Mr. C.B, aged 28. Case had been diagnosed as tuberculosis of the hip by several eminent allopaths, and an operation advised.
Patient is a blond, tall, slim, flat narrow, chest, active mentally.
Family history; Father died of phthisis mother living and suffering from bleeding haemorrhoids, that at times amount to serious haemorrhages. She was operated on ten years ago and sphincter ani severed; haemorrhages are now as bad as ever or worse. She also has had for eight years chronic diarrhoea, with no control of bowels.
One sister, she has enlarged cervical glands.
Patient is emaciated; has a very annoying cough, if too warm; night sweats; temperature at 5pm 103 Degree. Hip very much swollen, hard as a bone almost so painful he screams on moving the foot or even the big toe. Always much worse at night, no sleep at night, no sleep at night for six weeks and very little through the day.
He contracted syphilis four years before when a soldier in the Philippines. He also succeeded in suppressing the gonorrhoea after a years effort and now had a large indurated bubo in the right groin. Pupils dilated; worse by jar of the bed; worse 5 pm impossible to sleep till 5 am and very little through the day; pain worse at night.
I assured him surgery could in no wise effect a cure in that hip, and was very doubtful if he could be cured at all since we had a tubercular history to begin with and to this miasm three others were added; gonorrhoea, syphilis and the drug miasm. As the venereal diseases had never been cured only suppressed, it was a question whether a permanent cure could be accomplished.
April 30. I gave Syphilinum C.M. Three powders. There was no improvement in the least although this was the very remedy that acted magically later on, after the gonorrhoeal and tubercular taints as well as the drugging had been reached.
May 3, Belladonna on the following symptoms.
1. Aggravated by the jar of the bed.
2. Dilated pupils.
3. Acute inflammatory stage of the bubo.
There was great relief for two days, but although the remedy was seemingly well indicated the improvement did not last.
May.7 Mercurius CM on the following symptoms.
1. Profuse perspiration without relief.
2. Dry, racking, fatiguing cough, in two paroxysms, worse at night.
3. Bone diseases, worse at night.
4. Abscess slow in suppurating although poulticed for two weeks.
May 11. The bubo softened under the influence of Mercurius. On attempting to lance, it was so ripe it simply collapsed. The patient however seized the lance and cut a gash an inch long as the same time cutting his hand. This healed by first intention without any especial care. i allowed only sterile gauze and water for the dressing, but charged the mother to use bichloride in the water when washing her own hands; in spite of this she carelessly contracted gonorrhoeal ophthalmia. Lancing the bubo gave no permanent relief.
May 16. Gave Tuberculinum CM in water, on the following symptoms.
1. The tuberculinum family history which was the earliest and deeper miasm. (Read paragraphs 5 and 7 of the Organon and see what Hahnemann says)
2. Rise of temperature in the afternoon.
3. Rapid emaciation, although eating well, with almost ravenous appetite.
4. Cough worse when too warm, night sweats.
5. Extreme irritability, a new symptom of the last two weeks, but a symptom not to be overlooked.
There was some relief of the cough for three or four days and then it returned as bad as ever. The terrible pain in the hip which caused him to keep his neighbors awake was not better in the least.
May 21. I repeated the Tuberculinum, but no relief, not not even of the cough.
May 23. Tuberculinum DMM, but not least improvement. The failure of the second and third doses of Tuberculinum seemed to show that it could at that time be of no further use.
May 25. Hepar sulph. CM On trying to raise the patient a little in the bed, he fainted from the pain, I now had my first glimpse of Hepar sulph and gave it on the following symptoms.
1. Fainting from the pain.
2. I then recalled how sensitive he was to touch, would hardly allow me to point the finger at the incision.
3. Profuse perspiration without relief.
4. Hepar is also great antidote for the crude mercury which he had used so freely in the last few years to suppress the syphilis.
I waited five days with no apparent relief from the action of the Hepar.
May 30 Was called by telephone at 9 pm found the patient fairly screaming with pain in the hip and his mother almost distracted at seeing his suffering. He very impatiently remarked. I dont know what night was made for; i hate it and I used to love the moonlight nights. But from 5 in the evening till 5 in the morning is bell on earth to me. If I could only get up and walk the pain would not be so bad.
I thought Syphilinum was the only remedy in the materia medica that covered these symptoms, and if the Hepar had in any way antidoted the mercury it would probably act now. I gave the CM out of the same bottle I used at the first visit.
Result: Asleep in twenty minutes; he slept for eight hours, scarcely moving a finger; His mother said she many times watched his breathing to see if he were alive. He continued to sleep most of the next day, with scarcely a twinge of pain in the hip.
In less than 36 hours the rash had reappeared on his chest, the mouth was full of mucous patches and even the primary lesion had returned, but think from his description it was more like a chancroid, which is so often found in syphilitic cases which are not deeply psoric, where the soft chancroid so often takes the place of the true Hunterian chancre.
In less than a week he was able to be around the room on crutches, the swelling in the hip almost entirely gone. No more pain in the hip for six weeks, when I repeated the Syphilinum CM, with a speedy relief and no return of the pain.
The mucous patches came and went for five weeks. I counted at one time twelve on the end of his tongue, preventing him from drinking hot tea lemonade, or eating strawberries or oranges. He begged me to use listerine or some mild throat wash, but I told him if he did I would give the case up. I used only the homoeopathic remedies all the way through, not allowing the simplest kind of a disinfectant and began my house cleaning internally and not externally as his former physicians had done.
The large incision in the bubo was another source of annoyance. He insisted on the incision being drawn together for fear it would leave such a large scar that he might not be able to obtain his pension, but I explained that the gonorrhoeal poison must have an outlet and this was as good as any we could have. It discharged for three months and then healed by granulating from the bottom as the gonorrhoeal poison was thrown out of the system, and left only a small scar.
In three weeks from the first relief from Syphilinum he was out on the street without crutches. In three months was able to go on the roof at his old trade, a tinner, and the old chronic cough he had been troubled with for years was cured. This is certainly one of the cases. Hahnemann referred to in paragraph 45 of the Organon.
I believe every remedy used in this case was necessary to complex the cure, though the first dose of Syphilinum failed because given too soon, but that Belladonna relieved the inflammation which was acute.
Mercury cured the gonorrhoea which was still active in his system, as a subacute disease, having been suppressed only a few months before, and which was the cause of the acute inflammation The taints of mercurial poisoning (cured by Hepar) and of syphilis (cured later on by Syphilinum) could not have been dealt with to any curative advantage if the still deeper hereditary tubercular taint had not been reached by Tuberculinum. Not a single remedy was prescribed except upon the totally of the symptoms.
And for this interesting case I did not receive even my car fare, but I did receive what was of far greater value to me at that time, Viz.
