Appendicitis to multivisceral transplantation: a career experience with appendiceal malignancy.

John Hunter is regarded as the father of scientific surgery. His principles involved reasoning, observation and experimentation. His most powerful saying was: "Why not try the experiment?" This manuscript charts a career in abdominal surgery ranging from the treatment of appendicitis to the development of the largest appendiceal tumour centre in the world. The journey has led to the first report of a successful multivisceral and abdominal wall transplant for patients with recurrent non-resectable pseudomyxoma peritonei. We all stand on the shoulders of giants and surgery progresses by learning from the past while being prepared to experiment into the future.