Twenty years later, at 10:30 a.m., when the visit pass ended, as he had suggested, I was standing, like a tin soldier, in front of the neurosurgery room of the Roberto Rodríguez Hospital in Morón; the room of bad memories and to which I swore never to return, after the mother of my first child died of a brain tumor.
Two decades later, I notice the change. I see it broader, well painted, almost total silence, discipline and excellent treatment of patients and their families.
The view is lost inside the corridor, reason for an extension carried out at some point. In the end —what a coincidence—, as Dr. Miranda and others from the service did in those difficult days, there was one of the most renowned neurosurgeons in the province and in Cuba: Ángel Jesús Lacerda Gallardo, winner of the National Award of the Academy of Sciences of Cuba in its 2022 edition, in the branch of Biomedical Sciences and an honorary member of that Academy.
In the log of his professional life there are also more than 100 publications in specialized magazines, national and international projects related to the study of head trauma, intensive care in Latin America and the care of subarachnoid hemorrhages.
In addition, another two in the final phase: Surgical treatment of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhages, and Neuromonitoring in severe head trauma.
I see him there, at the end of the room, with the customary white coat, stethoscope around his neck, long hair tied behind his back, glasses with a metal frame, square, a bit old, but they fit well on his nose and fit well on his rounded face; unabashed, he glanced at his watch and my shorthand marks on the diary, perhaps imagining the tortuous ascent to the cross of an organized questionnaire.
Nothing is further from reality. Just a few notes about the brain, the most complex and enigmatic structure in the universe, with more neurons than stars in any galaxy.
(He smiles. He is curious about the shorthand "hieroglyphics" and asks if each one means a syllable or a word, "or what").
Talking with him is like embarking on a safari of taste for science and words, between the deepest meditation and gigantic laughter.
—At the age of four or five, I saw myself with a fine-tipped pencil, trying to inject anyone who came home, no matter if they were known or not. My thing was to inject. It seems that I got some of the genes from my paternal grandfather, who wanted to be a doctor.
«And the medicine won over the artist, because I also liked to sing. (I clarify that Jesús, father, is an outstanding orchestrator, composer, saxophonist and guitarist. Director of Concert Bands and popular music groups).
«I was part of Los Selectivos, a group of children that sounded good, back in the 80s. As a member of that group and singer I got to know half of Cuba, including Havana and Varadero. For any peasant, it was like knowing London or Paris, but that was not my thing.
«At the Máximo Gómez Báez Vocational Pre-University Institute, in Camagüey, it was not difficult for me to access medical studies. I started them and when I first saw a human brain I was overjoyed.
Before my eyes, I had the governing structure of all the functions of the organism. The brain is the one that regulates everything. So I said to myself: “I will try to help people with cerebrovascular conditions, one of the main causes of death in the world. Since then I fell in love with the brain and until now, I have tried to unravel its riddles.
«I always told my father that I liked being a doctor and dedicating myself to assistance and research. The current challenges lead me to both sides and that makes me feel fulfilled.
«Cuba is a power in studies related to the brain. Moreover, that because of the North American blockade we lack equipment and we even have to invent it to provide solutions to very complex problems.
Some time ago, we could not access or anticipate some diseases to see what existed inside the skull. We had a simple x-ray and some other contrast medium to inject through the arteries. That was not definitive enough to achieve exact diagnoses. Then comes the Computed Axial Tomography (CAT), magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography, angiogram, electroencephalography, magnetoencephalography...
«Today there is great imaging development: stereotaxic surgery, neuroendoscopy, neuronavigation, which are diagnostic procedures or techniques to locate lesions within the central nervous system.
«With all the respect that other medical specialties deserve, it is not the same to approach the abdominal cavity, for example, as the brain. In the cranial cavity, we cannot deliberately manipulate any area, because the human organism is represented, point by point, in the brain.
«Our service was one of the last to be created in the country and we have achieved a lot, such as the neuroendoscopy technique and, despite not having the right instruments, we have been forced to modify, for example, a cystoscope, to see the bladder, and use it in brain surgery. We were the fifth province in Cuba to introduce neuroendoscopy, advised by highly experienced professors from Havana. Then we have advised those from other territories».
He always liked to read; the sciences above the letters; applied, although this did not free him from some spankings by Caridad, the shooting star that Lacerda does not stop remembering and to which he always professed the greatest respect; the deserving of a son to a mother.
In addition, take the opportunity to talk about the most difficult surgeries of his life.
«From a technical point of view, having operated on a person with five intracranial aneurysms. A real challenge. We start at 9:00 in the morning and finish at 7:00 at night. He was saved and evolved well. I would like to know if he still lives.
«The most difficult of all was that of my mother, not because of its complexity, but because of its sentimental nature. She had a brain hemorrhage and had to be operated on. Either I left it in the hands of another doctor or I did it. I made up my mind and tried to surround myself with the people I considered to help me. It was a very difficult thing to have her lying on a stretcher, practically with her brain in my hands. Luckily, it went well.
"When he told me, son, bring me the glass and the spoon, I was happy."