That self-appendectomy | Hacker News Reader

That self-appendectomy

southpolestation.com

91 pointsjimsojim10 comments

A list and description of the "top ten self-surgeries:"

http://listverse.com/2008/12/09/top-10-incredible-self-surge...

Dr Rogozov's figures in at #4 by their accounting, but I would stick him at #1 as he's the only one to finish the job himself and make a complete recovery without outside medical intervention.

Well, the first one is a mother that did a C-section on herself saving the baby and not dying in the process. Pretty remarkable if you ask me.

Especially remarkable considering the >80% mortality rate for mothers until the 20th century.

"Unfortunately, surgical techniques of that day also contributed to the appallingly high maternal mortality rates. According to one estimate not a single woman survived cesarean section in Paris between 1787 and 1876."

https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/cesarean/part2.html

The problem with c-sections was figuring out how to successfully sew up the uterus afterwards. In 1876 doctors started just removing the uterus after c-section.

The woman who gave herself a c-section was able to get medical care soon afterwards. Otherwise she certainly would have died from the wound.

Related to this sort of thing, Jerri Nielsen - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerri_Nielsen - was a doctor wintering over at the South Pole who had to operate on and treat her own cancer back in 1999. I listened to her associated book, Ice Bound: A Doctor's Incredible Battle for Survival at the South Pole, several months ago and it was an absolutely fascinating account not only of the medical work involved but also what it's really like to live at the South Pole for several months in close quarters with other people. I think a lot of people here would enjoy it.

I went to the same medical school as her and she gave an amazing speech to us a little before she died. Not to belittle her accomplishments, but she did a biopsy on herself (not really surgery) and gave herself chemotherapy.

Deborah Sampson was actually mentioned in the “Top 10 Men Who Were Really Women” list as a notable omission. In 1782 Deborah Sampson was enlisted in the Fourth Massachusetts Regiment of the Continental Army. Going by the name of Robert Shutleff she was strong and tall enough to look like a man and it was thought she didn’t have to shave because she was a very young man. When her unit was sent to West Point, New York she was wounded in a battle nearby. She was taken to a hospital to be treated but snuck out so that she would not be discovered to be a woman. She operated on herself and removed one of the musket balls out of her thigh with a penknife and sewing needle. When she recovered from her wound she went back to her regiment. The next time Sampson was wounded her doctor found out she was a woman and in 1783 he arranged for her to be discharged from the Continental Army.

My youngest son keeps saying that we can't know how many women secretly served in the military as men because, by definition, if they succeeded in hiding their gender, we record them as men

That guy operates on another level.

Or is his level undefined since it's self-referencing?

One of the reasons I love playing Space Station 13 - you can do this ingame.

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