E.G., a bachelor, age 48, German extraction. Living on a dry farm thirty miles out. Father died when E. G. was a boy. Mother large fleshy women 76 years old with very high blood pressure and extremely bad heart, has to take Crataegus constantly to stay alive.
On August 26 this man was brought to my office in a car. The rear of the car was covered with blood and a small can in which he had vomited seemed to be half full of blood. He was unable to stand, could scarcely speak from weakness and loss of blood. I ordered him to the hospital at once and after putting him to bed, made a thorough examination and diagnosed his condition as ulcer of the stomach.
He was almost exsanguinated, temperature much below normal and pulse weak and thready while his skin was sallow and covered with cold sweat; in other words, he was in extreme shock. Operation at this time would have been fatal. Because of the fear and extreme nausea which he openly experienced on sitting up, his restlessness and thirst as well as the chilly feeling, I was led to give him Aconite. I stopped all food but ordered an abundance of water.
This regimen checked the vomiting and blood in 24 hours, but I felt at the end of that time that because of his subnormal temperature and shock Veratrum alb. was now his remedy and it was given in 2x potency.
Eight ounces of milk in which two eggs were beaten up was ordered by nutrient enema twice in twenty-four hours. He retained the enema perfectly and every particle of the food was digested as was indicated by the cleansing enema.
Veratrum alb. was continued in this case for four days, at which time all evidence of shock seemed to have disappeared. I continued the nutrient enemas and interdicted all food by mouth for ten days and then began jello, mild thin soups and tea. This agreed with him perfectly and after a week of it we were able to allow heavier soups and some juices of fruits.
Because of the empty all gone feeling in his stomach and the color of the tongue I changed on the sixth day to Hydrastine mur. and he continued on that until he left the hospital.
This man was in to see me on November 24 and he had gained thirty pounds in weight, had a splendid appetite and was doing his own farm work again. I stopped the Hydrastine and gave him Nux vomica.
I think this case was perhaps the closest to death of any patient I ever treated for ulcer, who recovered.
CASE II. Our country physician is a homoeopathic man. Four weeks ago when he got sick I took on as much of his country work as I could handle just to hold the job for him. Among his patients who were sent to me was a Mexican woman, a Mrs. C., about 35 years of age.
It is impossible to get much of a family history from Mexican people, who know little about their families. Mrs. C. was pregnant, about four and a half months along; she had a fever of 103.5, pulse 120. The most distressing symptom was the terrible pain she was having in the right inguinal region together with vomiting and cramps. I could get very little information out of her or her husbands, but the symptoms seemed to call for Cuprum ars., which was given.
I directed her husband to report to me that afternoon and bring a sample of her urine. Early in the afternoon he returned, bringing his wife, who was very much worse. I obtained a sample of the urine and found it loaded with albumin and pus cells with every indication of pyelitis of the right kidney. However, a lump in the right quadrant of the abdomen of was not to be overlooked as the appendix might also be involved. I ordered her to the hospital at once and told her husband that I might operate on her, but would have consultation first.
The doctor who saw the case with me agreed that it was pyelitis and a serious one. He advised one of the sulfa drugs to be pushed, but I told him I could only see one remedy indicated and that remedy was Colocynth. Of course he did not agree but as the case was mine I told him I had the choice of drugs.
The Colocynth worked like magic and completely relieved the pain. The fever subsided and the spasm of the right ureter stopped. I continued her on the medicine for several days and thought I would cure her with the one remedy. Unfortunately she had begun to insist that we give her something to eat as she had nothing but water for three days, so I allowed them to give her small amounts of milk.
This was a mistake because the next day the temperature shot to 103 degree, the urine again became loaded with albumin and pus, but to my amazement the right kidney seemed to be completely free and it was now in the left kidney.
Colocynth no longer had any effect in any potency, but the flushed face, the soft quick pulse, the restlessness and sleeplessness, together with the fact that pus and albumin were present in the urine led me to give her Ferrum phos.
I had again selected the right remedy, and the fever and pain rapidly subsided and within four days she was able to go home with just a trace of albumin in the urine. There was quite a large lump in the appendix region which remained for a week but gradually subsided.
Whether there was some involvement of the appendix is not clear although her blood count showed 15,000 whites; but this could be due to the pyelitis alone.
This woman is now going on with her pregnancy in a normal manner so far as I know, as they have not reported to me for some time.
I suppose had I yielded to popular clamor I would have given her one of the sulfa group and perhaps my patient would have recovered equally well, but I am a firm believer in the use of the indicated remedy and follow that plan if the patient is my own. FORT MORGAN, COLO.
