Health and Medical History of NAOTMAA

[Sergio]

Lisa,
sorry but I don`t think that photo is from the Otsu accident because at that time Nicholas only used a moustache and not a beard, as you can see in the next photos taken on 1891:



I think you confused the dates: the Otsu accident was on April 29th 1891 and your photo is from April 22th 1898 (7 years later)!

What do you think?

[Lisa]

Excuse me, but I don't confuse... Th Ostu accident was in 1891, this photo was taken in 1898. And you can also see the scar 7 years later...
I have a little book (5 cm wide!!!) about the Travel in Est of The Heir Tsarevich and Grand Duke Nicolaï Alexandrovich. (it's fragments of the original album), so I can't confuse...

[Sergio]

Lisa,

excuse me for my confusion!

I can`t see the scar, just a bump! Can you please point out the scar?

[Lisa]

Oh, you're welcome!
I don't know if Nicholas really kept a scar on his skin, but I remember what one doctor (Botkin maybe...) said about this mark: you could fell it under the skin touching Nicholas's head...

[Michelle]

Oh my goodness, Lisa!  Thank you for pointing that out!  That's actually quite fascinating!  I have never noticed that before, and I'm pretty sure I've seen that same picture before.  

[pushkina]

At that time Alexandra and Nicholas were under the influence of Monsieur Philippe, - Filipov-"our friend". The birth of Anastasia was a dissapointment to the rest of the family, still no heir and Alix was anxious for having a son.

Some family members made notes of Alix's so called phantom pregnancy in diaries or letters. Xenia a few times in letters to Princess Obolenskaya, writing Alix had a miscarriage, later she wrote she was sure it was all suggestion and blamed Filipov. Even GD KR- Konstantin- made notes in his diary saying they were surprised Alix not being expecting but the symptoms were anaemia, and that a bulletin appeared in the newspapers annouching the empress had a miscarriage.
I've found this in A lifelong passion.

Of course the court couldn't make any statement about a false pregnancy so they made it a miscarriage.
I'm wondering why Alix never mentioned anything about this in letters. She really must have thought she was pregnant . When she was expecting the other four children it was more or less made official by Nicholas to his mother or others. I can imagine she was desperate and would do anything to have a son. Was this all because of the  predictions made by Filipov? It's all left in the dark no real answers.

Anna

it is also in massie's n&a.

[rskkiya]

Regarding the "Phantom pregnancy"... This sort of thing happens more often than many people think (even today) and would have been an even greater issue in Alexandra's time...without easy home pregnancy tests. She had a healthy sex life/she wanted to be pregnant/ Philip kept tellling her that she was pregnant...its not too difficult to see how this happened. This sort of thing also happened to another unhappy queen-- Mary Tudor of England.  
The power of the mind to influence the body is greater than many may realize!

R.

[Sergio]

During all the day of his coronation the Tsar Nicholas wore the enormous Russian Imperial Crown.
This crown weighed nine pounds and was said to have given Nicholas II a headache since it pressed against the scar on his forehead, made by his would be Japanese assassin.

 The Russian Imperial Crown of 1762, made for Catherine II's coronation.

[Sergio]

I put together two profile photos of Nicholas, from the website http://www.tzar.orthodoxy.ru/ost/exp/i_exp3.htm.



From the medical reports, we know that the wounds taken in the Otsu incident were in the right side of the head, in the occipital and parietal bones (http://www.rosizo.ru/eng/japan/i/archive/17.html).

1) In the photo at the right (older Nicholas), where the arrow points, I can see in the parietal bone a long and narrow line with a different aspect from the rest of the hair. It seems brighter or with less hair. Everybody knows that when we have a scar the hair doesn`t grow in that zone.  
Can this line be the scar from Otsu? Or can it be just a reflection of the light?
For me, it is the scar.
 
2) In the photo at the left (young Nicholas), where the arrow points, I can see a brighter area in the parietal bone. I can`t easily see the line I see in the right photo. Maybe the hair hides the scar.  
Can this brighter area be a reflection of the light? Or can it be the scar?
For me, it is a reflection of the light. But with some effort (and imagination) it can also be the scar.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? ANY COMMENTS?

[Sergio]

Anastacia

Once when Anastasia enter a carriage a footman accidently close the door on her left hand. It caused her a great deal of pain but the fingers which had been caught remained intact.

Once after swimming one of the officiers noticed a large mole on Anastasia's back, he joked that it was so big that if she ever went missing it wouldn't be hard to find her since she was "branded" by the mark.

In 1914, Anastasia had her feet looked at by some Russian doctors and surgeons, it was determined that she had the congential foot deformity, Hallux Vulgus, in which the large toe turns inwards towards the other toes on the same foot. Anastasia's right foot was worse than her left, yet the doctors decided not to operate on them figuring they were not severe enough to risk surgery.

[epefl1]

Hi!  
This is my first post here!

OK, I was wondering why OTMAA all had their heads shaven?  I saw a group picture of them, and all of them had shaved heads.  Why was this?

Thanks!

[lexi4]

Welcome! This is a great place to learn. I hope you enjoy it.
You might want to do a search as this topic has been discussed and I believe there are photos on here somewhere of the shaved heads. But they shaved their heads when they all came down with the measles, I think. Again, welcome. If I can help you in anyway, I am only a om away.

[Jaiel]

It was indeed measles. And Alexi was shaved as well. Standard practice when you had a fever.

[grandduchess_42]

tatiana had the same procudure. when she had typhoid.

[Tania]

Dear Epfl1,

I understand in Russia, from olden times to even present day, many families shave the heads of their children. Moreso, it a common practice done to both girls and boys, and many shaved during the summer. I believe presently, its to strengthen the hair, so it may be more profuse. As a young boy in Russia, my father had it done to him. I'm only responding to allow you know it's not uncommon, even now days.

Tania