Self-Surgery?
Richard Balthazor
I remember reading way back in a newspaper (you can hear the thundering
of the UL lumbering towards you) that more than one person has operated
successfully on themselves, at home, in semi-sterile conditions, under
local anaesthetic to remove a kidney/appendix/etc.
I asked a doctor, who asserted that such an operation would be
impossible because the stomach muscles, even under local, wouldn't be
relaxed enough to get at everything.
So I'm offering it to the floor for cites/more debunking...
Richard "checked the FAQ..."
C. Ramko
On Tue, 10 Sep 1996, Richard Balthazor wrote:
> I remember reading way back in a newspaper (you can hear the thundering
> of the UL lumbering towards you) that more than one person has operated
> successfully on themselves, at home, in semi-sterile conditions, under
> local anaesthetic to remove a kidney/appendix/etc.
A kidney? Do you know where a kidney is in the human body? Go and take a
look at a Gray's anatomy book and you will see how implausable this idea
is.
jeepers
Melanie "still hanging onto my three" Ramko
catherine yronwode
I too have heard it as "his own appendix!" and it was definitely
FOAFish. It was circa the late 198-60s, early 1970s.
However, this year i did see with my own eyes a man named Don Roach of
Forestville, California reset his own dislocated hand bone by (WARNING:
not for the squeamish!) tying his fingers to a string and the string to
a heavy barn door and then SLAMMING the barn door shut. "I had to drink
a 12-pack before i had the guts to do it," he said, "but i'd be DAMNED
if they got me into that VA hospital." I was present at the "operation"
and saw the before (dislocated hand bone sticking out of palm nder the
flesh in an "unnatural" and grotesque way), the during (slamming of the
barn door, his grunt, my squeal of second-hand agony), and the after
(bones in hand returned to "natural" looking position). This operation
did not include a knife cut, obviously, but i have no doubt that should
one have been necessary, Don Roach would have risen to the occasion.
catherine yronwode ---------------------- mailto:yron...@sonic.net
Lucky W Amulet Archive --- http://www.sonic.net/yronwode/LuckyW.html
The Sacred Landscape - http://www.sonic.net/yronwode/sacredland.html
Karezza and Tantra ---- http://www.sonic.net/yronwode/sacredsex.html
Freemasonry for Women - http://www.sonic.net/yronwode/CoMasonry.html
Fit to Print ----------- http://www.sonic.net/yronwode/ftpindex.html
John M Price
Maybe a vasectomy would be do-able.
Richard Balthazor (r.bal...@sheffield.ac.uk) wrote:
: I remember reading way back in a newspaper (you can hear the thundering
: of the UL lumbering towards you) that more than one person has operated
: successfully on themselves, at home, in semi-sterile conditions, under
: local anaesthetic to remove a kidney/appendix/etc.
:
: I asked a doctor, who asserted that such an operation would be
: impossible because the stomach muscles, even under local, wouldn't be
: relaxed enough to get at everything.
:
: So I'm offering it to the floor for cites/more debunking...
:
: Richard "checked the FAQ..."
--
John M. Price, PhD jmp...@calweb.com jmp...@worldnet.att.net
Privacy IS Freedom!
PGP Key on request or by finger!
Luke Schollmeyer
Richard Balthazor <r.bal...@sheffield.ac.uk> wrote:
>I remember reading way back in a newspaper (you can hear the thundering
>of the UL lumbering towards you) that more than one person has operated
>successfully on themselves, at home, in semi-sterile conditions, under
>local anaesthetic to remove a kidney/appendix/etc.
>I asked a doctor, who asserted that such an operation would be
>impossible because the stomach muscles, even under local, wouldn't be
>relaxed enough to get at everything.
>So I'm offering it to the floor for cites/more debunking...
>Richard "checked the FAQ..."
.....let's not forget the guy who amputated his own leg after it had
been crushed and wedged under a fallen tree (I know, I know, not QUITE
the same, but...).
I do remember seeing something on "That's Incredible" about a dentist
that did his own oral surgery.
Luke "Slightly off-topic, but refreshing nonetheless" Schollmeyer
Lee Rudolph
catherine yronwode <yron...@sonic.net> writes:
>I too have heard it as "his own appendix!" and it was definitely
>FOAFish. It was circa the late 198-60s, early 1970s.
My father told me (probably in the 1960s, maybe in the 1950s) that,
as a young Marine hitchhiking back from home leave in Ohio to the
Naval War College in Rhode Island in 1930 plus or minus a couple
of years, he got a lift across most of Pennsylvania one winter
night with a surgeon who was famous (in some circles) at the time
for having performed an emergency appendectomy on himself.
(On another trip, or maybe another leg of the same one, he met
the national duckpin champion. This story was less gripping.)
So whether or not auto-appendectomies happen often, or at all,
there have been stories about them for at least 30 and perhaps
nearly 70 years (the later figure in case my father was
refurbishing a FOAFtale for my benefit).
Lee "BurmaShave, VermiForm, they're all the same by the
side of the road" Rudolph
Michael Nathan Cantor
I dont know about self-appendectomies, but there was a published article
(possibly in JAMA or the NEJM in the 70's) about a psychiatric patient who
believed
that his problems were caused by excess testosterone, and subsequently
removed his testicles himself, after reading several books on surgery. I
think he then tried to get rid of his adrenal glands, but started to feel
weak while performing the procedure and had to come to the hospital. All
the doctors were impressed by his techniques...
Michael
Floyd Davidson
>>
>> > I remember reading way back in a newspaper (you can hear the thundering
>> > of the UL lumbering towards you) that more than one person has operated
>> > successfully on themselves, at home, in semi-sterile conditions, under
>> > local anaesthetic to remove a kidney/appendix/etc.
>>
>> look at a Gray's anatomy book and you will see how implausable this idea
>> is.
>> jeepers
>>
>> Melanie "still hanging onto my three" Ramko
>
>FOAFish. It was circa the late 198-60s, early 1970s.
>
>Forestville, California reset his own dislocated hand bone by (WARNING:
>not for the squeamish!) tying his fingers to a string and the string to
>a heavy barn door and then SLAMMING the barn door shut. "I had to drink
>a 12-pack before i had the guts to do it," he said, "but i'd be DAMNED
>if they got me into that VA hospital." I was present at the "operation"
>and saw the before (dislocated hand bone sticking out of palm nder the
>flesh in an "unnatural" and grotesque way), the during (slamming of the
>barn door, his grunt, my squeal of second-hand agony), and the after
>(bones in hand returned to "natural" looking position). This operation
>did not include a knife cut, obviously, but i have no doubt that should
>one have been necessary, Don Roach would have risen to the occasion.
I know personally a man who amputated his own hand with an axe.
His hand was caught in machinery and had already frozen. Since it
was -30 F and he was 20 miles from the nearest assistance, he
figured it was cut off the hand or freeze to death.
Floyd
--
Floyd L. Davidson Salcha, Alaska fl...@tanana.polarnet.com
Bo Bradham
Michael Nathan Cantor <mca...@larry.cc.emory.edu> wrote:
>I dont know about self-appendectomies, but there was a published article
>(possibly in JAMA or the NEJM in the 70's) about a psychiatric patient who
>believed
>that his problems were caused by excess testosterone, and subsequently
>removed his testicles himself, after reading several books on surgery. I
This sounds like a job for Medline Boy!
I remember reading a book in which the suicide of a doctor is
described. According to the book he made a very neat incision in
his neck and clamped everything in place, like in an operation.
Then he severed either the artery or the vein (I don't
remember which). He did this in his bathtub so he wouldn't leave
a big mess. I guess you could say the operation was a success.
If my memory serves (no more bets, please) the book was:
Rubin, Theodore Isaac.
Emergency room diary.
New York, Grosset & Dunlap [1972]
This is the same book I got the spear-thru-the-mouth story from,
in the "javelin in the neck" thread. It's a memoir of the author's
time in an ER residency. It's been a long time since I read it
but I thought it was cool at the time.
Bo "but I was 15" Bradham
--
"Learning to drive a car is easier than learning to play the
fiddle. And it's a lot safer, too" -- Kevin Burke
Dave Blake
In article <515e8a$6...@dfw-ixnews7.ix.netcom.com>, Luke Schollmeyer
<ww...@ix.netcom.com> writes
<snip>
>.....let's not forget the guy who amputated his own leg after it had
>been crushed and wedged under a fallen tree (I know, I know, not QUITE
>the same, but...).
>
>I do remember seeing something on "That's Incredible" about a dentist
>that did his own oral surgery.
>
performing his own DIY sex-change?
--
Dave Blake
London Mitcham Southminster
"More fun than a barrel of Vikings" - Wheel of Fortune contestant
(Reported by Scott Forbes)
David Lesher
bra...@panix.com (Bo Bradham) writes:
>This sounds like a job for Medline Boy!
Ahhhem....
This is rather degrading. Dr. Nork has spared no small effort to
obtain his well-deserved professional status. An insulting term such
as the above is uncalled for. Please, in the future, use the more
acceptable "Medline Man^H^H^H Male"....
Thank you.
--
A host is a host from coast to coast.................wb8foz@nrk.com
& no one will talk to a host that's close...........(v)301 56 LINUX
Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433
is busy, hung or dead........vr vr vr vr.................20915-1433
Kim Dyer
>I dont know about self-appendectomies, but there was a published article
>(possibly in JAMA or the NEJM in the 70's) about a psychiatric patient who
>believed
>that his problems were caused by excess testosterone, and subsequently
>removed his testicles himself, after reading several books on surgery. I
>weak while performing the procedure and had to come to the hospital. All
>the doctors were impressed by his techniques...
remember him commenting on this case. Apparently there are several
cases of folks with mental problems operating on themselves with
varying degrees of success. Some just hack off offending ... um ...
protuberances. Others read up and do a remarkably clinical job of
it. (I seem to recall that the guy who removed his own testicles had
made a serious incision on his back where his kidneys/adrenals would
be ...but had lost enough blood while trying to work in a mirror that
he finally called for an ambulance.)
Kevin Rys
John M Price wrote:
>
> Maybe a vasectomy would be do-able.
>
aka "scrotum self-repair w/staple gun"
Kevin "Damn that belt sander's lookin' fine tonite" Rys
Michael Nathan Cantor
If anyone's interested, the original article is :
JAMA 5/18/79, p.2188.
It's well worth the read, if you can find it.
stephen parker
Kevin Rys (k...@world.std.com) wrote:
: aka "scrotum self-repair w/staple gun"
reminded me of ``Home Penial Self-Surgery Procedure''
an alt.tasteless classic that no-one should ever
have to read again.
stephen
Jim Hutchins
Richard Balthazor (r.bal...@sheffield.ac.uk) wrote:
: I remember reading way back in a newspaper (you can hear the thundering
: of the UL lumbering towards you) that more than one person has operated
: successfully on themselves, at home, in semi-sterile conditions, under
: local anaesthetic to remove a kidney/appendix/etc.
:
: I asked a doctor, who asserted that such an operation would be
: impossible because the stomach muscles, even under local, wouldn't be
: relaxed enough to get at everything.
:
: So I'm offering it to the floor for cites/more debunking...
:
: Richard "checked the FAQ..."
The version I heard is very believable, in an FOAF sort of way...I think I
read it in a mainstream publication, such as Reader's Digest, which only
adds to my doubts about its voraciousness.
Supposedly, the person involved had a variant of Munchhausen's Syndrome
[1] which caused him to persist in the belief that he needed to remove his
appendix, despite assurances of Licensed Medical Professionals [2] to the
contrary. So, he studied surgery from books extensively and took
detailed notes on the anatomy and procedures he would use. He made
himself an elaborate setup involving a gurney and some large mirrors and
proceeded to begin the operation himself. (I believe ethanol was used as
anesthetic, but I don't remember the details on this point.) All went
well until it came time to retract the liver. He experienced so much pain
from this that he had to call an ambulance and was taken to the emergency
room where they (mumble,mumble) either a) finished the appendectomy or b)
sewed him back up and told him to quit doing that. I don't remember the
end of the story.
Anyhow, that's the version *I* heard. I've never done an appendectomy, on
myself or otherwise, so I don't know how plausible the "liver retraction"
detail is. Dr. Beckwith, I bet you've done a few. We need a real doctor
here to answer this. (Remember, this is in the "guzzle-to-zatch" incision
days, laparoscopy was not an option.)
--
Jim "I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV" Hutchins
hutc...@netdoor.com hutc...@umsmed.edu
http://fiona.umsmed.edu/~hutchins/
[1] (spelling?) a psychological disorder where you repeatedly subject
yourself to painful medical tests and procedures, either because a) you
have an _idee' fixe_ that you are sick, even though you're not, or b) you
crave the attention that medical professionals provide. In the popular
mind, it's been eclipsed by the even-rarer Munchhausen's by proxy, thanks
to a pretty good Patricia Cornwall novel (_The Body Farm_) and some
high-profile cases on TV which involved allegations that a mother
injected fecal matter into her child's IV line.
[2] Not me, but I hang out with them from time-to-time and swap stories
over beers.
Jim Hutchins
Jim Hutchins (hutc...@netdoor.com) wrote:
:
: Richard Balthazor (r.bal...@sheffield.ac.uk) wrote:
: : I remember reading way back in a newspaper (you can hear the thundering
: : of the UL lumbering towards you) that more than one person has operated
: : successfully on themselves, at home, in semi-sterile conditions, under
: : local anaesthetic to remove a kidney/appendix/etc.
[Jim's version of the UL deleted]
Our Regular Medline Boy seems to be busy with The Real World, so as Backup
Medline Boy I offer the following, wincing as I upload:
<1>
Unique Identifier
79154505
Authors
Kalin NH.
Title
Genital and abdominal self-surgery. A case report.
Source
JAMA. 241(20):2188-9, 1979 May 18.
Abstract
In two separate procedures, a psychiatric patient first performed a
bilateral orchiectomy on himself and then later attempted to denervate his
adrenal glands. This case suggests that physicians should be alerted to the
possibility of self-surgery occurring in patients who have sought elective
surgery and have been rejected.
<2>
Unique Identifier
80009632
Authors
Hunt TK.
Title
Self-surgery [letter].
Source
JAMA. 242(16):1736, 1979 Oct 19.
<3>
Unique Identifier
77122290
Authors
Money J. De Priest M.
Title
Three cases of genital self-surgery and their relationship to
transexualism.
Source
Journal of Sex Research. 12(4):283-94, 1976 Nov.
<4>
Unique Identifier
80251864
Authors
Money J.
Title
Genital self-surgery.
Source
Journal of Urology. 124(2):210, 1980 Aug.
#1, 3 and 4 are obviously not about abdominal surgery, but it hurts just
to read the title. I'll have to stop by the library today and read #2 to
see what it has...the timing is about right for the story I heard, as #2
was published during my college years.
--
Jim Hutchins hutc...@netdoor.com hutc...@umsmed.edu
http://fiona.umsmed.edu/~hutchins/
John M Price
stephen parker (ste...@lila.york.ac.uk) wrote:
Well, speaking of.......
==========
11. Walter G; Streimer J.
Genital self-mutilation: attempted foreskin reconstruction [see
comments].
British Journal of Psychiatry, 1990 Jan, 156:125-7.
(UI: 90123767)
Abstract: A non-psychotic adult attempted surgically to reconstruct a foreskin
for himself. The patient's membership of an organisation which lobbies
against circumcision was contributory.
==========
I actually saw the figure in this paper. It was a mess. I expect the
result would have been improved if he'd used an erector prism instead of
simply a mirror.
Ian A. York
In article <5194mm$m...@axe.netdoor.com>,
Jim Hutchins <hutc...@netdoor.com> wrote:
>
>Supposedly, the person involved had a variant of Munchhausen's Syndrome
>[1] which caused him to persist in the belief that he needed to remove his
>myself or otherwise, so I don't know how plausible the "liver retraction"
I've never done an appendectomy either, but I've done other intestinal
surgeries. I don't know why you'd need to retract the liver either.
However, aside from that detail, your version sounds quite plausible.
I'm not sure if I've found the case in Medline: there are three reports
of "munchausen's syndrome" with "appendectomy", but none has an abstract
and only one is in English, so I can't confirm that these refer to
self-appendectomies.
There is, however, a clear case mentioned:
Shapovalov AA.
Appendectomy performed by a physician on himself during a submarine
cruise]. [RUSSIAN] [Original Title: Ob appendektomii, proizvedennoi
vrachom samomu sebe v usloviiakh podvodnogo plavaniia.]
Voenno-Meditsinskii Zhurnal. 12:67-8, 1973
As someone mentioned, self-castration, while unusual in every sense of the
word, is not as uncommon as one might think. Medline has 15 papers with
the simple-minded search for "self-castration"; one article (Journal of
Urology. 124(2):208-9, 1980) solemnly explains that "Self-emasculation
and self-castration most often occur in individuals with known psychiatric
disease." Like, duh. This includes (Jason, take notice) one gentleman
who apparently thought this was a cure for baldness:
Gleeson MJ. Connolly J. Grainger R.
Self-castration as treatment for alopecia.
British Journal of Urology. 71(5):614-5, 1993
Ian
--
Ian York (iay...@panix.com) <http://www.panix.com/~iayork/>
"-but as he was a York, I am rather inclined to suppose him a
very respectable Man." -Jane Austen, The History of England
Cheryl L Perkins
I haven't seen the FOAF versions, but when I was a girl and buying books
through the school from Scholastic Book Services, one of them was a
biography of one of the pioneers of time-study as a method for increasing
efficiency. (Sorry, no ISBN, it was YEARS ago, and I no longer have the
book.) This man apparently wanted to increase the effieciency in
tonsillectomies, which of course, were very popular at the time. While
his children had the op done by a doctor, he wanted to take his out
himself, under local anesthetic. As I recall, he became very woozy before
the operation was completed.
Cheryl
--
Cheryl Perkins
cper...@calvin.stemnet.nf.ca
Malcolm Farmer
In article <323554...@sheffield.ac.uk>, "r.bal...@sheffield.ac.uk"
typed:
>
>I remember reading way back in a newspaper (you can hear the thundering
>of the UL lumbering towards you) that more than one person has operated
>successfully on themselves, at home, in semi-sterile conditions, under
>local anaesthetic to remove a kidney/appendix/etc.
>
>impossible because the stomach muscles, even under local, wouldn't be
>relaxed enough to get at everything.
>
>So I'm offering it to the floor for cites/more debunking...
>
>Richard "checked the FAQ..."
I remember seeing an item in a UK magazine years ago, ( 'Tit-Bits', ca.
1967) about a russian doctor in a mining camp or whatever, who had to take
his own appendix out, as no-one else in the camp was capable. He supposedly
did it using a local anaesthetic, with someone holding a mirror so he could
get a view. There was a rather blurry B&W photo purporting to be the doctor
doing this, but it only showed his head and shoulders. He did seem to have
an expression of extreme concentration on his face though...
Malcolm "at least it wasn't the Sunday Sport" Farmer
farm...@bham.ac.uk * Disclaimer: My cat told me to post this
Daan Sandee
Frank Gilbreth, in the ever-popular "Cheaper by the Dozen," written by two
of his children. Certainly from before the days of ISBNs.
However, he did not take out his own tonsils. The difference was that he
got local anesthesia, while his twelve children got general anesthesia.
He also hired a cameraman to record the proceedings (who got sick at
the sight of blood, and forgot to remove the lenscap.) I read it in my
grandparents' house, which puts it back to around 1962, but it's still
in print.
Frank Gilbreth died in 1924, and Frank jr, one of the authors, was born
in 1911, so eight of the other victims were born between those dates,
and the date of the tonsillectomy scene must be just before 1924.
Daan Sandee
Burlington, MA san...@think.com
Erin McKean
In article <519d1c$d...@coranto.ucs.mun.ca>,
Cheryl L Perkins <cper...@calvin.stemnet.nf.ca> wrote:
>I haven't seen the FOAF versions, but when I was a girl and buying books
>through the school from Scholastic Book Services, one of them was a
>biography of one of the pioneers of time-study as a method for increasing
>efficiency. (Sorry, no ISBN, it was YEARS ago, and I no longer have the
>book.) This man apparently wanted to increase the effieciency in
>tonsillectomies, which of course, were very popular at the time. While
>his children had the op done by a doctor, he wanted to take his out
>himself, under local anesthetic. As I recall, he became very woozy before
>the operation was completed.
>
>Cheryl
>
This book is "Cheaper By the Dozen" about the Galbraiths. (there's
a sequel, "Belles on Their Toes." They really did have 12
children. I think the story went that he didn't want to take
out his own tonsils, but watch the procedure (and film) it
to make it more efficient. He did get very green.
The "funny" part of the story is the doctor who did the
original diagnosis confused two of the older girls in
the family and said one had to have her tonsils out and
the other one didn't. Of course, the one who didn't
have to have her tonsils out behaved badly and ate
fresh donuts in front of all the others who were fasting
for the operation. Then the doctor came, figured out his
mistake, and made the donut-eater have the operation
anyway. She felt worse than anyone afterwards, of course.
I loved these books when I was little and read them each
many times. They were written by two of the older
children (Ernestine and Frank?). As far as I know,
they're still in print.
--Erin "first time posting in afu, but darn it, I know I'm right" McKean
em...@midway.uchicago.edu
Bo Bradham
>|> through the school from Scholastic Book Services, one of them was a
>|> biography of one of the pioneers of time-study as a method for increasing
>|> efficiency. (Sorry, no ISBN, it was YEARS ago, and I no longer have the
>|> book.) This man apparently wanted to increase the effieciency in
>|> tonsillectomies, which of course, were very popular at the time.
>
>of his children. Certainly from before the days of ISBNs.
I read that when I was a kid, but don't remember the
tonsillectomy scene. Here is the lowdown on the book:
Gilbreth, Frank B. (Frank Bunker), 1911-
Carey, Ernestine Gilbreth joint author.
Cheaper by the dozen
New York, T. Y. Crowell [1948]
Frank Jr. was a columnist for the Charleston, SC "News and
Courier," using the pseudonym Ashley Cooper (Charleston is
where the Ashley and Cooper rivers meet to form the Atlantic
Ocean). The column was one of those "goings on about town"
things, and people were always sending him preposterous stories.
I read my first UL in that column, so excuse me for getting a
little misty.
Of course, at the time I did not know it was a UL.
Bo "I was 11, give me a break" Bradham
John Varela
In <519d1c$d...@coranto.ucs.mun.ca>, cper...@calvin.stemnet.nf.ca (Cheryl L Perkins) writes:
>I haven't seen the FOAF versions, but when I was a girl and buying books
>through the school from Scholastic Book Services, one of them was a
>biography of one of the pioneers of time-study as a method for increasing
>efficiency. (Sorry, no ISBN, it was YEARS ago, and I no longer have the
>book.) This man apparently wanted to increase the effieciency in
>his children had the op done by a doctor, he wanted to take his out
>himself, under local anesthetic. As I recall, he became very woozy before
>the operation was completed.
Sounds like an episode in _Cheaper by the Dozen_, written by one of the children
of the Gilbreths, married efficiency experts and developers of time-and-motion
studies early in this century. It was a best selling book and made into a movie
in the '40s. Legend has it that the unit of motion used by time-and-motion
people is called the "therblig", Gilbreth spelled backwards. I wouldn't know,
having appeared on an assembly line with stopwatch and clipboard in hand only a
couple or times.
--------------------------------------------
----- John Varela j...@os2bbs.com -----
--------------------------------------------
Mike Holmans
bra...@panix.com (Bo Bradham) treated us to:
>Daan Sandee <san...@Think.COM> wrote:
>>cper...@calvin.stemnet.nf.ca (Cheryl L Perkins) writes:
> and lots of others did too:
And I'm so glad that no-one has yet thought of bringing up the Monty
Python guide as to how to take your appendix out on the Piccadilly
Line.
Oh. Er. Um...............dohhh!
Mike "incision at Earl's Court, sew up at King's Cross" Holmans
sig snores happily in the corner, unaware of what has just been
perpetrated
Lois Patterson
I believe the early church father Origen removed his testicles, following
the verse that goes (approx.), "If thy eye offends thee, pluck it out",
and applying it to other anatomical areas.
Origen's life span was 185 - 254.
Lois Patterson
http://www.greatstar.com/lois
C. Ramko
On Thu, 12 Sep 1996, Erin McKean wrote:
> The "funny" part of the story is the doctor who did the
> original diagnosis confused two of the older girls in
> the family and said one had to have her tonsils out and
> the other one didn't. Of course, the one who didn't
> have to have her tonsils out behaved badly and ate
> fresh donuts in front of all the others who were fasting
> for the operation. Then the doctor came, figured out his
> mistake, and made the donut-eater have the operation
> anyway. She felt worse than anyone afterwards, of course.
Funny or not, this sounds very UL-ish in itself. A person is fasted prior
to surgery not simply for the sake of avoiding a tummy ache but to avoid
aspiration, vomiting into one's own lungs, which can be fatal without an
adequate anesthesia team present. it would be *extremely* unethical for a
surgeon to perform a non-emergent surgury on a patient with a full
stomach.
Melanie "whar aahr aahll dees toobs en mah mouf for?" Ramko
Tara Rabumdier
Dave Blake <da...@zevon.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>Wasn't there a case in France(?) a few years ago involving a surgeon
>performing his own DIY sex-change?
>--
Happens all the time.
In France.
-Tara Rabumdier
Tara Rabumdier
iay...@panix.com (Ian A. York) wrote:
. . . [alphabectomy performed with a sharpened clamshell]. . .
>There is, however, a clear case mentioned:
> Shapovalov AA.
> Appendectomy performed by a physician on himself during a submarine
> cruise]. [RUSSIAN] [Original Title: Ob appendektomii, proizvedennoi
>vrachom samomu sebe v usloviiakh podvodnogo plavaniia.]
> Voenno-Meditsinskii Zhurnal. 12:67-8, 1973
>Ian
>--
This isn't exactly a respected medical journal, but quoting and
paraphrasing from Forbes FYI (annual magazine for suscribers -dammit,
no date-I think end of 1995 issue), pp 95-96:
5 Pretty Amazing (and we do mean amazing) Operations
by Sherwin B. Nuland (Clinical Professor of Surgery, Yale Med School)
Dr. Nuland reviews five instances of self-experimentation in a
humorous little article:
1. Reviews case of Wm. Halsted, who later became the first Professor
of Surgery at Johns Hopkins. In 1880s he and colleagues
self-administered cocaine, discovered local anesthesia, became
addicted. [Similar experiments have been repeated many times to
date]
2. 18th century Scottish surgeon John Hunter self experimented with
venereal disease in attempt to prove gonnorhea and syphilis were one
disease. In May, 1767, he dipped a sharp blade into a sailor's
gonnorheal discharge and inoculated his own foreskin. Unbeknownst to
him, sailor had both diseases. When he developed both diseases, he
declared his success. [End of Dr. Hunter's contribution to medicine.]
3. Stubbins Ffirth, a medical student a Univ. of Pennsylvania, set out
in 1802 to prove yellow fever could not be transmitted from person to
person. He smeared the vomit of a desperately ill patient into a cut
on his arm and later repeated this experiment some 20 times. [Dr.
Nuland notes that such vomit contains partially digested blood, giving
it a black color and a particularly disgusting stench. Thank you for
sharing.]. He later poured it into his eye on several occasions, and
even drank some. He never got sick-[mosquito bite transmission only].
4. Shortly after receiving his medical degree @ Univ. of Berlin in
1929, Werner Forssmann dreamed up the idea of passing a catheter into
the human heart. One day at lunch, he novocained his arm, cut down to
the vein, and inserted a 25" kidney catheter. When it reached his
shoulder, he walked down stairs to the basement x-ray dept, and had
the fluoroscope tech light him up to guide it into his own heart.
When his chief heard about it, he urged him to write it up for
publication, but warned him to claim it was done on a cadaver. Two
New York surgeons read the paper, perfected the technique, and shared
the 1956 Nobel Prize in medicine with Forssmann.
5. In the late 1890s,, Nicholas Senn, professor of surgery @ Rush
Medical College, Chicago, came up with the idea that the then-new
x-ray would take better intestinal images if the bowel was distended.
He greased up a tube, shoved it to hamster heaven, and confirmed,
among other things,, that the human bowel has a capacity of 5 Imperial
gallons of helium gas. Dr. Nuland reports another Dr. Senn/ intestinal
anecdote: upon hearing a post-intestinal surgery patient pass gas for
the first time, Dr. Senn would turn to his assembled students and
proclaim: "Qui crepitat vivat!" [who farts, lives]. I suspect that a
few readers who have gotten this far may find this quote as useful as
I have in diverse social situations. The author then adds:
"...Surgeons seem unable to witness any wonder of nature without
taking credit for it." Perhaps an eminent surgeon/poster can confirm
or refute this statement [Preliminary rating: Believed to be true].
Finally, Dr. Neland gets around to the subject of this thread with a
brief mention of Dr. Evan O'Neill Kane of Kane, Pennsylvania, who,
pleased with the results of his amputation of his injured finger in
1919, went on to do an appendectomy on himself two years later.
Later, at age 70, he repaired his own hernia.
Note added in proof: I certainly hope that anyone interested in
self-surgery has seen the nifty article on self trepanation at
www.eskimo.com/~billb/hole.html. This is a basic how-to on how to
bore holes in your skull to achieve a higher state of consciousness.
Er...let me know how it comes out.
Respectfully submitted,
Tara Rabumdier
Susan C. Mitchell
Daan Sandee (san...@Think.COM) wrote:
: In article <519d1c$d...@coranto.ucs.mun.ca>, cper...@calvin.stemnet.nf.ca (Cheryl L Perkins) writes:
: |> I haven't seen the FOAF versions, but when I was a girl and buying books
: |> biography of one of the pioneers of time-study as a method for increasing
: |> efficiency. (Sorry, no ISBN, it was YEARS ago, and I no longer have the
: |> book.) This man apparently wanted to increase the effieciency in
: |> tonsillectomies, which of course, were very popular at the time. While
: |> his children had the op done by a doctor, he wanted to take his out
: |> himself, under local anesthetic. As I recall, he became very woozy before
: |> the operation was completed.
: |> Cheryl
: Frank Gilbreth, in the ever-popular "Cheaper by the Dozen," written by two
: of his children. Certainly from before the days of ISBNs.
: However, he did not take out his own tonsils. The difference was that he
: got local anesthesia, while his twelve children got general anesthesia.
: He also hired a cameraman to record the proceedings (who got sick at
: the sight of blood, and forgot to remove the lenscap.) I read it in my
: grandparents' house, which puts it back to around 1962, but it's still
: in print.
IIRC, he was determined to show his kids that they were just copping out
by complaining of their postoperative sore throats, that a tonsillectomy
was really nothing at all to get so upset about. (This is the sort of
man who, after buying a new car, thought it funny to get a small child
looking under the hood -- "Look down there in the engine, bend down and
look real close!" -- then sneak over and blow the horn. One of those
old-fashioned loud gaah-OOOOOOOO-gaah! car horns. Then when the
terrified trembling child extricated itself from the engine compartment
and turned around, he'd say, laughing loudly all the while, "Did you see
the birdie? I'll bet you jumped six and nine-tenths inches!")
Anyway. My recollection of the incident is that after the first tonsil
was removed, Gilbreth got up from the operating table and came in to
confront his kids, triumphantly waving the forceps with the tonsil
clamped between them, claiming that its removal had been "painless."
After the *second* tonsil came out, he got up again, a little less
enthusiastically this time, and came to show the kids the other tonsil,
saying in a slightly muffled tone that it had been "almost painless" ...
and just about then he landed on the floor.
Think globally, act locally.
Susan C. "I wanted a general for getting my ears pierced" Mitchell
--
=========== Susan C. Mitchell =========== sus...@xroads.com ===========
"Gadfly is what they call you when you are no longer | Seditious libel
dangerous. I much prefer troublemaker, malcontent, | for fun and
desperado." -- Harlan Ellison | profit
Kim Pugh
Iread once about a surgeon who removed his own appendix. I cannot, alas,
remember the title; it was a history of surgical techniques.
It was done in a normal operating theater, with nurses, etc. as usual. A
mirror was placed so he could see. A local anwsthetic was used.
It seems that he felt he was best qualified for the job, and refused to
let a colleague perform the procedure.
If you'd known as many surgeons as I have, you'd be less skeptical than
you probably are.
--
Kim Pugh | DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed are *strictly*
-----------------+ those of the last person I talked to.
k...@telepath.com | *Telepath.com info: 405-755-1990. Login as guest*
http://www.telepath.com/kim/ | ftp://ftp.telepath.com/pub/people/kim
Judy Johnson
My contribution to this decidedly icky thread is the following
abstract, which I retrieved whilst doing my very own Medline search on
(what else?) maggots.
[begin abstract]
[A report of self-amputation of the penis with subsequent complication
of myiasis] Tomita M; Uchijima Y; Okada K; Yamaguchi N
Hinyokika Kiyo, 30: 9, 1984 Sep, 1293-6
Abstract:
A 38-year-old male was admitted to our emergency ward on Oct. 27,
1982, because of severe pain at his penoscrotum. Upon physical finding
on admission, his penis was found to have been completely amputated 2
cm distally near the root with a razor by himself to commit suicide a
few days before admission. On the affected part were much coagulated
blood mass and slough and moreover there were 50 maggots about 5 mm
long swarming and wrigling, but no bleeding yet and little sign of
inflammation. After exclusion of these maggots and cleaning the
slashed surface, cutaneous urethrostomy was performed.
Postoperative course was favorable but we could not prevent the
patient from leaping to his death 45 days after the operation.
Self-amputation of the penis with subsequent complication of myiasis
is a very rare condition. Since the report of self-amputation of the
penis by Matsushita in 1937, this case is the 16 th in Japan. In most
cases the patients had mental disorder. In this case the patient was
schizoid. On the other hand, 133 cases of myiasis were reported in
Japan from 1903 to 1983. In the present case the species that
caused myiasis was Lucilia ampullacea. A very rare case of
self-amputation of the penis with subsequent complication of myiasis
is documented with a review of the literature on this subject.
[end abstract]
Mental illness, male organs, suicide and maggots. What more could you
ask for?
Judy "calling Dr. Bobbit" Johnson
Douglas Hitzig
Ian A. York <iay...@panix.com> wrote in article
the
> word, is not as uncommon as one might think. Medline has 15 papers with
> the simple-minded search for "self-castration"; one article (Journal of
> Urology. 124(2):208-9, 1980) solemnly explains that "Self-emasculation
> and self-castration most often occur in individuals with known
psychiatric
> disease." Like, duh. This includes (Jason, take notice) one gentleman
> who apparently thought this was a cure for baldness:
>
> Gleeson MJ. Connolly J. Grainger R.
> Self-castration as treatment for alopecia.
> British Journal of Urology. 71(5):614-5, 1993
>
> Ian
> --
--
--Douglas Hitzig, KD4WTS, sunny Cocoa Beach, Fla. O-
Shannon Spires
Sometime within the last 5 years, there was a story
in the papers here about a woman who had breast implants
and, thinking they were making her sick (this was at the
time the breast implant scare was in full flower), she
wanted them removed. But she didn't have enough money
to have them removed and couldn't find a doctor to do
it for free. So she attempted to remove them herself.
She didn't get very far before passing out, as I recall.
They took her to the hospital, performed a psych
evaluation, etc.
Sorry I don't have the cite, but it should be pretty
easy to look up. Her photograph ran with the article,
which was in the Albuquerque Journal as well as
other papers.
----
Shannon "but I don't know if she still has 'em" Spires
Barbara Mikkelson
And then there was Dr. Norman Bethune who performed pneumothorax on
himself whenever required. (Not that I'm any kind of expert on this
stuff or that one of the various doctor types lurking around here won't
give a much better explanation of the procedure, but I believe it means
collapsing a lung by puncturing it so that the lung can rest.)
Barbara "stab in the dark" Mikkelson
--
Barbara Mikkelson | There will be a special place in UL hell for
bha...@fas.harvard.edu | Paul Harvey. - Bob Church
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
View a random urban legend --> http://www.best.com/~snopes/randomul.cgi
john boy
Most of the surgeons that I know, and I know a lot of them, usually stick
to minor self surgery, (rather than major self surgery), like ego
transplants.
C. Ramko
<really gross abstract snipped>
Gee, Judy, thanks. That was thouroughly disgusting.
Melanie "and I thought I had the strong stomach" Ramko
John M Price
Barbara Mikkelson (bha...@fas.harvard.edu) wrote:
: And then there was Dr. Norman Bethune who performed pneumothorax on
: himself whenever required. (Not that I'm any kind of expert on this
: stuff or that one of the various doctor types lurking around here won't
: give a much better explanation of the procedure, but I believe it means
: collapsing a lung by puncturing it so that the lung can rest.)
From my recollection, from a friend with a (one time) collapsed lung, you
don't puncture the lung, but the area around it, allowing atmospheric
pressure collapse it. Similarly, as with my friend, a needle was
inserted, and a suction applied to reinflate it.
Still, it's a lot less messy than a bowel rest.
: Barbara "stab in the dark" Mikkelson
: --
: Barbara Mikkelson | There will be a special place in UL hell for
: bha...@fas.harvard.edu | Paul Harvey. - Bob Church
: -----------------------------------------------------------------------
: View a random urban legend --> http://www.best.com/~snopes/randomul.cgi
:
Tara Rabumdier
jjoh...@asrr.arsusda.gov (Judy Johnson) wrote:
>My contribution to this decidedly icky thread is the following
>abstract,
. . . . . [ some length crudely removed]. . . .
>[A report of self-amputation of the penis with subsequent complication
>of myiasis] Tomita M; Uchijima Y; Okada K; Yamaguchi N
>Hinyokika Kiyo, 30: 9, 1984 Sep, 1293-6
. . . . .
> A 38-year-old male. . .>. . .severe pain. . .>with a razor by himself . . .
> the affected part . . . > 50 maggots. . swarming and wrigling. . . we could
> not prevent the >patient from leaping to his death 45 days after the operation.
>Judy "calling Dr. Bobbit" Johnson
YIKES! Nippon the pud!
Richard Brandt
So you took it out to have a look at it and changed your mind?
Richard "and then he discovered that while he was passed out he
had taken out his own kidney!" Brandt
--
http://rgfn.epcc.edu/users/af541/virtual.htm
"Torture! Torture! It pleases me!"
Criswell, in Ed Wood's ORGY OF THE DEAD (1966)
Jim Hutchins
Jim Hutchins (hutc...@netdoor.com) wrote:
: The version I heard is very believable, in an FOAF sort of way...I think I
[story snipped]
Well, I finally got to the library and copied the following article from
the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), which I quote
here.
I'm quite proud of how well I remembered the story, although I missed a
critical detail about the target organ (adrenal, not appendix) I
remembered the liver retraction and mirrors part. The following is
heavily edited, but other than the comments _inter alia_, I make no
further comments on the text.
This is not for the squeamish. Stop here if you get upset easily. You
have been warned.
"Genital and Abdominal Self-Surgery: A Case Report"
Ned H. Kalin, MD
JAMA 241:2188-2189, 1979.
[edited by JBH]
...A 22-year-old man came to the emergency room stating that during the
previous eight hours he had been operating on himself, attempting to
denervate his adrenal glands. After handing the intern a detailed sheet
of self-written instructions for 'deep abdominal wound repair', he
explained that he had been unable to complete the procedure. He had
become extremely tired and was experiencing more pain than anticipated in
retracting his liver; therefore, he came to the emergency room for wound
closure and postoperative care. On examination his vital signs were
stable, and he appeared in no acute distress. A 14-cm incision, from his
xiphoid process [the soft part of the sternum, just below the ribcage at
the midline] to and around his umbilicus [belly button] and extending
through the peritoneum into the abdominal cavity, was apparent after
removal of his abdominal bandages.
The patient was taken to the operating room, where exploration of
his abdominal cavity was performed.
[The article goes on to describe, with obvious awe, how nice and clean a
job the young man had done.]
[For some reason, they decided this young man was in dire need of a
psychological evaluation. Upon interviewing him, he shared the details of
his procedure.]
At four o'clock on the morning of his surgery, he disinfected his
dormitory room [!] with spray disinfectant and alcohol and draped an area
with sheets that he had previously sterilized. For anesthesia, he took
oral barbiturates. He also took hydrocortisone and prepared a canister of
vaporized adrenalin, readying himself for a possible shock syndrome. He
performed the procedure wearing sterile gloves and a surgical mask.
Laying supine [on his back] and looking into strategically placed
mirrors to obtain an optimum view, he began by cleansing his abdomen with
alcohol. The incision was made with a scalpel, exposure obtain by
retractors, and the dissection carried out with surgical instruments.
Lidocaine hydrochloride [a local anesthetic] was injected into each
successive tissue layer during the opening. He controlled hemostasis with
locally applied gelatin powder, while sterilized cotton thread ligatures
were used for the larger vessels. After eight hours he had minimal blood
loss but was unable to obtain adequate exposure to enter the
retroperitoneal space [the body cavity behind the intestines] because of
the unexpected pain in retracting his liver. Exhausted, he bandaged his
wound, cleaned up his room [!!], and called the police for transport to
the hospital because of a 'rupture'.
[A long, detailed history ensues, with descriptions of his previous
surgery, an orchidectomy--removal of his own testicles.]
[His mental state and obvious psychosis are described.]
This patient's self-taught understanding of medical concepts is
impressive, not to mention his applications of this knowledge...
considering that he had never before seen an operation performed, the
amount of preparation and necessary surgical skill used in his surgery
seems profound.
[Two cites for testicular self-surgery are given: Can Psychiatr Assoc J
16:399, 1971; J Sex Res 12:283, 1976.]
...I have been unable to locate any accounts of abdominal self-surgery in
the literature.
[Implications of this case for our society follow.]
[The saddest note...]
There is a tragic paradox in this patient's dilemma. He has
mastered the concepts and techniques of medicines in an attempt to cure
himself, when in reality, we have little to offer him that would result in
effective treatment.
[Failed attempts at psychoactive medicines and psychotherapy to help
alleviate this man's suffering follow.]
=====
Babar29377
Pneumothorax refers to the presense of air in the chest cavity, outside of
the lung which can put presure on one of the lungs and cause it to
collapse. There are are procedures for correcting this, but I'm not quite
sure what you might be refering to.
"only 1st year med" Babar
Chris
In article <51fbq9$7...@news.ime.net>, john boy <jo...@ime.net> wrote:
>Kim Pugh <k...@telepath.com> wrote:
>>Iread once about a surgeon who removed his own appendix. I cannot, alas,
>>remember the title; it was a history of surgical techniques.
>>
And I hope everyone remembers the story of the guy who performed his own
trepan operation (cuttin' a hole in the head) using a tab of LSD to keep the
nerves steady...I think his girlfriend did the same but video'd it too - used
to be a real crowd puller when they showed it.
Chris.
Tb01
At the risk of incurring the wrath of skepticism, I've got a friend (a
surgeon by profession) who performed his own vasectomy (whilst in the
AirForce quite a few years ago), assisted only by a corpsman, who held the
mirror.
I still cringe at the thought....
tom brown
Paul Fournier
Ian A. York <iay...@panix.com> wrote in article <5199g6$4...@panix.com>...
> In article <5194mm$m...@axe.netdoor.com>,
> Jim Hutchins <hutc...@netdoor.com> wrote:
> As someone mentioned, self-castration, while unusual in every sense of
the
> word, is not as uncommon as one might think. Medline has 15 papers with
> the simple-minded search for "self-castration"; one article (Journal of
> Urology. 124(2):208-9, 1980) solemnly explains that "Self-emasculation
> and self-castration most often occur in individuals with known
psychiatric
> disease." Like, duh. This includes (Jason, take notice) one gentleman
> who apparently thought this was a cure for baldness:
> Ian
> --
> Ian York (iay...@panix.com) <http://www.panix.com/~iayork/>
There was the case of Origen, a brilliant man, who found his sexual urges
got in the way of his thinking, so he ah, 'undid' himself. He is a Doctor
of the Church - that's how intellectually bright he was.
This disqualified him from taking holy orders, yet he managed to gull a
bishop into ordaining him anyway. There was a perfectly awful man, a
bishop, who chased him all around the Mediterranean, warning people against
him. Oddly enough, the bishop was right and Origen was wrong, but Origen
nevertheless had a major influence on the Catholic Church at that time.
I recall hearing about this for the first time when I was sixteen, and
doubled over in apprehension... later I learned to think about Origen
standing up.
Paul
John Sheahan
In article <01bba762$603a7ce0$e43970cf@satwetv>,
Paul Fournier <pa...@storm.ca> wrote:
>
>There was the case of Origen, a brilliant man, who found his sexual urges
>got in the way of his thinking, so he ah, 'undid' himself. He is a Doctor
>of the Church - that's how intellectually bright he was.
I'm wondering if this isn't actually a Church-history UL (Origen's
motivations, that is-- not the act). I mention this because in my six
years of school-mandated religion courses many eons ago, I recall hearing
at least three very different versions of this. These are:
(1) Origen is trying to meditate about God, keeps on thinking about sex
instead, and so grabs some scissors;
(2) Origen is reading his New Testament, comes across a phrase about
"eunuchs in Christ," and decides to take it as a command;
(3) Origen decides to extend his ministry to women, and attracts a number
of female converts and students. When them evil pagans start spreading
nasty rumors about this, Origen publicly castrates himself so as to be
able to teach without suspicion.
So-- are there any church historians out there who know which
of these is right?
>This
disqualified him from taking holy orders, yet he managed to gull
a >bishop into ordaining him anyway. There was a perfectly awful man, a
>bishop, who chased him all around the Mediterranean, warning people against
>him. Oddly enough, the bishop was right and Origen was wrong, but Origen
>nevertheless had a major influence on the Catholic Church at that time.
>I recall hearing about this for the first time when I was sixteen, and
>doubled over in apprehension... later I learned to think about Origen
>standing up.
>Paul
John
--
Bruce Tindall
John Sheahan <jshe...@midway.uchicago.edu> wrote:
>I'm wondering if this isn't actually a Church-history UL (Origen's
>motivations, that is-- not the act).
The act itself (Origen's self-castration) needs to be taken
with a big grain of salt, according to the occasionally-reliable
_Encyclopaedia Brittanica_: "The ecclesiastical historian Eusebius
of Caesarea...alleged that Origen, as a young man, castrated
himself so as to work freely in instructing female catechumens;
but this was not the only story told by the malicious about his
extraordinary chastity, and thus it may merely have been hostile
gossip. Eusebius's account of Origen's life, moreover, bears
the embellishments of legends of saints and needs to be treated
with this in mind."
B "sans teeth, sans embellishments, sans everything" T
--
Bruce Tindall tin...@panix.com Apex, N.C.
The alt.folklore.urban FAQ and archive are located at
http://www.urbanlegends.com or ftp://ftp.urbanlegends.com .
Len Berlind
>B "sans teeth, sans embellishments, sans everything" T
Sansabelt?
Bruce Tindall
Len Berlind <lber...@panix.com> wrote:
>>B "sans teeth, sans embellishments, sans everything" T
>
>Sansabelt?
You mpslled "Canadarm."
B "You st00pid Merkin" T
Edward Rice
In article <51q6bb$n...@hercules.its.csiro.au>,
ch...@die.spambot.die (Chris) wrote:
> And I hope everyone remembers the story of the guy who performed his own
> trepan operation (cuttin' a hole in the head) using a tab of LSD to keep
the
> nerves steady...I think his girlfriend did the same but video'd it too -
used
> to be a real crowd puller when they showed it.
You had to bring that one up, didn't you?
A story about self-trepanation from
_Eccentric Lives & Peculiar Notions_
by John Michell.
THE PEOPLE WITH HOLES IN THEIR HEADS
Amanda Feilding lives in a charming flat looking over
London's river with her companion, Joey Mellen, and their infant
son, Rock. She is a successful painter, and she and Joey have
an art gallery in a fashionable street of the King's Road.
Another of her talents is for politics. At the last two General
Elections she stood for Parliament in Chelsea, more than
doubling her vote on the second occasion from 49 to 139. It
does not sound much, but the cause for which she stands is
unfamiliar and lacks obvious appeal. Feilding and her voters
demand that trepanning operations be made freely available on
the National Health. Trepanation means cutting a hole in your
skull.
The founder of the trepanation movement is a Dutch savant,
Dr Bart Hughes. In 1962 he made a discovery which his followers
proclaim as the most significant in modern times. One's state
and degree of consciousness, he realized, are related to the
volume of blood in the brain. According to his theory of
evolution, the adoption of an upright stance brought certain
benefits to the human race, but it caused the flow of blood
through the head to be limited by gravity, thus reducing the
range of human consciousness. Certain parts of the brain ceased
or reduced their functions while others, particularly those
parts relating to speech and reasoning, became emphasized in
compensation. One can redress the balance by a number of
methods, such as standing on one's head, jumping from a hot bath
into a cold one, or the use of drugs; but the wider
consciousness thus obtained is only temporary. Bart Hughes
shared the common goal of mystics and poets in all ages: he
wanted to achieve permanently the higher level of vision, which
he associated with an increased volume of blood in the
capillaries of the brain.
The higher state of mind he sought was that of childhood.
Babies are born with skulls unsealed, and it is not until one is
an adult that the bony carapace is formed which completely
encloses the membranes surrounding the brain and inhibits their
pulsations in repsonse to heart-beats. In consequence, the
adult loses touch with the dreams, imagination and intense
perceptions of the child. His mental balance becomes upset by
egoism and neuroses. To cure these problems, first in himself
and then for the whole world, Dr Huges returned his cranium to
something like the condition of infancy by cutting out a small
disc of bone with an electric drill. Experiencing immediate
beneficial effects from this operation, he began preaching to
anyone who would listen to the doctrine of trepanation. By
liberating his brain from its total imprisonment in his skull,
he claimed to have restored its pulsations, increased the volume
of blood in it and acquired a more complete, satisfying state of
consciousness than grown-up people normally enjoy. The medical
and legal authorities reacted to Huges's discovery with horror
and rewarded him with a spell in a Dutch lunatic asylum.
Joseph Mellen met Bart Huges in 1965 in Ibiza and quickly
became his leading, or rather one and only, disciple. Years
later he wrote a book called _Bore Hole_, the contents of which
are summarized in its opening sentence: 'This is the story of
how I came to drill a hole in my skull to get permanently high.'
. . . (a few paragraphs detail Joseph Mellen's early
experiments with LSD, and how he finds out about Bart Huges.)
The time came when Joey felt he had preached enough and that
he now had to act. He did not agree with Holingshead that the
third eye was merely a figure of speech, believing in its
physical attainment through self-trepanation. Support for this
can be found in archaeology. Skulls of ancient people all over
the world give evidence that their owners were skillfully
trepanned during their lifetimes, and many of these appear to
have been of noble or priestly castes. The medical practice of
trepanation was continued up to the present century in treatment
of madness, the hole in the skull being seen as a way of
relieving pressure on the brain or letting out the devils that
possessed it. By his scientific explanation of the reasons for
the operation, Bart Huges had removed it from the area of
superstition, and Joey Mellen proposed to be the second person
to perform it on himself in the interest of enlightenment.
Bart had become a close friend of Amanda Feilding, and they
went off to Amsterdam together while Joey took care of Amanda's
flat. This was the opportunity he had been waiting for to bore
a hole in his head.
The most gripping passages in _Bore Hole_ describe his
various attempts to complete the operation. They are also
extremely gruesome, and those who lack medical curiosity would
do well to read no further. Yet to those who might contemplate
trepanation for and by themselves, Joey's experiences are a
salutary warning. It should be empahasized that neither he,
Bart nor Amanda has ever recommended people to follow their
example by performing their own operations. For years they have
been looking for doctors who would understand their theories and
would agree to trepan volunteer patients as a form of therapy.
Strangely enough, not one member of the medical profession has
been converted.
In a surgical store Joey found a trepan instrument, a kind
of auger or cork- screw designed to be worked by hand. It was
much cheaper and, Joey felt, more sensitive than an electric
drill. Its main feature was a metal spike, surrounded by a ring
of saw-teeth. The spike was meant to be driven into the skull,
holding the trepan steady until the revolving saw made a groove,
after which it could be retracted. If all went well, the
saw-band should remove a disc of bone and expose the brain.
Joey's first attempt at self-trepanation was a fiasco. He
had no previous medical experience, and the needles he had
bought for administering a local anaesthetic to the crown of his
head proved to be too thin and crumpled up or broke. Next day
he obtained some stouter needles, took a tab of LSD to steady
his nerves and set to in earnest. First he made an incision to
the bone, and then applied the trepan to his bared skull. But
the first part of the operation, driving the spike into the
bone, was impossible to accomplish. Joey described it as like
trying to uncork a bottle from the inside. He realized he
needed help and telephoned Bart in Amsterdam, who promised he
would come over and assist at the next operation. This plan was
frustrated by the Home Office, which listed Dr Huges as an
undesirable visitor to Britain and barred his entry.
Amanda agreed to take his place. Soon after her return to
London she helped Joey re-open the wound in his head and, by
pressing the trepan with all her might against his skull,
managed to get the spike to take hold and the saw- teeth to
bite. Joey then took over at cranking the saw. Once again he
had swallowed some LSD. After a long period of sawing, just as
he was about to break through, he suddenly fainted. Amanda
called an ambulance and he was taken to hospital, where
horrified doctors told him that he was lucky to be alive and
that if he had drilled a fraction of an inch further he would
have killed himself.
The psychiatrists took a particular interest in his case,
and a group of them arranged to examine him. Before this could
be done, he had to appear in court on a charge of possessing a
small amount of cannabis. The magistrate demanded another
psychiatrist's report and demanded him for a week in prison.
There followed a period of embarrassment as the rumour went
round London that Joey Mellen had trepanned himself, whereas in
fact he had failed to do so. As soon as possible, therefore, he
prepared for a third attempt. Proceeding as before, but now
with the benefit of experience, he soon found the groove from
the previous operation and began to saw through the sliver of
bone separating him from enlightenment or, as the doctors had
predicted, instant death. What followed is best quoted from
_Bore Hole_.
'After some time there was an ominous sounding schlurp and
the sound of bubbling. I drew the trepan out and the gurgling
continued. It sounded like air bubbles running under the skull
as they were pressed out. I looked at the trepan and there was
a bit of bone in it. At last! On closer inspection I saw that
the disc of bone was much deeper on one side than on the other.
Obviously the trepan had not been straight and had gone through
at one point only, then the piece of bone had snapped off and
come out. I was reluctant to start drilling again for fear of
damaging the brain membranes with the deeper part while I was
cutting through the rest or of breaking off a splinter. If only
I had an electric drill it would have been so much simpler.
Amanda was sure I was through. There seemed no other
explanation for the schlurping noises. I decided to call it a
day. At the time I thought that any hole would do, no matter
what size. I bandaged up my head and cleared away the mess.'
There was still doubt in his mind as to whether he had
really broken through and, if so, whether the hole was big
enough to restore pulsation to his brain. The operation had left
him with a feeling of wellbeing, but he realized that it could
simply be from relief at having ended it. To put the matter
beyond doubt, he decided to bore another hole at a new spot just
above the hairline, this time using an electric drill. In the
spring of 1970, Amanda was in America and Joey did the operation
alone. He applied the drill to his forehead, but after half and
hour's work the electric cable burnt out. Once again he was
frustrated. An engineer in the flat below him was able to
repair the instrument and next day he set out to finish the job.
'This time I was not in any doubt. The drill head went at least
an inch deep through the hole. A great gush of blood followed
my withdrawal of the drill. In the mirror I could see the blood
in the hole rising and falling with the pulsation of the brain.'
The result was all he had hoped for. During the next four
hours he felt his spirits rising higher until he reached a state
of freedom and serenity which he claims, has been with him ever
since.
For some time now he had been sharing a flat with Amanda,
and when she came back from America she immediately noticed the
change in him. This encouraged her to join him on the mental
plane by doing her own trepanation. The operation was carefully
recorded. She had obtained a cine-camera, and Joey stood by,
filming, as she attacked her head with an electric drill. The
film shows her carefully at work, dressed in a blood-spattered
white robe. She shaves her head, makes an incision in her head
with a scalpel and calmly starts drilling. Blood spurts as she
penetrates the skull. She lays aside the drill and with a
triumphant smile advances towards Joey and the camera.
Ever since, Joey and amanda have lived and worked together
in harmony. From the business of buying old prints to colour and
resell, they have progressed to ownership of the Pigeonhole
Gallery and seem reasonably prosperous. They have also started
a family. There is nothing apparently abnormal about them, and
many of their old friends agree in finding them even more
pleasant and contented since their operations. There is plenty
of leisure in their lives, mingled with the kind of activities
they most enjoy. These of course include talking and writing
about trepanation. They have lectured widely in Europe and
America to groups of doctors and other interested people,
showing the film of Amanda's self-operation, entitled _Heartbeat
in the Brain_. It is generally received with awe, the sight of
blood often causing people to faint. At one showing in London a
film critic described the audience 'dropping off their seats one
by one like ripe plums'. Yet it was not designed to be
gruesome. The soundtrack is of soothing music, and the surgical
scenes alternate with some delightful motion studies of Amanda's
pet pigeon, Birdie, as a symbol of peace and wisdom."
Lael Tucker
On Sat, 14 Sep 1996, Kim Pugh wrote:
> Iread once about a surgeon who removed his own appendix. I cannot, alas,
> remember the title; it was a history of surgical techniques.
Interesting, since I heard a story much like this when I visited a museum
in Telluride Colorado several years ago. Seems the museum used to be a
hospital "way back when", and a doctor came in with appendicitis.
Apparently no other doctors where available (hey, it could happen....it
was a rural hospital) and with the help of a nurse, some mirrors, and
either local anesthetic or booze (can't recall which, but certainly one
wouldn't try to operate while drunk) he chopped out his own appendix. So
the next time someone is in Telluride, please verify this one :-)
hello_mum
When I worked at the London Hospital, Whitechapel, I was told that the
doctor responsible for most of the bone marrow testing had performed a
bone-marrow aspiration on his own breastbone (using a mirror) in order
to prove to himself that he wasn't hurting the patients (usually young
kids) in his clinics.
And I do believe that one. Details on request, as per.
Anne Marsden
John Santry
In article <523qqc$e...@panix2.panix.com>,
lber...@panix.com (Len Berlind) wrote:
>>B "sans teeth, sans embellishments, sans everything" T
>
>Sansabelt?
>
I heard Origen castrated himself for religious reasons.
John "If thine eye offend thee, pluck it out" Santry
Susan Carroll-Clark
Greetings!
Since this popped up (no pun intended) on AFU, I've been trying to track
down an account of Origen's castration. None of the sources on church history
I have on hand go into it (they're more interested in his theology), neither
does Eusebius' _Church History_, which I have on my shelf in the Penguin
translation. I do know Eusebius wrote a _vita_ of Origen, who he apparently
admired greatly, but I have not yet made it down to the library to look
it up. I do seem to recall from my Church History course those many years
ago that he did it as a way to remove sexual desire and to move on to
contemplation of higher things, but I've not yet been able to confirm this.
Updates to follow.
Susan "always looking for ways to avoid my dissertation" Carroll-Clark
scl...@chass.utoronto.ca
Matt Beckwith
hell...@homer.voxel.com (hello_mum) wrote:
This is much more believable than the self-appendectomy story.
Robert Sheaffer
In article <52kjr3$5...@chass.utoronto.ca>,
Susan Carroll-Clark <scl...@chass.utoronto.ca> wrote:
>Greetings!
>
>Since this popped up (no pun intended) on AFU, I've been trying to track
>down an account of Origen's castration. None of the sources on church history
>I have on hand go into it (they're more interested in his theology), neither
>does Eusebius' _Church History_, which I have on my shelf in the Penguin
>translation. I do know Eusebius wrote a _vita_ of Origen, who he apparently
>admired greatly, but I have not yet made it down to the library to look
>it up.
I don't have the text handy, but as I recall it Eusebius said that Origen took the
passage in Matthew about 'those who have become eunuchs for Christ's sake' "in an
absurdly literal sense."
--
Robert Sheaffer - Robert....@siemensrolm.com - Skeptical to the Max!
war...@borg.com
In <52cslu$8...@phooey.ware.net>, hell...@homer.voxel.com (hello_mum) writes:
>When I worked at the London Hospital, Whitechapel, I was told that the
>doctor responsible for most of the bone marrow testing had performed a
>bone-marrow aspiration on his own breastbone (using a mirror) in order
>to prove to himself that he wasn't hurting the patients (usually young
>kids) in his clinics.
>And I do believe that one. Details on request, as per.
>
As per is not indicated, as I request that you send the details to the newsfroup.
Warren
http://www.borg.com/~warren
Richard Koepsel
Hello,
If you are looking for a starting point for references to the self-castration
of Origen, it might pay to look at "The Psychology of Types" by C. G. Jung.
In it he devotes and entire chapter to discussing the differing psychological
reasons for self-castration in Tertullian and Origen both of whom are said
to have performed the act.
Richard "not me, I'm holey enough" Koepsel
Jim Hutchins
Matt Beckwith (beck...@pop.southeast.net) wrote:
: hell...@homer.voxel.com (hello_mum) wrote:
:
: >When I worked at the London Hospital, Whitechapel, I was told that the
: >doctor responsible for most of the bone marrow testing had performed a
: >bone-marrow aspiration on his own breastbone (using a mirror) in order
: >to prove to himself that he wasn't hurting the patients (usually young
: >kids) in his clinics.
: >And I do believe that one. Details on request, as per.
:
: This is much more believable than the self-appendectomy story.
:
You mean the self-adrenal gland removal story I misremembered as a
self-appendectomy?
JAMA 241:2188-2189, 1979.
--
Jim Hutchins hutc...@netdoor.com hutc...@umsmed.edu