26 OCTOBER
My appendix scar seems to have healed up nicely and I have been back at work for a week. All my other abdominal organs seem to have settled down as well since I had the operation which is most gratifying. Mr Cutler, the surgeon, did explain to me that while he was ‘inside’ he had taken the opportunity of checking my liver and it looked to be in ‘very good shape’. I'm not quite sure how he can tell just from feeling the shape of the largest organ of the body that its intricate internal machinery is not malfunctioning and he may have just been trying to reassure me. However, having done a little more research on the internet during my convalescence I have actually come to the conclusion that I may have been mistaken about my liver right from the beginning. Oh I know I was quite convinced that it was swelling up and that the bile ducts were leaking and so forth, but new research that I have found on some of the websites throws an entirely new light on my symptoms. In fact I said to Dr Teacher only yesterday that I thought in retrospect that my liver may have been functioning normally all along. He was quite amazed, naturally, as he has heard me complain about it for many months.’ No,' I said to him, ‘it is my belief that all the trouble is really coming from my pancreas.’ The pancreas is a very little known organ. It is behind the stomach you see, you see, deeply placed and obscure but we neglect it, Dr Teacher, I told him, at our peril.
In point of …