in 1961, Leonid Rogozov, a 27-year old member of 12-man team developed acute appendicitis in a completely isolated base in antartica. he knew it would have to be removed. unfortunately, he also knew that he happened to be the only physician on the base. rogozov realized he’d have to perform the surgery on himself. it took him an hour and 45 minutes. he explains the process a bit in his journal:
I worked without gloves. It was hard to see. The mirror helps, but it also hinders — after all, it’s showing things backwards. I work mainly by touch. The bleeding is quite heavy, but I take my time — I try to work surely. Opening the peritoneum, I injured the blind gut and had to sew it up. Suddenly it flashed through my mind: there are more injuries here and I didn’t notice them … I grow weaker and weaker, my head starts to spin. Every 4-5 minutes I rest for 20-25 seconds. Finally, here it is, the cursed appendage! With horror I notice the dark stain at its base. That means just a day longer and it would have burst and …
At the worst moment of removing the appendix I flagged: my heart seized up and noticeably slowed; my hands felt like rubber. Well, I thought, it’s going to end badly. And all that was left was removing the appendix … And then I realised that, basically, I was already saved.
he recovered an lived until the age of 66.
full article here
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