Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Mind-boggling . . .


I know people complain of gall bladder stones, and kidney stones . . . but how on Earth did this one escape notice for so long?


The largest kidney stones most doctors ever get to see is the size of a golf ball.

So surgeons in Hungary were taken aback when they removed a stone the size of a coconut from a man earlier today.




Sandor Sarkadi underwent an abdominal operation in Debrecen, 150 miles east of Budapest, after doctors discovered he had a kidney stone inside him that was 17 centimetres (almost 7 inches) in diameter.

Mr Sardaki was rushed into an operation theatre in the Kenez Gyula Hospital when an X-ray revealed he was carrying around the gigantic lump.




The delicate procedure to remove the stone, which weighed a staggering 2.48 lbs, passed without incident.




Kidney stones vary in size. They can be as small as a grain of sand or as large as a golf ball, which makes Mr Sarkadi's stone all the more remarkable.

Most stones pass through the body by themselves within hours or a few days. Doctors advise patients to drink a lot of fluids to help this process, and sometimes recommend a special diet.

Stones of a larger variety have to be surgically removed.


Man, I'm getting a stomach-ache just looking at that thing! The thought of carrying it around inside me as it grew is nauseating! Why did it take the doctors so long to detect it - or, for that matter, for Mr. Sarkadi to complain to them about it?

Peter

4 comments:

Unknown said...

How can you not notice something like that. Some real fun for the surgeons.

Bob said...

Something that big that comes out of your body deserves a name of its own.

Anonymous said...

The big stones just sit in the kidney and don't bother anyone. It's the little ones that are painful.

phlegmfatale said...

Um, that looks like a flour-dusted loaf of rustic bread. Ew! Good googly moogly!