From ancient byways to modern highways, glimpses of faith are everywhere...

Sunday, January 4, 2015

Brain surgery: What's up doc?

Trepanated  Neolithic Skull  (Photo by Rama)
If you happen to wake up during brain surgery and want to know how things are going, all you have to do is ask.

At least that was the experience of 19-year-old Iga Jasica, who woke up halfway through the removal of her brain tumor.

Fox News reports that while Jasica’s “brain was exposed,” the anesthetic “wore off.”  She was therefore able to chat awhile.  (Hey, you don’t want to appear unfriendly while surgeons are slicing and dicing.)

Although this might seem somewhat barbaric to the modern reader, drilling through skulls was formerly quite in vogue.  Known as trepanation, the procedure consisted of boring holes into hard heads order to “treat health
problems related to intracranial diseases.”

During ancient times, trepanation was thought to release “evil spirits.”  Wikipedia reports that the trepanned bone “may have afterwards been worn as a charm” in order to ward off future demons.

Resources
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2015/01/02/1-year-old-girl-wakes-up-during-brain-surgery-asks-doctors-hows-it-going/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trepanning

Copyright January 4, 2015 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved


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