In August 2002, after much searching, I found an Iranian surgeon who agreed to treat me.  His treatment started to work almost immediately in that within a few days the wound began to heal and closed up eventually.  He too said that I would need further abdominal surgery but that this couldn't be done until I had finished the treatment for the invasive candidiasis (I.C.) and been free of the I.C. for three months, otherwise further surgery too soon could put me right back where I started.

The Iranian surgeon carried out the surgery January 6, 2003 but prior to it, because of my history, sent me to a cardiologist for a pre-op exam.  One of the problems from which I had suffered since the disastrous Mayo Clinic episode was short-term memory loss and the inability to give voice to my thoughts in a cohesive and comprehensible manner.  The cardiologist explained that these symptoms are common among people who have had surgery involving anesthesia and that the Mayo Clinic should have treated me for it.  He prescribed a medicine, which, as with the Iranian doctor's treatment, also started working within days.  Of course it is quite possible Mother Nature may have decided, at last, to repair my synapses or whatever, but...

Interestingly, I had asked Dr. Sanford Finck how my stomach came to be punctured and he said that my stomach was in the wrong place.  Subsequently, I asked the Iranian surgeon who repaired my abdomen if this was so and he said that my stomach was NOT in the wrong place.