Title: Yang Kang
Secondary Title: Man with a tumor on the right side of his face
Description: Painting from rear view of head, patient with facial tumor. Associated with study portrait from front (Yale Med #20) and finished frontal painting (Yale Med #36).
Tumor: glandular tumor
Case Number: 15,000
Year: 1844
Modern Suggestion: no suggestion
Credit: Courtesy of Yale University Medical Historical Library
Dr. Peter Parker's Case History
ng on commencement of the first incision, "it hurts, doctor." The tumor was of a glandular structure...Portions of the tissue cut harder than the rest, and approached a cartiliginous or semiosseous structure. The mingling hope of success and fears of the worst possible consequences excited devout and sincere intercessions at the throne of grace in his behalf, and an earnest use of means to prepare him for whatever might be the divine allotment. He was told that others fervently entreated the most high God to save him, but that it was desired that he himself should pray to Him who alone would succeed the means to be used. This patient became the porter of the hospital."
Additional Commentary
relationship with the patient, removing him from the streets of Macao so that he might work as a porter in the infirmary, it remains unclear whether or not the patient chose to serve Christian faith. As there are no atheists in foxholes or those undergoing life-threatening surgery, we ought to be skeptical of the power of Parker's bedside ministry to make any lasting impact on the patient, rather it reveals the uncertainty of the enterprise.

The Mysteries of Lam Qua: Medical Portraiture in China 1836 - 1855
about - essay - galleries - search - resources - contact