Death by Cutter
Posted: Sun Sep 09, 2007 12:03 pm
I was just looking at some of the articles in the news stories forum, about various mayhem done to the privates of assorted individuals. As far as I can tell, all the victims, whether victims of their own actions or somebody else's, appear to have survived--though usually not as entire as they were to begin with.
Anyway, this got me thinking about whether or not I had ever read or heard of somebody expiring as a result of amateur surgery by a "cutter." Don't think I have. I've seen a number of reports of urgent trips to the emergency room, and, of course, uncontrolled hemorrhage is a danger in any surgery. But, though I admittedly don't search these things out, and probably wouldn't see notice of it except on this website, it seems striking that I haven't seen any reports of people dying after amateur orchiectomies. In fact, after reading several articles and looking through a couple of books about hijras in South Asia, my impression is, that it's rare for someone to die after being worked over by a Dai Ma, which I think is the name for individuals who do the operation in which the external male genitals are excised. As far as I know, the persons who do the surgery on hijras in India have no medical training, and are therefore essentially the same in that regard as cutters in North America. Of course, the surgery performed on hijras is very much more invasive than a simple orchiectomy.
I'm not suggesting that amateur orchiectomies are safe. Perhaps the operation is sufficiently minor, in terms of its physical effects, that deaths are rare even when amateurs are doing the operation and botching things up. Or, maybe, the surgeries are done by people who are ready to slap on a compress and get to the nearest emergency room on a moment's notice. Obviously, especially considering the possible complications, including incontinence and sepsis, nobody in his right mind would consent to surgery by a cutter.
As far as that goes, the amount of amateur surgery which goes on, is quite surprising. I remember the first time I accessed BME, and looking goggle-eyed at the split tongues, lopped-off digits, and various sexual alterations on the site--all the result of surgeries done, I presume, by people who aren't licensed medical professionals. Besides that, people go to some location in Arizona to gets their skulls trepanned--I've been told that's also done by amateurs. Actually, if you check the record, practically all surgery done prior to the later eighteenth century, was done by barbers rather than by physicians. The red on a barber's pole is said to represent blood, for that reason. And, as far as I can tell from what I've read about him, Felix Spector, who was an osteopath rather than a urologist, didn't actually have much training before he started doing orchiectomies. I wonder if he had any experience assisting with human orchiectomies before he started doing them himself, or just did a few dogs and then figured he knew enough to go on to humans. But, then, according to what I've read, a lot of surgical assistants who are involved in complicated operations, don't have any medical degrees. If I were going to have surgery, though, I think I'd check and make sure everybody who was in on the operation, had at least a nursing degree and a few years of experience.
Anyway, does anybody know of someone actually dying as a result of a bad amateur orchiectomy?
Anyway, this got me thinking about whether or not I had ever read or heard of somebody expiring as a result of amateur surgery by a "cutter." Don't think I have. I've seen a number of reports of urgent trips to the emergency room, and, of course, uncontrolled hemorrhage is a danger in any surgery. But, though I admittedly don't search these things out, and probably wouldn't see notice of it except on this website, it seems striking that I haven't seen any reports of people dying after amateur orchiectomies. In fact, after reading several articles and looking through a couple of books about hijras in South Asia, my impression is, that it's rare for someone to die after being worked over by a Dai Ma, which I think is the name for individuals who do the operation in which the external male genitals are excised. As far as I know, the persons who do the surgery on hijras in India have no medical training, and are therefore essentially the same in that regard as cutters in North America. Of course, the surgery performed on hijras is very much more invasive than a simple orchiectomy.
I'm not suggesting that amateur orchiectomies are safe. Perhaps the operation is sufficiently minor, in terms of its physical effects, that deaths are rare even when amateurs are doing the operation and botching things up. Or, maybe, the surgeries are done by people who are ready to slap on a compress and get to the nearest emergency room on a moment's notice. Obviously, especially considering the possible complications, including incontinence and sepsis, nobody in his right mind would consent to surgery by a cutter.
As far as that goes, the amount of amateur surgery which goes on, is quite surprising. I remember the first time I accessed BME, and looking goggle-eyed at the split tongues, lopped-off digits, and various sexual alterations on the site--all the result of surgeries done, I presume, by people who aren't licensed medical professionals. Besides that, people go to some location in Arizona to gets their skulls trepanned--I've been told that's also done by amateurs. Actually, if you check the record, practically all surgery done prior to the later eighteenth century, was done by barbers rather than by physicians. The red on a barber's pole is said to represent blood, for that reason. And, as far as I can tell from what I've read about him, Felix Spector, who was an osteopath rather than a urologist, didn't actually have much training before he started doing orchiectomies. I wonder if he had any experience assisting with human orchiectomies before he started doing them himself, or just did a few dogs and then figured he knew enough to go on to humans. But, then, according to what I've read, a lot of surgical assistants who are involved in complicated operations, don't have any medical degrees. If I were going to have surgery, though, I think I'd check and make sure everybody who was in on the operation, had at least a nursing degree and a few years of experience.
Anyway, does anybody know of someone actually dying as a result of a bad amateur orchiectomy?
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