1/27/2003: U of K uterus

This was covered on Fark, which I try not to duplicate, but again in this case, the photo is so mind-boggling that I just had to share it.

The organ shown above is in fact the uterus, and the letters you see "uk" were purposefully etched there by the surgeon, using a cauterizing gun, just before he removed the whole thing in a planned, normal hysterectomy.

The surgeon was a U of Kentucky fan, you see, and wanted to indicate the depths of his fandom during the procedure. And he wasn't exactly ashamed of his technique; he gave a videotaped copy of the operation to the patient.

On Fark, 95% of responses were negative, saying this was a total and complete outrage. The other 5% said, eh, what's the big deal if he was removing it anyway. One person made a great point, which is that the surgeon probably had to test the equipment anyway. Hey, maybe a good long test line steadied his hand for the procedure. Like taking a test shot in golf.

And most certainly, doctors and people heavily involved in the medical process see it much differently than the rest of us. They deal with it all day and have a quite different perspective than do the rest of us.

Certainly a different perspective than the husband, who claims in their pending lawsuit that the whole thing has led to a "loss of companionship". I guess he's not a U of K fan.

full story

This is a silly, frivolous lawsuit. I *hate* the new "American dream" built up around just trying to find something to sue anyone over, so you can make your 30 million and retire in luxury.

What the doc did certainly wasn't appropriate, but honestly, it's not a big deal. "loss of companionship"? Whatever. Grow up people.

Re: 1/27/2003: U of K uterus

Quote:

Originally posted by Undertoad This was covered on Fark, which I try not to duplicate, but again in this case, the photo is so mind-boggling that I just had to share it. The organ shown above is in fact the uterus, and the letters you see "uk" were purposefully etched there by the surgeon, using a cauterizing gun, just before he removed the whole thing in a planned, normal hysterectomy. The surgeon was a U of Kentucky fan, you see, and wanted to indicate the depths of his fandom during the procedure. And he wasn't exactly ashamed of his technique; he gave a videotaped copy of the operation to the patient.

Seems unprofessional to express his team spirit that way, but I don't see the damage done. ("loss of companionship"? Puh-leeze). Of course, the doctor might just claim "U" is for Uterus and "K" is for "to be removed".

Marking the organ for removal in some way, though, is just sensible precaution. Sure, he should know -- but sometimes things get mixed up. You don't want to remove the wrong patient's uterus!

Marking the organ for removal? It's not like he's wandering through a forest deciding which trees to cut.