The Globe-republican., 1892-04-18
OvARIoroMY.


How = Sixty Pound Tuner 10 RE-
moved. An Unusual Event at
christ's Hospital. /,
Think of sixty pounds Of AeGh and fluids
being removed from the intestinal cavity of
the human body, and yet that body lives, re-
covers and serves its owner better than ever!
The feat of removing q small woman ffouf
large tnmor," +" as newspaper once facetieuN
pita! last Wednesday. The tumor was one Of
the large ovarian growths one hears aboub
occasionally which weigh nearly as much Is
the remainder of tie body, and the patient
was the wife of Rock Island railroad man.
A great surgical operation is an exciting
thingt is like snatching life from death, like
The reSuscltatlon OF drowned man, or the
rescue of child from burning building.
1t has the same elements of danger, of terri
BILE suspense, of the display of nerve and
courage, followed by the same nervous re-
action when it is successfully accomplished.
surgical science and skill is like seeing one
of Bernhardt's plays. The nervous system
becomes so wrought up that when it is over,
one feels like dropping into chair to recover.
/, as representative of the press, was per-
mitted to behold this particular operation
speak of. Dr.. b: w. Roby, of this city, was
the surgeon in charge and for his assistants
Dr.. McIntyer, of Topeka, and DR.. Mrs. Farm
ham, also of this city. The lady who was to
undergo the operation had been taken to the
hospital in a carriage by her husband the
day before. Miss Wood, a nurse, trained in
the celebrated hospitals of Boston, was
present.
A long, green operating table suggestively
occupied the center of the room where tho
operation was to take place. The courage
GUS little lady who was about to be almost
cut in two, walked in without a tremor and
was helped upon the table. DR.. Anderson
then administered the ether, and watched
the pulse while the other attendants stood
about in readiness or watched the thermom-
eter which must be kept standing at eighty
degrees, no more, no less, until the end Of
the operation. At last Dr.. Anderson, having
announced the patient completely under tho
influence of the arasthetic, DR.. Roby, with
both arms bare to the elbow, takes up gilt
tering knife of peculiar shape, and barring
the abdomen, cuts slowly and carefully, like
q draughtsman drawing a graceful curve,
making an opening nearly fourteen inches
long. Into this he dextrously thrusts his
hand and finds the tumor so large aud grown
SO firmly on the tissues on every side that il
cannot be removed intact. 1t is composed
of many hundred sacs filled with fluids and
by one.
Everything moved with the utmost celerity
and silence, and no one was permitted to
speak except the surgeon in charge.
The entire operation required an hour and
a half, and during all that time the work of
removing the lnonstrous growth went on
steadily, each one of the eight people en-
gagged in the delicate work moving about like
Iclockwork. At last it was fnishe2 Every
movement of the knife had been scientific
ALLY made. The last vestige of the tumor
had been taken out. The wound was sewed
up, and now came the critical period. The
patient was lifted from the table, placed in
lbed in an adjoining room and under most
careful treatment, slowly revives.
DR.. Roby, the surgeon, remained all night.
Occasionally the patient had sinking spells,
but by use of the electric battery and stimu-
lants she was rallied, and her temperature
and pulse steadily fell. In the morning sho
complained of no pain, and her recovery is
now nearly assured. The tumor and the flu
id which it contained, weighed sixty pounds.
The weight of the patient before the oper-
alton was 152 pounds. The growth had first
been noticed three years ago. 1t had in
creased in size until it had pressed the stOm-
ach, heart, lungs and bowels into the upper |
part of the cavity and she could scarcely take |
or breathe with comfort. Her |
death from the tumor was only the matter of |
q month or two. She is only twenty-four
yearssof age and her youth will do much to
help her recover.-F. II. c., in Topeka Daily
Capital, Feb. IL.