There are two kinds of surgical operations—those of choice and those of necessity.
Every one knows about the operations of necessity, most of which must be performed as a result of accident, but few people understand the dangers of delaying what are termed "operations of choice." These are for such conditions as appendicitis, cancer, and stomach and bowel troubles.
Delaying an operation of choice lessens the chances of living, and really makes an operation of necessity with fewer chances of recovery than from the operations that must promptly follow injuries.
When we feel that an operation is needed, or are in doubt about it, the wise thing to do is to consult medical authority. Then, if it is found there should be an operation, there is plenty of time to make every arrangement. We can begin to diet, which is generally necessary and there is every chance for speedy recovery.
If a man breaks a leg and it has been set badly, the surgeons do not rebreak it at once, but allow it to heal and the patient to regain his strength, when it is again broken and reset properly. This is an operation of choice.
But if a terrible fracture of the leg results from a fall, with the shattered bone protruding, an operation of necessity must follow to mend torn arteries.
It has been learned through recently gathered statistics that about thirty per cent. of the people operated on for appendicitis die simply because they delay the operation. This should have been an operation of choice, when every arrangement could have been made long beforehand; the delay makes it an operation of necessity, with the victim in such poor physical condition that he has not half the strength to recover that he would have had if he had been wise enough to consult a physician when he first suspected that something was wrong.
These same statistics go to show that fully 99 per cent. of the appendicitis cases, when taken in time, are cured by means of the operation, thus affording the strongest proof of the folly of delaying such things.
The total number of deaths from appendicitis each year, due to delay in operating, is greater than the number of deaths during the Spanish-American War. There are instances where the doctors do not advise operations soon enough.
Above all things, when a reputable physician advises operation, do not think you know more than the physician, but have the operation performed at once. Nine times out of ten this will be the means of saving your life.