. Mark Craig : [holds up a long rubber tube]  Let me show you something, Mr Broadwater - what does this look like to you?

  Mr. Broadwater : A rubber tube.

  Dr. Mark Craig : Arteries are tubes. They carry the blood and oxygen from the heart. Now, bear with me. If we obstruct the flow of blood and oxygen to the brain...

  [ties a tight knot in the tube] 

  Dr. Mark Craig : ... What do you think happens?

  Mr. Broadwater : [gets up unsteadily]  I-I don't believe this. I'm only 40 years old here. Doc, you...

  Dr. Mark Craig : [curtly, shouting]  You're fat. You smoke. Your father died of a heart attack when he was 42.

  Mr. Broadwater : But Doctor, there must be SOMETHING...

  Dr. Mark Craig : You are walking a tightrope, Mr Broadwater. If it isn't the stairs today, it'll be washing the car tomorrow, or bouncing your little boy on your knee - or, if you're lucky, when you're sleeping.

  Mr. Broadwater : [sits back down weakly]  Ohhhh, my dear God.

  Dr. Mark Craig : Now, for the good news.

  [pause] 

  Dr. Mark Craig : I'm going to save you.

  Mr. Broadwater : How?

  Dr. Mark Craig : Triple bypass.

  Mr. Broadwater : Surgery?

  Dr. Mark Craig : [nods firmly]  We'll give you a few moments to think about it, notify your loved ones. Do I have your complete cooperation?

  [holds out his hand] 

  Mr. Broadwater : [shakes it half-heartedly]  ... I guess so.

  Dr. Mark Craig : Excellent.

  [shakes Broadwater's hand, snaps the file shut, and breezes back out without further comment] 

• Dr. Mark Craig : Did anesthesiology clear Broadwater?

  Dr. Victor Ehrlich : Kochar cleared him, but, I couldn't get consent.

  Dr. Mark Craig : Why not?

  Dr. Victor Ehrlich : He wants to think it over.

  Dr. Mark Craig : [walks over to the board to look at the chart]  You moron! You know, you're a joke, Ehrlich! Any idiot could have gotten that signature.

  [Walks to pick up paperwork] 

  Dr. Mark Craig : When I'm on that board, I'm on it to stay. I cut when I'm ready. Not tonight, not tomorrow, today.