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In-flight surgery with a coat-hanger and silverware

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Re: In-flight surgery with a coat-hanger and silverware

#71

Post by ada1981 »

Maken wrote: post #28
dmurray wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eight hours! It's hard to believe the woman's condition was critical enough to require invasive surgery with these makeshift tools mid-flight, but so stable post-op that the doctors did not recommend an emergency landing. I understand they recommended against landing pre-op because of worries about cabin pressure, but why not after the surgery? She's going to have to come down at some point.

Maybe she didn't have any kind of health insurance in any country except the one she was traveling to. So when the doctors told her she could endure the rest of the flight, she chose to do so instead of going bankrupt by the medical fees. It would be also insteresting to know if she hid her injuries before boarding for the same reason.

Doubtful. Do people go bankrupt by medical debt in other countries? Seems unlikely to get judgment and collect.

Re: In-flight surgery with a coat-hanger and silverware

#73

Post by knicholes »

philliphaydon wrote: post #31
marcodiego wrote: post #14

I've had an spontaneous pneumothorax when I was a teenager. Had to undergo emergency surgery with only local anesthesia. The surgeon while cutting my chest asked: "You're sure it is this side, right?", which I confirmed. He then said: "Ok, if you're wrong I'm not going to jail alone."

Was it the right side... I feel like the story ended too quickly other than you survived to write this...

It sounds like the surgeon believed that if being misled, op would also be joining the surgeon in jail. Perhaps the wrong side was chosen and the surgeon moved to the other side to finish what was originally intended.

Re: In-flight surgery with a coat-hanger and silverware

#74

Post by toyg »

refurb wrote: post #35
mcv wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe not if the surgery was successful. As long as the condition is stable, it might not matter where they land. Might as well land close to wherever she needs to be, instead of in a completely different country.

How is surgery “successful” when they used a coat hanger? Can you imagine the infection risk? And sure, fly another 1-2 hr to get to the final destination, but they flew 8+ hours. It kinda makes no sense.

> Can you imagine the infection risk?

Infection is not an automatic outcome. My grandma was an obstetric nurse, she witnessed surgeons in 1950s Southern Italy performing operations with rusty knives; and most patients would still be ok.

Sometimes we forget that the human race survived for thousands of years without the niceties of modern medicine. It's good to minimise risk, but in the end risk does not mean certainty of bad outcomes.

Re: In-flight surgery with a coat-hanger and silverware

#75

Post by toyg »

worewood wrote: post #46
brnt wrote: post #41

There's hacking and there is _hacking_. My sister is training to be a doctor and she has come to dislike the heavily regulated environment we have here in which doctors are not allowed to do anything of this sort. Now, they also don't usually need to, which is a good think, but after she returned from a year in South America, she misses the on-your-feet thinking, creativity and flexibility she could and had to employ…

Yeah, but as a South American, one thing is being able to be creative, another is _needing_ to be creative, which means doctors are not being given the resources they need (which is common here).

Letting doctors have fun under pressure, or ensuring good outcomes for patients? Mmmh, I wonder what we should choose as a society... /s

Re: In-flight surgery with a coat-hanger and silverware

#76

Post by mrtranscendence »

praptak wrote: post #69
marcodiego wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Spontaneously! My lung simply ruptured. I was lying in my bed when it happened the first time.

Wait, there were more times it happened to you?

If you get one you’re more likely to have other incidents, unfortunately.

Re: In-flight surgery with a coat-hanger and silverware

#77

Post by alasdair_ »

darekkay wrote: post #13
rwmj wrote: post #8

I raise you the guy who removed his own appendix in the jungle after escaping from a prisoner of war camp: https://www.smh.com.au/culture/books/the-war-hero-who-remove...

Similar to what happened to a doctor in Antarctica: https://www.antarctica.gov.au/about-antarctica/people-in-ant...

I know a guy who went there (McMurdo in Antartica) the year after this happened (so similar situation - there is only one doctor that needs to do everything for everyone). Again, you're there for a long time and there is no help coming if you have a problem in the middle of winter.

Before you go, they do as much as possible to ensure you won't have medical issues once you get there. One of the things is that they strongly suggest you get your wisdom teeth taken out. The guy I know did so a few weeks before leaving.

It turns out that his dentist was less than competent and he left parts of the tooth in the gum during extraction. So he gets to McMurdo, starts having really bad pain in his mouth, goes to the doctor and is told that his mouth is infected and teeth will need to be extracted.

The doctor reassured his patient with the words "Don't worry! I once took a one-day course in dentistry!"

Re: In-flight surgery with a coat-hanger and silverware

#80

Post by phkahler »

ChicagoBoy11 wrote: post #79

I'm surprised by the point about pressurization... cabins do depressurize on ascent, but... marginally. Would a difference in a few thousand feet atmospheric pressure, equalized SLOWLY, really have been that big an issue?!

IIRC planes are pressurized to 6000' equivalent, and a quick Googling show that to be 11.7psi or about a 3 psi drop vs ground level. Also, changes of much less than that can cause discomfort in your ears if not equalized. I have no idea what 3psi does to the lungs, but with all the discussion about ventilators from 2020 I'd say that's a LOT of pressure on them.
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