I would suspect there's some truth in an orthogonal way. Any major surgery that eliminates continuous pain, even if it was not overwhelming, has the potential

I would suspect there's some truth in an orthogonal way. Any major surgery that eliminates continuous pain, even if it was not overwhelming, has the potential to alter the patient afterwards. I know I was a different person personality wise after surviving major cancer surgery. That said, the musings in this article reads like rubbish.