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:

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

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

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

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

    ReplyDelete

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