Ask Dr. Charles Fraser how he prepares for surgery on the tiniest of patients and his answer is, "Staying focused."

Believe it or not, staying focused is not too difficult when you have performed thousands of operations over a span of 22 years. Dr. Fraser's task on Aug. 24, 2006, was to perform an arterial switch on 5-day-old Sebastian. Moving the great arteries back to their original positions on a heart the size of a strawberry is no small feat. So when it came time to give "the talk" all parents dread, Fraser approached it as if he were the parent.

"I just have always talked to parents in the manner in which I wanted to be talked to ... I just find it's much easier for parents to deal with the truth than a patronizing overview."

Dr. Fraser says the intensive training all physicians receive prepares them for these delicate moments. And even though the Martins are engineers and understood the "science" behind the surgery, "It's really important to understand not only why we're doing this, but what the expectations are, what the risks are, and what the long-term outcome would be," says Dr. Fraser.

In Sebastian's case, the operation was a success and he is growing into a healthy little boy.

Since graduating from the University of Texas Medical School, Dr. Fraser has co-authored a number of articles, including "Current Expectations for Newborns Undergoing the Arterial Switch Operation," published in the Annals of Surgery in May 2004.

The long-term expectation for Sebastian after his arterial switch operation is still uncertain. The procedure is so new that no adult living today has ever undergone such an operation.

Dr. Fraser explains, "The best way to phrase it is we are cautiously optimistic that the long-term prognosis will be as good as the intermediate-term prognosis, but these patients are going to all have to be followed by someone who understands their original problem, for life."