Anesthesia prior to 1842.
On March 30, 1842 in Jackson County, Georgia, Dr. Crawford Long successfully removed a tumor from the neck of one of his patients, James Venable. While there was no such thing as a routine surgery in that prehistoric era of medicine, what made the procedure remarkable was that for the first time ether was used as an anesthetic. Though it took almost forty years for Dr. Long to be so recognized due to waiting so long to publish his findings, Long is now considered to be the discoverer of modern anesthesia…. which has made surgeries around the world much more bearable than the days of biting the bullet.
Well, I guess not everyone has anesthesia included in their health plan.
Bonus factoid: Crawford Long was a cousin of a much more famous doctor from 19th Century Americana, Doc Holliday!
Now we’ll send the patient to the morgue and remove all damning evidence from the operating theater so we can try our hand at butchering something we can’t send a bill to, this week’s Share Your World questions from Di!
Our favorite doctor? Kevorkian, of course!
Do you have a lot of friends or do you know a lot of people ?
No and yes. No, I don’t have a lot of friends, or really any friends. Yes, I do know a lot of people, because you don’t have to be friends with someone to know them. I know a lot of the people I work with, and it’s one of the reasons I don’t consider any of them to be my friends…
Typical loser I might work with… performing community service by not cleaning my ditch.
If you are at a party and know very few of the guests, do you mingle and introduce yourself, sit on the sidelines and people watch, or discreetly leave?
I’m not sure my leaving would be very discreet…. especially after I murdered the “friend” (See Question 1) who brought me to said party in the first place. Rainy knows just how I feel….
Always a hit at parties…
What is the best job you have ever had?
Well, I’ve only had one. So it’s simultaneously the best and worst job I’ve ever had…
This reminds me of how much I miss the chemicals department…
Can you swim?
I can splash around in the water enough to stay afloat. Or at least I could thirty years ago, which is the last time I was in a swimming pool…
Help! Help! I’m drowning in this birdbath!
Gratitude Retro Comic:
In honor of Dr. Crawford Long….
Oh, and don’t forget….. you have ONE MORE WEEK to come up with an entry for the Tenth Annual Contest of Whatever! We already have four submissions, three from contest newbies! It’s time for my regular folks to get in on the action! Don’t delay! The deadline is next Thursday night, April 6!
Evil Squirrel's Nest 
Interesting! I looked up the history of anesthesia, and it seems it took a while for ether as an anaesthetic to catch on.
It probably doesn’t help that its cousin nitrous oxide was long believed to be poisonous… even after Sir Humphry Davy experimented with it on himself. I was surprised to find out that even some ancient civilizations had some form of anesthetic to use!
I read they had ether and nitrous oxide parties at the time – imagine them ether as recreational drugs!
Wow, talk about 6º of separation between the two ‘doc’s.’ As always, you share really interesting factoids.
It’s a weird and interesting world when you can drown out the noise…
Thanks for joining in ES. have a good week!
I know some who use martinis to do the job.
Some people must get a lot of surgery…
A portable Rainy is ideal for finishing up those inconvenient parties.
Portable Rainy would get rid of any unwanted crowds. Now to go file a patent and get it to market….
I think the “hammerhead” method of anesthesia is quite sensible…..I always have a headache when I wake up from being “under” so I suspect that’s the method my doctors have used. Thanks for the contest reminder – I’ve been thinking and re-thinking and haven’t been struck by lightning with an idea yet….maybe I need some anesthesia.
Pam
At least they gave you some anesthesia before they gave you the hard anesthesia! I wonder if the guy with the hammer makes as much as the anesthesiologist?
I’m totally in love with your opening factoid, especially his relationship with Doc Holliday, one of my favorite historic characters. Totally cool.
Weird trivia is everywhere!
Weird trivia is the last fun thing on social media!