Artist Unknown
I recently visited the Ephraim McDowell House in Danville, Kentucky for a tour
with a friend. We both have an interest in Kentucky history and a heart for supporting
hospitals. I felt inspired to step into the story of what life was like in the 1800’s. We
learned the story of a pioneering doctor who included prayer with his practice and on
Christmas morning in 1809 performed the first successful surgery to remove an ovarian
tumor. And this wasn’t just any tumor. It was a 22.5-pound tumor.
My friend and I stood there in the room where the surgery took place, with its
rustic wood floors, simple white walls, and no frills collection of surgical instruments.
Kentucky was less than 20 years old at the time, doctors didn’t wear white coats and
anesthesia wasn’t even invented yet. I began thinking of the patient, Mrs. Jane Todd
Crawford. She was 45-years old, married with four children and living in a log cabin in
Green County. When she first noticed something in her body, she thought it was a baby
bump. As it grew and grew, she thought she was pregnant with twins. Her whole world
must have turned upside down when nine months passed and she discovered she
wasn’t pregnant, but was facing a diagnosis that no one had ever survived before.
Mrs. Crawford took a daunting 60-mile journey on horseback by herself through
severe winter weather and great suffering to have surgery at Dr. Ephraim McDowell’s
home. As the story goes, when the time of surgery came, she sang. The first survivor of
an ovarian tumor sang hymns to God. And the first doctor to ever perform a successful
surgery to remove an ovarian tumor prayed, asking God for guidance.
Dr. Ephraim McDowell went on to help other women overcome. And Mrs. Jane
Todd Crawford returned to her family as a survivor for other survivors. Standing in the
room where that surgery took place, I said to my friend, “I wonder what that moment
was like… when the family saw their mother come home.”
Mrs. Crawford lived until she was 78 years old, outliving even Dr. McDowell. I
wonder too what their relationship was like… both trusting in God and one another for
a miracle… walking through the experience from suffering to a joyful victory together.
After the tour, my friend and I walked across the street to the gift shop at
Constitution Square and found a copy of Dr. McDowell’s prayer, a take-home treasure.
Dr. Ephraim McDowell’s Prayer:
“Almighty God, be with me, I humbly beseech (ask) Thee in this attendance in Thy holy
hour; give me becoming awe (an awareness) of Thy presence (that You are with me),
and grant me Thy direction (of Your sight) and aid (wisdom). I beseech (ask) Thee, that
in confessing (my need) I may be humble and truly penitent (contrite) in prayer, serious
(genuine) and devout in praises, grateful and sincere, and in hearing Thy word (what
You say) attentive and willing and desirous to be instructed. Direct me, Oh! God, in
performing this operation, for I am but an instrument in Thy hands, and am but Thy
servant, and if it is Thy will, Oh! Spare this poor afflicted woman. Oh! Give me true faith
in the atonement of Thy Son, Jesus Christ, or a love sufficient to procure Thy favor and
blessing, that worshiping Thee in spirit and in truth my services may be accepted
through His all-sufficient merit. Amen.” December 25, 1809.