Surgery at Home

Everyone then had their babies at home. As I said, my mamma had eleven children, all at home. Once, however, she needed an appendectomy. She did not want to leave the kids, so the doctors, nurse, and neighbor ladies prepared for a day at our house for surgery.

My pappa made an operating table, the date was set, and I watched my mamma walk to the table in her white gown and get on the table. Then we left the house for a while. That was such a dreadful time for me. I hardly knew what surgery meant, but I knew it was bad because my big Sissy went down to the springhouse. She thought she should not cry, so she picked her toenail off to the bleeding point so she could cry and use that for an excuse.

By noon, the surgery was finished and the neighbor ladies had prepared a huge feast. The doctors and everyone ate because they had to spend the day to be sure all went well. My mamma came through fine, even though she was expecting a baby at the time.

My little brother was small. I remember when my mamma could talk, she said, "Bring me my baby." and they took my little black-headed brother in to her. The surgeon and nurse came 30 miles for the operation, and our Doc Martin lived 4 miles away. Doc Atkins, whom we called the pneumonia doctor, was also there. He lived about 15 miles.

Can you imagine doctors who would go that far and spend a whole day for anyone any more? The cost was so small I never even heard it discussed.