Grandpa's radical neck surgery: a historical memory

This article is a professional and personal stroll down memory lane. The sister authors investigated one of the first radical neck procedures for cancer, performed in the early 1950s on their grandfather. The historical Operating Room Nurse role is briefly reviewed, and some of the effects of the surgery on the family are discussed. The surgeries today on ears, nose, and throat would not be possible without the brave pioneer patients, physicians, and nurses of the past.