The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-05-27
APPENDICITIS HAD HIM.
OF A RAILROAD MAN
VINO WAS CURED by THE KNIFE.


operating Room Made Him Ner-
vous-His JOY over His Recovery.
From the New York Sun.
81 read an article in last Sundays Sun
an appendicitis" said well-known Off
oia, Of a Southern railroad. And as one
having authority on the subject, 1 want to
make a few remarks. i know what 1 am
,a1l1ing about for / have been there. I
had appendicitis, had an operation per-
formed for the removal of the darned
thing that does it, and now 1 am as fit as
a fiddle. 1t happened about five years
ago when my business had me on the road
nreftv much all the time. For a year or
On had a pain that I thought was collie
or something of that kind, but it did not
bother me a great deal for several months.
Then it became worse and laid me up
ance or twice, for three or four days. One
time it caught me at the office and 1 had
ia go home in a carriage. Still the doc
tors that l mentioned the matter to and
the one who attended me the day was
taken in the Office did not say anything
about appendicitis. The first one who ven
tured to say he thought 1t might be that
disease was a Detroit doctor, who came
10 see me when 1 was taken with 1t there
once. After he had suggested it to me,
began TO think that was what was the
matter and finally made up my mind to
do it,
lone morning 1 had left Washington to
come over to New York, and at Baltimore
the thing caught me and began to hurt
like the very dickens. Just as soon as
the train stopped went right up to lead
ing physician in one of the hospitals there
and stated my case. He told me positively
that l had appendicitis and that the only
way 10 cure it effectually was by an OPP
Grafton He said l might live five or six
years longer with it as it was, and
might be caught some time on train and
be dead before anything could be done for
me- However it might happen, l was sure
10 be a dead man within half a dozen
years.
Il asked him what the chances were for
a recovery, telling him that l had a wife
and family dependent upon me, and would
he advise me to take the risk. He said
the chances were all in my favor, my gen.
eral health being good, and that once re-
covered, l could go on being a bread-win-
ner for a good many years. Having set
tied that part, asked him what he would
charge. He said he had been paid as high
as $1,000 for an operation, whereupon
told him guessed would go without one,
as I had told him the place 1 occupied I
told him 81 year, and he asked me Il
! thought 10 per cent. of that was more
than could afford, and / said ID was not,
so we agreed upon $40 as his fee. He
gave me something to ease the pain and
told me the quicker the operation was
performed the better and | said l would
go back home and put things in shape and
be with him the next day. But did not
go home. I only went to Washington
where I made will, put my affairs in
shape, told my Office people where 1 was
going, and sent word to my wife that 1
was called away on a longer trip than
usual and might not be back for month.
The next day 1 went 10 the hospital,
and l can tell you did not like the idea
Of it a little bit, for all the pain was gone
and I was never feeling better in my life.
! remember as 1 went up to the door of
the building taking a look back at the
sunshine, the glad green world and all
that sort of thing, and cursing with all
sincerity the existence of vermiform APP,
pendix. 1t was a good deal worse than
going to have a tooth pulled after the
banned thing has quit hurting. But 1
knew it would come back again and l
gathered myself together and surrendered
bodily to the authorities of the hospital.
L didn't feel any need of doctors and /
hated like the deuce 20 take the medi-
cine they prescribed as preparatory to
4 the operation, but / made myself do 1t,
and on the third morning after my ar
n rival l was ready for the knife. I was
y trained down to give myself a good low
Il start so as TO rise rapidly after the sur
geons were through with me, and, really.
l felt less like going into an operating
a room than did going QUITO slug a match.
with the prize ring champion. The nurse
wanted to wheel me down the room in
one Of those big wheel chairs, but
wouldn't have it at all, and walked.
had on only a long robe like bath robe
z and l stalked into the room like priest
in his canonicals There lay down on
81 cot to wait for the surgeons, and being
81 unattended and with nosene to distract
IA my thoughts, l looked around me while
n waited. The room was like a prison
81 cell, upholstered but whitewashed, and
me operating table sitting in the mid
IA Gle Of it, made me uncomfortable. I not=
Fl ed the straps at the side to hold the vic
tim down in case he struggled and the
FL long cutters along the edges for the eS-
81 cape Of the blood that followed the knife
mad realism about them that did not
greatly add TO my cheerfulness.
Nobody had appeared as yet and when
had begun to get nervous and become
possessed of a desire to get out and run
away l was cheered by a footstep at
the door and an attendant came in and
took his stand by the table. He had
nothing to say 10 me, and as he stood
mere in his long white apron, he remind
cd me so strongly of a butcher that I
couldn't think of anything else. Present
~ another one came in and took his
stand by the side of the first one, and
When l had looked az them for about five
minutes lost control of myself, and ris-
ing from my cot l cursed them up and
uoWn and drove them out, at the same
u uIhe asking 10 see the surgeon in charge.
add to my general discomfort of mind,
enid undergoing some kind of an oper-
alloh IN the next room was crying pite-
Dusty My demand for the surgeon
brought him instantly and as soon as he
saw the condition l was In he read the
sivt act to lot of laundering nurses and
SNehdants and had me sent back to my
iuom until he was ready for me-
When they came again and 1 was once
more ON the cot in the operating room
snsy asked me If / preferred to take the
snaesthetic on the cot and be placed on
ne table or take 1t after I was on the
eaole, and I chose the latter and stretched
myself out for the straps. That wasn't a
Of al I al