Mistaken Appendicitis

This story is about Rav Dovid Moshe, a grandson of Rav Yisrael Friedman of Chortkov, when he was an older man. His son, Rav Dov Ber Friedman, was home alone with him when Rav Dovid Moshe's pain became intense and his suffering great. This was unusual, since once, when he had a heart attack, he had not even complained.

When he told his son that the pain was unbearable, the son grew frightened and accompanied him to the emergency ward. Rav Dovid Moshe had been sick of late with the illness that would claim his life a year later, and the doctors and nurses had been treating him and knew him well. They were quite surprised at his reaction.

After examining him as he lay on the hospital bed and was wheeled toward the surgery ward, the doctor mentioned to the nurse that it was a severe attack of appendicitis and that they would do emergency surgery to remove the appendix before it burst.

When Rav Dovid Moshe heard this, he began to protest loudly that under no circumstances did he agree to surgery. The doctors and nurses were at a loss. On one hand they saw that he was suffering and in great pain. On the other hand, the man they knew well lay there adamantly refusing the operation.

The doctor suggested an X-ray instead, and Rav Dovid Moshe agreed. The X-ray showed a fracture pressing against his stomach, which had given the impression of an enlarged appendix. When the astonished doctor explained that they would need to operate to correct the fracture, Rav Dovid Moshe agreed.

Later, the son asked his father to explain this seemingly prophetic episode. Rav Dovid Moshe, who was too weak to be fully anesthetized and was therefore awake after only a local anesthetic, explained, "When I was a young child I suffered greatly from appendicitis. After the second attack, the doctors wanted to operate, saying that if they delayed any further it might rupture and cause an infection, Heaven forbid. My zeide, the holy Rav Yisrael of Chortkov, visited me and sat by my bedside. He said to me, 'You will not suffer from your appendix anymore.' Therefore my parents did not allow them to operate on me.

"Now, when the doctor said it was appendicitis, I knew he had to be mistaken. Did my holy zeide not tell me that my appendix would not bother me again? An X-ray I agreed to, and to repair a fracture I agreed as well, because that is certainly possible. When it comes to sound medical advice, I listen to the doctor."