Usually when you have your appendix removed, it's a one-time sort of procedure. But 43-year-old William McCormack of Bronxville, New York, found out the hard way — not always.
McCormack was on vacation in March when he suddenly doubled over in pain. He was rushed to a nearby hospital for an emergency appendectomy. But odd thing is, he'd already had the surgery more than a year ago. (Via WCBS)
No, the 43-year-old didn't have two appendixes. Apparently, the doctor during the first surgery didn't actually remove McCormack's appendix but instead took out something else.
According to WCBS, the pathology lab report on the "yellowish mass" removed from McCormack during his first surgery noted there was "no evidence of [an] appendix."
And so McCormack, uninformed that his appendix had not actually been removed, went on for 14 months thinking he no longer had an appendix before the second surgery last month. (Via News 12 Westchester)
He's now suing the doctor who performed the surgery for unspecified damages. His legal team says the surgeon should have known what an appendix looks like or at least reviewed the pathology report.
"Did anyone read the pathology report, or did they ignore it?"
"Don't let him walk around for 14 months thinking he didn't have an appendix when he does have an appendix that could rupture at any moment." (Via WLNY)
McCormack is reportedly doing fine now and says although he's not ready to talk on camera about the mistake that could have killed him, he wants to make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else.
