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[Page 18]
and he was sent to take a rest which he needed badly. Next morning he had improved considerably & he was able to take the place of Dr. Ollerhead when the latter returned to Cocos Island.
The next case taken that night (Tuesday) was "M". He had a shell wound in his back the size of a half crown, just below the last rib on the left side. Earlier in the day he had retention of urine, and a catheter was passed, drawing off almost pure blood, so evidently the fragment had lodged in, or passed through, the kidney. The patient had had a good deal of pain & haemorrhage, but, apart from the pale colour, he was very fit. Under chloroform the wound was cleaned up and I traced the track of the fragment with a probe below the twelvth rib 3 inches from the middle line, but could feel nothing. The wound, which was foul, was enlarged with a scalpel and I tried to get my finger on to the metal, without success. Eventually, before doing too much cutting, and from fear of carrying in infection too deeply, I decided to wait, and contented myself with draining the wound. The blood in the urine was much less on the following day and the patient had no retention. He continued to improve, and within 2 days there was no trace of blood in his urine. He was landed in hospital very fit, but still with a fragment in his kidney, & some slight discharge from the wound. Later news says that he is convalescent. It was now about 12.30 a.m. and after a solid & anxious day, all were pretty well done up, especially the two sick berth ratings. They had worked wonderfully well & had now to be sent to bed thoroughly exhausted.