Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-05-09
VICTIM OF FANCIEDILLS
SURGEONS PERFORM OPERA.
TIoNs" TO SATISFY PATIENTS.
Removal of a Supposed Tumor Re-
posed Cases Of Appendicitis.

From the Chicago Chronicle.
You will probably be Surprised to learn"
remarked the house surgeon OF big hos
pital that there are many sane people to-
day who. believing that they are threat
ened with some dangerous disease, insist
on undergoing severe operations in order
that their lives may be saved. OF course,
VIC do not really perform these operations
but have assisted at many imaginary ones
in order to crafty the whim ef a patient
suffering from some form of hysteria.
II remember a recent case OF a woman
who was absolutely convinced that she
was suffering from an internal tumor. Gu
riously enough, she had been operated on
for this complaint some eight years be-
fore, when large tumor was removed. Six
months ago she received fright through
one of her children upsetting a lighted
lamp, and when she had somewhat recov-
cred she became convinced that recur-
renee of her trouble had begun, and tina t
the only thing to save her life was an i'm
mediate operation.
''She consulted her own physician, who,
after a most minute diagnosis, declared
that there was absolutely nothing to fear
and that there was no trace whatever OF
the supposed tumor. Nevertheless, the
woman, who was possessed of considerable
means, consulted another physician, who
upheld the opinion of his brother medico
The woman was still unconvinced however,
and applied to us for bed as a paying
patient, entered the hospital and begged
that the operation might be performed i'm
mediately.
Agree to Perform Operation.
well, we had, of course, received par
ticulars of the case from the two physi-
clans, and after examination and with
their permission declared that the opera
ton was certainly necessary and should
be performed without delay.
with the assistance of two of the visit
ing surgeons l determined to perform the
operation in imagination, and this is how
we did it. The patient was given just a
sufficient quantity of anaesthetics to re-
duce her to a state of semi Inconsistencies
she could hear and feel vaguely, though she
could see nothing. We moved about the
room quietly, spoke in whispers, gave hur-
ried orders to the nurses, etc, and, in fact
acted just as If we were engaged on the
biggest operation of our lives. Then
one of the assistants fetched a jug of iced
water and. holding it above the supposed
affected part let the cold fluid fall at the
rate of about one drop every five seconds.
When the water touched her body the de-
luded patient would vince and groan if
in great agony.
After we had gone on in this way for
some time the woman was swathed in
bandages and conveyed by ambulance to
her room. On awakening she found two
trained nurses creeping about the apart
ment, one of whom Immediately held a cup
of beef tea to her lips and asked her to try
and swallow little. After a considerable
effort she succeeded, confiding to the nurse
the fact that she felt terribly weak and
languid. There she remained for ten days,
after which she was allowed to get up for
time and her friends were permitted to
see her. In three weeks she returned
home perfectly cured of her imaginary
tumor, and to this day she does not know
of the hoax which was played upon her.
Queer Case of Hysteria.
'Hysteria, of course, is the cause of most
of these imaginary illnesses, and when
patient has it badly it is almost as difficult
to cure as insanity We had a girl here
year ago who was suffering from a most
obstinate attack of hysteria, which took
a very curious form. She would never lie
down in her bed but invariably sat bolt up
right with her back against the foot rail
constantly turning her head from side to
side like an automaton. I had watched
her do this curious action many times and
one day l asked her why she continued it.
to which she replied that there was string
to her head which pulled it from side to
SIDE ana that until 1t was cut she would
have no rest
This remark gave me idea and I asked
her If she would allow me to examine her
mead She was perfectly willing, and after
gravely announced that she was quite right
and that the only cure was a slight opera
ton in order to sever the string. She clap
ped her hands with delight like child and
declared that it was what she had told sew
eral doctors, but that they had all laughed
at her. Would 1 perform the operation at
once? thought it better, however, to defer
doing so until the morning after had con-
suited the visiting surgeons.
Having explained the circumstances, the
imaginary operation was agreed upon and
the following morning the young lady was
led into the surgery, placed upon the oper-
ating table and anaesthetics administered.
Part of her luxuriant brown hair was cut
off and a portion of the back of the head,
about two inches above the nape of the
neck, was shaver smooth. Then, in order
that there should be something to show for
the imaginary operation, the scalp was
lanced until the blood ran, leaving cut
about two and one-half inches in length.
patient was conveyed back to her bed,
where she remained for forty minutes be-
fore returning to consciousness
String Prepared for Occasion.
Meantime l had taken a piece of an ordi-
nary E violin string about four inches long
and soaked it in water until it resembled
raw sinew. the object of this, &C course,
being to show the patient the actual string
taken out of her head.
when she was restored to consciousness
she was told how entirely successful the
operation had been and shown the string
which had been the cause of all her trouble,
after which she fell into natural sleep and
awoke perfectly restored. From that day to
this she has never suffered from hysteria in
any form and has been completely cured of
her Authorization regarding her inability to
keep her head from moving from side to
side"