I’ve seen some crazy stuff here, but the one today may take the cake. This guy comes in with the history of a growth on his leg for one year. Okay, no big deal. Wrong. Big deal. BIG deal.
The man drops his drawers when asked and there on the outside of his thigh is a huge growth. It was the size of the guy’s head. And it had grown that big in one year. It was soft and jiggly, much like Santa’s belly this time of year.
To borrow a line from a German-speaking surgeon who worked with a friend, well, we had to schwack that thing off.
It was a monster lipoma, a benign tumor of fat cells gone wild. When chuncks of tissue that size are cut off a person I think they should be named. Got any good ideas?
I think that Decenber 26 will be my last day at the hospital. On the 28th Laura and I journey to Accra. We’re going to spend the nights of the 30th and 31st at a hotel on the beach and I’ll catch the morning flight to the US of A on the 1st. Laura, of course, is staying on to pad her resume’s “Saving the World” section.
so did you shwack that thing off and perform a lil’ surgery after all?
how long is laura staying?
I miss you both!
By: Ali on December 22, 2009
at 10:17 pm
Well, Ben, that sounds just ghastly. I am always amazed at how long people wait for treatment on something like that. I wonder what the impetus was for him to act now?
What do you anticipate for doing for Christmas Day?
BTW, I had a question posed to me? Where on the body were most people bitten by snakes? Their guess was the hands. Correct?
By: susan on December 22, 2009
at 10:21 pm
name that growth: Suzanne. For Suzanne summers of Thigh Master fame?
Arnold Shwakenleger?
http://www.mypetfat.com/
The best of Merry Christmas to you both.
By: Dad on December 23, 2009
at 1:21 pm
Finally, a good use for parachute pants.
By: Katie on December 23, 2009
at 1:57 pm
Ben, Santa’s belly will forever have a new reference for you after that experience!
Merry Christmas to you and to Laura, a good weekend in Accra, a safe flight back. Boy, will you have stories to tell about your time in Ghana.
God Bless!
Syb
By: sybil on December 23, 2009
at 2:16 pm
on second thought, Arnold is not a good name. It might “be back”!
By: Dad on December 23, 2009
at 3:32 pm
To Dad: “It’s not a tumor.”
By: oakies on December 23, 2009
at 9:06 pm
To Mom: The foot. It’s the part that is usually closest to the snake.
By: oakies on December 23, 2009
at 9:10 pm
You mean people aren’t trying to pet the snakes?
By: Katie on December 23, 2009
at 10:14 pm