Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Julius Bonello

  • The enduring legacy of William Stewart Halsted

    Michael NeffDallas, TexasMariam BanoubJulius BonelloPeoria, Illinois Late at night, nearly as exhausted with worry as the patient suffering severe abdominal pain before him, William Halsted made an executive decision. “Mother,” he pleaded, “you have an infected gallbladder and you need an operation.” After more reassurance, Mrs. Halsted, clutching her side, lay on the table and…

  • Childbirth’s hidden revolution: The origins of obstetric forceps

    Mariam BanoubMatthew HillJulius BonelloPeoria, Illinois, United States The Chamberlen family of barber-surgeons had a secret, an invention unknown to anyone else at the time. They protected this invention at all costs, even when it cost a human life. To ensure their secrecy, they always arrived at a patient’s home in a highly decorated carriage. Assistants…

  • John B. Murphy, “The surgical genius of his generation”

    Barbara MeraEmma RyanJulius BonelloPeoria, Illinois, United States At the end of the 1800s, the art of surgery was changing. The almost universal usage of anesthesia, coupled with the growing support of germ theory and the beginnings of antiseptic surgery, enabled people to undergo less painful and much safer procedures. More complicated operations could now be…

  • The man behind the bottle

    Mariam BanoubEmma RyanJulius BonelloPeoria, Illinois, United States “Ahhh, the pause that refreshes.” “Things go better with Coke.” “Taste the feeling.” “So refreshing, so welcome, so everywhere.” These phrases may elicit a feeling of warmth and joy. Or the feeling of a crisp, cold Coca-Cola on a hot summer’s day. They are meant to encourage the…

  • Doc Holliday: The deadly legacy of a dying man

    Mariam BanoubBarbara MeraEmma RyanJulius BonelloPeoria, Illinois, United States Throughout history, tuberculosis (TB) has been known by names such as the white plague, king’s evil, consumption, and scrofula. Estimates state TB has claimed the lives of up to five billion people throughout human history. While COVID-19 temporarily claimed the title of the world’s most lethal disease…

  • Sam McGee, Dan, and me

    Julius BonelloPeoria, Illinois, United States We had just finished an endoscopic procedure and the patient had left the room. We were scurrying around in the dark getting ready for the next patient. As ‘50s and ‘60s music  played in the background, we challenged each other to random trivia questions. Thinking that I was “better than…

  • Mary Ann Bickerdyke

    Julius BonelloEmma RyanPeoria, Illinois, United States The colonel had had enough of her disrespect. He would consult his general about this nasty old woman. “I didn’t know we had any nasty old women in our Army,” General Sherman remarked. “Who might she be now?”  “I believe she calls herself Bickerdyke, sir.” “Mother Bickerdyke?” the general…

  • Grave robber or father of experimental surgery: A look into the life of John Hunter

    Julius BonelloKathy SlaterPeoria, Illinois, United States That the true idea of Life existed in the mind of John Hunter, I do not entertain the least doubt.– Samuel Taylor Coleridge The silence of the graveyard was broken by the grunts of laboring men and the sound of shovels slicing through fresh ground. “Shhhhh, don’t be so…

  • Joshua Chamberlain: The last casualty of the US Civil War

    Julius BonelloCassandra PalmerPeoria, Illinois, United States “The inspiration of a noble cause involving human interests wide and far, enables men to do things they did not dream themselves capable of before, in which they were not capable of alone. The consciousness of belonging, vitally, to something beyond individuality; of being part of a personality that…

  • The history of the C-section

    Julius BonelloAjoke IrominiPeoria, Illinois, United States A procedure that removes a live fetus through an abdominal incision in a pregnant woman is known as a Cesarean section or C-section. Its original intention was to remove a dead baby from a dying or dead mother. Therefore, Julius Caesar (100–44 BC) was not delivered by Cesarean Section…