April 15, 1965 – Arcola, Saskatchewan
It smells like the doctor is trying to start a tractor.
That thought, and every other, was obliterated as Dr. Plaster dropped an ether-soaked mask over my face and started counting backwards from ten.
My dad sometimes used ether to start a tractor in the wintertime. He would spray a short stream of the vile-smelling chemical into the air-intake as he turned the engine over. No matter how cold the weather, the engine would fire every time, first try, fuelled by the highly flammable vapours.
On April 15, 1965, in the operating room at Arcola Hospital, Dr. Plaster was about to administer tractor-starter to knock me unconscious so he could perform a tonsillectomy.
Dr. Henry Davis administering ether anesthetic in 1892.
As he sprayed ether from a can into the mask, the Doctor explained that he was going to place it over my nose and mouth and count back from ten. When I woke up, he said, the operation would be all over.
Four attendants each held an arm and a leg, while the doctor immobilized my head and dropped the mask over my face.
Terror was immediate. Before the count reached eight, my every instinct screamed escape! I thrashed and kicked but couldn’t break free. At seven the world was a riot of panic and swirling streams of light. I never heard “six”.
Dad noticed me looking at it as he put the can back on a high shelf after the tractor started. “DO NOT play with that, it’s dangerous”, he told me.
A can of Liquid Fire ether, on my Kubota tractor.
In my ten-year-old state of curiosity, whenever an adult said, “don’t do something”, it was like an invitation. When they said, “DO NOT do something”, I had to get involved immediately. When Dad went off to do whatever he was doing with the tractor that day, I stood on a box, grabbed the can, and had a good look at it. The label read “(C3H5)2O” and it had several warning labels, including this one.
The label said that improper use could result in bodily damage to humans and might cause critical engine failure.
I held the can at arm’s length and touched the spray top. A short blast at a 45° angle filled the tractor shed with vapour and I understood clearly what Dad, and the warning label, meant.
Back in the recovery room, I had a sore throat where my tonsils had once been, but the more painful affliction was a headache, a result of breathing the same (C3H5)2O fumes I had in the tractor shed.
The use of ether as an anesthetic came into general use during the American Civil War. Prior to that, injured soldiers were administered a shot of whiskey and given a bullet to bite on, as surgeons removed shrapnel and amputated limbs.
Injured soldiers at Armory Square Hospital during the U.S. Civil War.
I was probably one of the last patients to be administered ether as an anesthetic. By the mid-1960s, intravenous drug concoctions had replaced methane-based inhalation methods.
I am scheduled to have a medical procedure on Thursday, which will involve a general anesthetic for a short period of time. The procedure itself doesn’t intimidate me, but the thought of a doctor administering the anesthetic brings back frightening memories.
Doctors working at Peter Lougheed Hospital have preferred parking stalls just outside the Administration entrance. If I see a McCormick W-6 parked in Dr. Horne’s stall I am going to tell him, “No thanks, I prefer a shot of whiskey and …
… a Bullet to Bite on”.
Carol
That is quite a story,very,well done 😂 !
Russ
Thanks Carol. Nobody forgets getting a whiff of ether
GG
Friendly sounding family. I’m hoping there’s no repeat of blood filled garbage cans, but you might need the frozen peas.
Russ
We get along very well today, but we were like the Hatfields and McCoys back in the day. I will stock up on peas!
Terri Alix
To this day I cannot stand the smell of ether. Starting a tractor around here on a cold morning brings me right back to two surgeries I had in 1959. That smell never leaves you. It is a good thing that better methods are in use today!
Colleen Brownridge
My sister Naxine and I both got ours out the same day. Not sure if we both needed them out or we were too scared to stay in the hospital by ourself, so we both got them done. The smell was definitely horrific, but I remember when we woke up thinking the little knobs on the windows holding the screens on were bees, and they wet going to sting us. Not a good experience when you are 6, snd my sister Maxine was only 7! She is still terrified of hospitals.
Russ
The bee hallucination must have been as traumatic as the ether!
Kevin Paton
I will never forget the tonsil either anaesthetic
I still dread the smell of that stuff!
Russ
You were very young. I don’t know why they decided to operate on both of us the at the same time.
Karen Richmond
Great story Russ. I’m sure you know that ether is no longer used as anaesthetic. But I also remember the strong smell of ether from my tonsillectomy in 1960-61.
Russ
Yes, thanks Karen. We were probably the last people to be administered ether. It is not something you forget!
Val
Is it just family folklore or did both you and Brad get your tonsils out at the same time? Didn’t one punch the other resulting in a garbage can full of blood and a return trip to the hospital?
Russ
Kevin and I got our tonsils out the same day. When I got home Brad and I had a fight with the results you mentioned. I ended up back in the hospital and they couldn’t get blood for a transfusion. I recovered but Brad and I still need to chat about that incident 😂
Brad paton
I will never forget that day. I thought that I had seen Russ for the last time as mom ran him off to the hospital in ARCOLA ! Either he was going to lose all his blood or dad was goning to administer the death by spanking that I probably deserved. Now the thought of losing your best friend (and getting a spanking) we’re worrying me that day! I was pretty relieved when mom drove back into the yard with Russ eating a popsicle. And I guess the folks figured I had punished myself enough so no none was handed out!however there was no popsicle for me!
Russ
That story has stuck for a long time, it must have been traumatic all the way around. It all worked out in the end, I owe you a popsicle!