Historic medical personality. Jane Crawford was a mother of four in 1809 when she was seen by physician Ephraim McDowell, seeking help for what she thought was a long overdue pregnancy. Dr. McDowell however, diagnosed her with an ovarian tumor, a fatal disease at that time. With the full knowledge that it would be an experimental procedure, Crawford agreed to allow Dr. McDowell to operate on her. She rode on horseback sixty miles to Danville, Kentucky, to the doctor's home, which was the only place he would do the operation. During church services, to keep down the number of onlookers who felt surgery was evil experimentation, Crawford was operated on with no benefit of anesthesia, only an oral dose of opium and several attentdants to hold her down. It was reported she sang hymns and repeated Psalms during the procedure. Crawford survived the removal of the twenty-two pound tumor and recovered uneventfully, escaping the onset of infection, and returning home in less than a month. She lived to the age of seventy-eight.
Historic medical personality. Jane Crawford was a mother of four in 1809 when she was seen by physician Ephraim McDowell, seeking help for what she thought was a long overdue pregnancy. Dr. McDowell however, diagnosed her with an ovarian tumor, a fatal disease at that time. With the full knowledge that it would be an experimental procedure, Crawford agreed to allow Dr. McDowell to operate on her. She rode on horseback sixty miles to Danville, Kentucky, to the doctor's home, which was the only place he would do the operation. During church services, to keep down the number of onlookers who felt surgery was evil experimentation, Crawford was operated on with no benefit of anesthesia, only an oral dose of opium and several attentdants to hold her down. It was reported she sang hymns and repeated Psalms during the procedure. Crawford survived the removal of the twenty-two pound tumor and recovered uneventfully, escaping the onset of infection, and returning home in less than a month. She lived to the age of seventy-eight.
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