Highs and Lows at Kensington Sanatorium
At the Sandringham Sanatorium the first case Morris Hirsch was presented with was an acute pelvic appendicitis, He completed it in record time--fifteen minutes from gloves on to gloves off.
The diagnosis had been missed by the Geldenhuis opposition. The doctor had been treating gastroenteritis because of the prominence of diarrhea, evidently unaware that occasionally an inflamed organ sitting on the rectum can be the cause. A full history of the symptom sequence prompted a follow up rectal examination and white blood cell count, which left no diagnostic doubt. It was another example of the golden rule of full appropriate examination before jumping to conclusions.
The Theatre Sister and Ward Staff were impressed by Morris' surgical performance and rapid recovery of the patient. The patient and family, who had needed persuasion of the diagnosis and urgency to operate, were fulsomely grateful. He was cock-a-hoop.
But he met his Moses, battling to remove an acutely inflamed retrocaecal appendix, hidden behind the tethered large bowel and reaching up to the liver. After an hour of struggle, he wondered whether he was to suffer the ignominity of having to abandon removing the offending organ and rely instead on drainage and antibiotics which carried additional risks. He did not panic (fortunately in all his career he was spared such demoralization; in fact he always found himself more calmly determined when up against it).
He plodded on. The angel on his shoulder this time was the Theater Sister, a devout member of the Order. She sensed his predicament was at its climax. By her tactful suggestions and more active assisting, they won the day with a profound sense of relief and humility.
The historical novel Whitewashed Jacarandas and its sequel Full of Possibilities are both available on Amazon as paperbacks and eBooks.
These books are inspired by Diana's family's experiences in small town Southern Rhodesia after WWII.
Dr. Sunny Rubenstein and his Gentile wife, Mavourneen, along with various town characters lay bare the racial arrogance of the times, paternalistic idealism, Zionist fervor and anti-Semitism, the proper place of a wife, modernization versus hard-won ways of doing things, and treatment of endemic disease versus investment in public health. It's a roller coaster read.
References:
Excerpt from Dr. Morris Isaac Hirsch's Unpublished Memoirs. Hirsch Archives.