The Surgeon Who Saved My Life Forgot to Mention I Almost Died — And That’s a Problem

Had I been alive in The Three Musketeers’ time, I would have died twice this year.

Let me explain.

It all started with a really bad tooth infection. The pain was 9/10, and I found myself wondering why the hell we need nerves running through our teeth, for God’s sake!

Then I ended up in the ER with intense belly pain. At first, they thought I’d had a bad reaction to the tooth antibiotics, but a few hours later, my pain had moved to my lower right quadrant.

That’s right, baby. I had appendicitis.

Had I lived 200 years ago, I would have likely died from both my tooth infection and my appendicitis.

But no — I am incredibly lucky that among the 100 billion humans who have ever walked the Earth, I exist in a society where people have developed the most advanced care to attend to each other.

Science, vaccines, surgery, modern medicine. It’s truly wondrous. Almost science fiction, come to think of it.

What struck me at the hospital after my surgery was that my surgeon casually mentioned my appendix was very black and likely half an hour from exploding…but she never once mentioned it could have killed me!

What a missed opportunity! Of course, most people know that, you’ll tell me.

But hear me out. We have normalized these almost supernatural medical procedures, but they’re so incredible!

How many of us can say we are alive today only thanks to the hard work of millions of dedicated women and men since the dawn of the scientific revolution? Many. Many. Many.

It’s time we recognize this — feel the joy, admiration, and gratitude for the result of the scientific work of so many millions of people who lived before us.

And if I had been my surgeon, I would have told my patient they would die without the surgery — if only to remind them of the role science has played in their life. This feels especially important in a time when we see scientifically illiterate people oppose good science in favor of their misguided beliefs, only to run straight to science when shit truly hits the fan and their unvaccinated kid with measles desperately needs real help.