The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1884-02-14
A Hospital Heroine.

wonderful patience and courage dis
played by one of the patients, Young
girl named Bertha Kistler, who within
the eighteen months previous had I'M
dergone seventeen surgical operations.
So much was the doctor surprised by
her heroic endurance of pain that he
not inaptly styled her 1.-The Heroine of
the Hospital"
A Herald reporter called at the Pres
byterian Hospital and there learned
something of the girls remarkable his
tory. Fifteen years ago, when five
years old, Bcrtha-as she is Familiarity
called by every one in the hospital
came with her parents to this city from
Germany. Previous to leaving the
Fatherland she had been operated up
On by some unskillful village doctor for
supp sed cancerous affection of the
eft cheek. 1t was not, however, a case
of cancer, but growth of another and
trivial character. The bungling sur
geon almost literally dug out the cheek,
leaving large hole. Nothing but
cicatricial or SCARED tissue remained.
The wound in healing distorted the
mouth and face in frightful manner.
About the middle of last year Bertha
visited DR.. Shrady to ascerta n If any
thing could be done to improve her
looks. She was, she said, poor work
cr in worsteds, and could not pay a
fee, ut would gladly goto any hospital
md become subject for surgery. The
doctor at first hesitated to accept the
charge, but so earnestly did she plead
that he finally consented to undertake
the task of virtually building up new
face.
4 short time after this the fir-t of a
series of operat onS was performed.
This has been followed by sixteen 9TH
crS. The eighteenth will probably take
place this week, and the end is not ct.
Several months ago the girl became q
patient in the Presbyterian Hospital,
and there the principal operations have
been performed. In tn If course much
Of the face has been made over with
new flesh, transplanted from adjacent
parts, dovetailed in with the greatest
nicely.
The most important step in the treat
ment of the case was the filling up of
the hole in the face For this purpose
large skin flap was wanted. 1t was
obtained bv Dir. Shrad in the following
llinllCI. n ItCiiIS ulll StSl''h Va SNlh
was partially separated from the girls
left arm, above the elbow. An inc sion
was made in the side of the foreinger
of the right hand, extending from he
first joint around 10 the thumb. The
hand was then brought ever to the left
arm, and the detached edge of the skin
flap was sewed into the incision in the
finger with fine silver thread. The
hand and arm were kept immovable by
plastic bandages. In about a week the
skin flap became united to the hand,
but the nap was principally nourished
from the arm. To change the current
of nutrition the flap was gradually cut
from the arm, aud when it had been
nearly severed, the finger, and not the
arm, kept the skin flap alive. When
this be anne apparent the entire skin
flap was amputated from the arm. The
hand, with the ingrown flap, was then
brought up to the face, the SCARED skin
on the left cheek raised and the flap in
serted underneath. The hand was kept
in position by plastic bandages and a
plastic cap. In three weeks the flap
became attached to the face; the current
of nourishment was changed by grad
ual amputaion from the finger, and
finally, when entirely separated from
the hand, the skin flap taken from the
arm became the foundation of new
cheek.
Though the transplanted skin sloughed
or mortified slightly, the operation es-
tajlished, first and definitely, the prin-
ciple of double transportation. In
other words, it demonstrated that the
hand can be IL, ed as medium of trans
fer of portion of flesh from one part
of the body to another. The girl 5
mouth is now drawn slightly to one side,
but this defect viii be remedied by flu
ture operat ons. The result, so far as
brought about by Dr. Shrady in Ber-
tha's case, is partly reconstructed
nose, new upper and lower lips on the
left side, with corresponding portion of
chin, and an almost entirely new cheek.
Notwithstand NO that the girl has I'M
dergOne so many operations at DIR.
Shrady's hands she still has implicit
confidence in him, and urges him with
strange pertinacity at every opportunity
TO shorten the necessary intervals be-
tween the operations.
In speaking of the case. Dir. Freeman,
house surgeon of the hospital, said:
Bertha is in many respects a most re-
markable girl. Notwithstanding her
deformity of face, there is something
quite attractive about her. She has
good eyes; her light hair is long and
luxuriant, extending far below her waist,
and her figure, though slight, is exqui-
sitely nodded. She is of cheerful dispo-
s.tion, and has made herself very useful
in assisting in the care of patients.
When not thus engaged she devotes
herself to worsted work. Since coming
here months ago she has never been
outside of the inclosure. In summer
she will occasionally walk in the yard,
but we have never been able to induce
her to go beyond the gate. Strange as
it may Sc m, she is never so happy as
Just on the eve of an operation, proba-
bly, because each one brings her suffer
ings nearer to an end. After one it is
often necessary to feed her for weeks,
she being perfectly helpless, She has
always been bright and hopeful, except
when she saw herself in glass shortly
after the operation of double transplant
tation. OF course she then present ID a
distressing appearance, and, over
whelmed by it, was for a moment
tempted to throw herself out of an ad-
iacent window. This feeling, however,
1lmos instantly passed away.
when Bertha first came to the hos
pital it was a matter of general specu-