Yesterday I was stopped at a red light and found myself reading the signs in front of a medical complex. One of the doctors advertised "cosmetic gynecology" and it gave me a lot of funny things to think about for the rest of the drive home.
Weird things you have read about. Page 85
Quote: DaButt @ October 7 2009, 5:26 PM BSTYesterday I was stopped at a red light and found myself reading the signs in front of a medical complex. One of the doctors advertised "cosmetic gynecology" and it gave me a lot of funny things to think about for the rest of the drive home.
I watched a show on that. It was pretty sad. This Muslim woman who was raped while going to school somewhere in the US couldn't go back to her home country if she wasn't still a virgin so the doctor did a surgery to basically recreate the illusion of virginity.
One gay man, two lesbians, a three-legged cat and a poisoned curry plot
Quote: DaButt @ October 8 2009, 5:03 AM BSTOne gay man, two lesbians, a three-legged cat and a poisoned curry plot
Brilliant! 'Uhm, yummy, suspicious curry from our enemy!'
Oh dear God, please please please let this be a genuine advert. (I somehow doubt it is. 
)
I hope so.
I would have assumed that smokers' lungs and alcoholics' livers would have been ruled out for transplant.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/10/12/soldier.lung.cancer.transplant/index.html
Quote: DaButt @ October 13 2009, 3:29 AM BSTI would have assumed that smokers' lungs and alcoholics' livers would have been ruled out for transplant.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/10/12/soldier.lung.cancer.transplant/index.html
Having attended many a "organ harvest", the patient's pre-existing conditions are of course taken into account. The situation which led to brain death is also massively important for the viability of the organs. However, the harvest surgeons will have a very careful "eyes on" look at the state of the organs before accepting/rejecting them.
Obviously a smoker with long-term damage to the lungs, or an alcoholic with liver damage are going to have those organs rejected, but it will depend on the age of the donor and the blood tests as well to some extent. The heart is always the organ they have to do the most extensive tests on before deciding whether it is suitable for transplant or not. Many hearts are deemed unusable. Minor damage to other organs - kidneys/lungs/liver/pancreas - is not necessarily a contraindication to using them.
What probably happened here is extreme bad luck. The donor's lungs probably appeared to be undamaged and lacking any obvious tumour. After transplant, the recipient will be on strong immuno-suppressive drugs, which gives the unnoticed cancer little immune system to have to fight in order to grow. (Organ transplant recipients on immuno-suppressives have an increased risk for other non-transplant organ related tumours anyway.)
Very, very sad.
Quote: Tim Walker @ October 13 2009, 4:01 AM BSTWhat probably happened here is extreme bad luck. The donor's lungs probably appeared to be undamaged and lacking any obvious tumour.
Would a long-term, heavy smoker's lungs ever appear undamaged? I'd expect them to look pretty nasty.
Quote: DaButt @ October 13 2009, 4:10 AM BSTWould a long-term, heavy smoker's lungs ever appear undamaged? I'd expect them to look pretty nasty.
Frankly, yes, they'd look bad. Without knowing the details of the donor, it's hard to comment on what the state of their lungs was like. As the majority of suitable cadaveric organ donors are relatively young people (who have become brain dead secondary to traumatic brain damage (RTAs) or due to a spontaneous bleed in the brain), the fact that they have been a smoker may not seem so relevant. Getting a 20/30 year old smoker's lungs shouldn't usually cause any trouble (if the recipient doesn't smoke!).
It's very unlikely that the surgeons missed anything obvious. A lung specialist will have bronchoscoped the inside of the lungs fully before they were removed and the surgeons have a mandatory check-list to work through when assessing the organs.
Quote: Tim Walker @ October 13 2009, 4:15 AM BSTGetting a 20/30 year old smoker's lungs shouldn't usually cause any trouble
Surely they come with no warranty?
Ever seen the lungs of someone who smoked only marijuana and not tobacco? Many pot smokers insist that smoking weed is harmless and doesn't cause cancer, but it's hard to imagine that their lungs would be pink and pure, seeing as the entire point of the operation is to suck resinous smoke into their lungs. Anyone who has ever cleaned a pipe/bong must realize that it's not doing their lungs any good.
Quote: Tim Walker @ October 13 2009, 4:15 AM BSTIt's very unlikely that the surgeons missed anything obvious. A lung specialist will have bronchoscoped the inside of the lungs fully before they were removed and the surgeons have a mandatory check-list to work through when assessing the organs.
The donor was smoking 50 cigarettes a day. 50!? How do you smoke that many? Anyway, the inside of the lungs would have looked pretty crappy, don't you think?
Quote: DaButt @ October 8 2009, 5:03 AM BSTOne gay man, two lesbians, a three-legged cat and a poisoned curry plot
This bit from the article - "The cat was eventually found after posters were put up with her photograph" - reminded me of the poster put up by Asian students who found a "cat" in Melbourne:
Quote: Kenneth @ October 13 2009, 5:21 AM BSTThis bit from the article - "The cat was eventually found after posters were put up with her photograph" - reminded me of the poster put up by Asian students who found a "cat" in Melbourne:
Like the woman here who thought she was repeatedly feeding a family of squirrels without fluffy tails in the park (yes they were rats).