28/02/2025
Today in Black History Month we honor Anarcha Westcott. She was a 17 year enslaved girl who underwent roughly 30 operations without anesthesia for a vesicova**nal fistula ( abnormal connection between va**na and bladder= urine coming through your va**na).
She healed after this surgery. James Marion Sim (we refuse to refer to him as doctor) was the racist man who performed these surgeries on her, and is denoted as the father of Gynecology.
However, we would like to say Anarcha is the mother of gynecology. Without her strength, grit, and bravery she wouldn't have survived those procedures. We couldn't imagine doing surgery on someone without some form of anesthesia. Black history is America's history. The story must be told even when it's not pretty.
