It has taken twelve years or more to develop this case to the point where it is as instructive as it now is, and it is a typical example of what may happen even to a physician. There are other cases in my notes that are quite as instructive, two of them occurring in thoroughly educated men, clergymen who were of good intellectual capacity, but who became too much occupied with themselves. One of these had more operations done on him than my friend the physician. He first had his appendix removed, and was better for a time. Then his kidney was fastened up, and improvement once more took place. After this he lost in weight considerably and suffered so much [{305}] from headaches that a friendly surgeon suggested that there must be adhesions between his dura and his brain. Accordingly a trephining was done, and these adhesions, real or supposed, were broken up. For a time he seemed to be better. Then he had some urinary trouble. A long prepuce, though one that was never tight or adherent, and only required a little attention to cleanliness to keep it from giving bother, was removed. Some disturbance of his appetite led him to limit his eating for a time, and then he suffered from constipation. This was diagnosed by a specialist in rectal troubles as due to abnormally developed valves in his rectum, and these were cut. He still complained very much of abdominal discomfort at times. This was diagnosed as ptosis of his organs, and an operation was done to tuck these up. After this he developed a large ventral hernia, which had to be relieved by a subsequent operation.
I had followed the case carefully during many years, seeing him at times, and I was always opposed to the idea of operation and fully confident that none of the operations were really needed. He could not be persuaded that what his case needed most was occupation of mind with something besides his condition. Whenever I could persuade him of this I had seen him gain in weight, get into much better spirits and be almost able to take up his work again. Then he would become discouraged, and before long I would hear of another operation that was planned, or was about to be performed. During the course of one of his many progressive losses in weight as a consequence of depression of mind, he developed tuberculosis. He resisted this very well, but eventually died rather suddenly of an empyema. A careful autopsy showed nothing but the traces of former operations, and no reason why they should have been done.
Another case: A friend, also a clergyman, had three operations done, one of them circumcision, the second an appendectomy and the third on a supposed floating kidney. None were indicated, so far as I could see, by any definite symptoms, or justified by his condition. He had vague abdominal discomfort, and this continued to bother him in spite of treatment by various specialists, and his mind became so much occupied with it that he was ready to submit to anything in order to be rid of his burden of discomfort. At no time was it an ache, nor did he ever speak of it as a pain. He had some tendency to dilatation of the stomach and at times, when much occupied with indoor work and neglecting muscular exercise, there was probably some delay of digestion. His appetite was good whenever he would let it be; his bowels were regular whenever he was eating sufficient to stimulate them to normal function; he slept well, except when unnerved by something, but the presence of this abdominal discomfort disturbed most of his waking hours. He could stand it so far as it had gone, but he was sure that it would become so much worse in the future that it would be unbearable. He dreaded that cancer or some other awful development would come after a time.
As a matter of fact, the main portion of the discomfort in these cases is the dread of what may happen. It is a dread, just as misophobia or claustrophobia or acrophobia or any of the other dreads that we discuss in the chapter on that subject. The constant occupation with this dread apparently inhibits to some degree the flow of nerve impulses to the abdominal organs, and digestion, already disturbed, is still more impaired. Indeed, the whole [{306}] of the discomfort seems to be a consciousness of stomach and intestinal function rather than anything more serious. The stomach will take two or three pounds or even more of mingled liquids and solids at a meal and pass them on to the intestines without forcing itself into the field of our consciousness. Anyone who is aware what a thin-walled membranous bag the human stomach is—what it most nearly resembles is perhaps the familiar bladder of the cow—may well be surprised that, though it is supplied with many sensitive nerves, it gives so little sign of the load that is often placed in it. It may, however, be brought rather poignantly into the sphere of consciousness by concentration of attention on it.
The intestines function usually with the same lack of reflex. They proceed to pass on this quantity of food, store up two or three days' rations, digest what is nutritious and eliminate what must be rejected, without rising into consciousness. If either stomach or intestines once begin to attract attention, then it will be difficult, unless care is exercised to distract the mind from them, to replace and keep them back in the sphere of the unconscious once more. Peristaltic movements are constantly taking place in the digestive tract. Various things may interfere with peristalsis, and the disturbance of it will almost surely cause some sensation. It may not be serious, and digestive processes may continue, yet there may be discomfort. If there is delay in the passage of food, gas accumulates in the stomach, presses up against the diaphragm and interferes with the heart action. This will give rise to many bothersome sensations, some of which are felt in the heart region itself; others much lower down on the left side, where it is rather hard to recognize just what the real seat of them may be. A good deal of the abdominal discomfort of which people complain, is due to such functional disturbances, emphasized by the fact that digestive action has come into the sphere of consciousness and now attention is being concentrated on it, to the detriment of digestion itself, as well as to the increase of the annoyance which the discomfort may occasion.
Operations for abdominal discomfort are quite contra-indicated, unless there are very definite localizing symptoms of some pathological lesion that can surely be relieved by operative intervention. To operate on general principles is sure to emphasize the patient's concentration of attention on his abdominal discomfort, if it does not relieve it, and in most of these cases it utterly fails. The strong suggestion of an operation will relieve for the time being, just as operations for epilepsy seemed to relieve when that procedure was first introduced, though now, unless there are definite localizing signs, there is no question of such an operation.
Toxic Factors.—Tea.—A very interesting phase of abdominal discomfort seems to be associated with the taking of nerve stimulants. I have frequently found that patients who complained of vague abdominal uneasiness, sometimes rising particularly at night to the height of colicky feelings but always on the left side, were indulging to excess in tea or coffee. In one case, a woman was taking, she thought, about a dozen cups of tea a day. Just how much more than this she actually was taking I do not know, for it is almost incredible the amount of tea that middle-aged women who are alone may take. I once found by actual count made for me, that a woman was taking almost a score of cups of tea in each twenty-four hours.
Just as soon as there is a reduction in the amount of tea taken in these cases, relief is afforded the patient. This relief will not, however, be absolutely satisfactory because the craving for the tea stimulation makes the patients irritable, and it takes but very little to cause them to complain that they still have their old discomfort. In the course of three or four days they realize that the root of the trouble has been reached. If the discomfort has continued for a good while, a sort of habit seems to be formed, and the attention of the mind gives a sense of uneasiness, if not discomfort, in the left abdominal region. Usually it is in the upper left quadrant and seems to be stomachic in origin. The discomfort is apparently due to the presence of air, or gas, which is not properly expelled because of some lack of co-ordination of muscles, and then the warmth of a room or of the bed at night, or the presence of some slightly irritant substance makes the discomfort more noticeable. In the patient's over-stimulated condition, there is inability to withstand it patiently. In none of these cases is there a fever, though in all there is some disturbance of the pulse as if the heart's action were interfered with and the organ resented it.
Coffee.—In some cases the same vague abdominal discomfort occurs as a consequence of taking too much coffee. This is seen in men more than in women. The tea topers are nearly all women, though my attention was first called to this vague discomfort, that made life miserable for a tea tester, who spent most of his day tasting tea, though drinking very little of it. With regard to coffee, individual idiosyncrasy is an extremely important matter. Some men seem to be able to take five, six or even more cups of coffee in the day without inconvenience; some cannot take even a small cup of coffee after six o'clock at night without being kept awake for several hours; others cannot take a large cup of coffee in the morning without having considerable discomfort, which is usually attributed to indigestion. I have known large, strong men, who were much better for not taking any coffee, or at the most a tablespoonful of it in a cup of milk in the morning to satisfy the taste.