botched lobotomy?
botched lobotomy?
#1botched lobotomy?
Posted: 11/25/07 at 10:05am
did you guys know that Rosemary Kennedy had a botched lobotomy? i was watching a thing on the Curse of the Kennedys last night and they mentioned this detail about her. i always thought she was just "touched by God". i had no idea they specifically did this to her!
there's more about it on Wikipedia. how haunting!
We went through the top of the head, I think she was awake. She had a mild tranquilizer. I made a surgical incision in the brain through the skull. It was near the front. It was on both sides. We just made a small incision, no more than an inch." The instrument Dr. Watts used looked like a butter knife. He swung it up and down to cut brain tissue. "We put an instrument inside," he said. As Dr. Watts cut, Dr. Freeman put questions to Rosemary. For example, he asked her to recite the Lord's Prayer or sing "God Bless America" or count backwards. ... "We made an estimate on how far to cut based on how she responded." ... When she began to become incoherent, they stopped.
—James W. Watts
Like a scene out of Hannibal....
#2re: botched lobotomy?
Posted: 11/25/07 at 10:39amOh sorry, I thought this thread was about HDThoreau2.
"Smart! And into all those exotic mystiques -- The Kama Sutra and Chinese techniques. I hear she knows more than seventy-five. Call me tomorrow if you're still alive!"
#2re: botched lobotomy?
Posted: 11/25/07 at 10:42am"I'd rather have a bottle in front of me....."
" ...the happiness in the tune convinces me that I'm not afraid."
#3re: botched lobotomy?
Posted: 11/25/07 at 10:43am
"Than a frontal lobotomy."
" ...the happiness in the tune convinces me that I'm not afraid."
Updated On: 11/25/07 at 10:43 AM
TheatreDiva90016
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/10/04
#4re: botched lobotomy?
Posted: 11/25/07 at 11:59am
"Oh sorry, I thought this thread was about HDThoreau2."
That's EXACTLY what went through my mind as well!
"TheatreDiva90016 - another good reason to frequent these boards less."<<>>
“I hesitate to give this line of discussion the validation it so desperately craves by perpetuating it, but the light from logic is getting further and further away with your every successive post.” <<>>
-whatever2
#5re: botched lobotomy?
Posted: 11/25/07 at 12:33pmI thought you had all discovered my little secret.
Pretty pretty please don't you ever ever feel like you're less than f**ckin' perfect!
#6re: botched lobotomy?
Posted: 11/25/07 at 12:38pm"Labotomy gets em home!"
" ...the happiness in the tune convinces me that I'm not afraid."
#7re: botched lobotomy?
Posted: 11/25/07 at 12:39pm
anything on wikipedia should be verified elsewhere, as anyone, and I do mean anyone can make a wiki post.....change one, etc.
example, way too many people thought there actually was a Northwest Tree Octopus
not saying the lobotomy isn't true, just never take wiki's word as gospel
It is ridiculous to set a detective story in New York City. New York City is itself a detective story...
AGATHA CHRISTIE, Life magazine, May 14, 1956
#8re: botched lobotomy?
Posted: 11/25/07 at 5:15pm
It's definitely true, and has been known for many, many decades, although in the 1940s. 50s, Joe Kennedy managed to "cover it up."
When mental illness was finally talked about in later years, many stories appeared about poor Rosemary. She basically was forced into this ill advised procedure by Joe Sr. and then "hidden away" in a mental institution.
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#9re: botched lobotomy?
Posted: 11/25/07 at 5:21pm
Rosemary's is not the only case of such a thing happening. I had doen soem research for school a couple of years ago, and it was pretty frequent in the 30's, 40's and 50's.
True story...
Updated On: 11/25/07 at 05:21 PM
#10re: botched lobotomy?
Posted: 11/25/07 at 5:24pm
Occupation? 
" ...the happiness in the tune convinces me that I'm not afraid."
#11re: botched lobotomy?
Posted: 11/25/07 at 5:42pm
It sounds like such a gruesome, medieval procedure... and yet it was common in the last century.
Truly terrifying.
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
#12re: botched lobotomy?
Posted: 11/25/07 at 5:55pmThe sad part is that her only real problem was mood swings. Afterwards, she was basically incapacitated.
Like a firework unexploded
Wanting life but never knowing how
Wanting life but never knowing how
SueleenGay
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/9/03
#13re: botched lobotomy?
Posted: 11/25/07 at 6:03pm
It is a very sad period in the treatment of mental health and happened much too frequently.
The mother of a good friend of mine was the nurse for Tennessee William's sister when she went in for her lobotomy. She gets very upset and sad when she talks about it. She sas that "Laura" was the sweetest girl and that it was not an easy decision for the family.
PEACE.
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