All Scrubbed Up

Ok. Headline is a tad sensationalist. But it's an interesting CNN news clip on just how real the medical mysteries of House MD are. My favourite bit... Chances are Gregory House wouldn't be employed for long. Damn straight. But I wouldn't mind dipping into his Vicodin bin from time to time :)

House Season 3 is in full swing in South Africa - and we're hooked. Cynical bastard. Loving it. Found his audition on YouTube. Enjoy!

It has just been announced that the name of the Johannesburg General Hospital will be changed. From 1 September 2007 it will officially be known as the Manto Tshabalala-Msimang Pub & Grill.

Now I'm confused. Anonymous (WHY always anonymous!?) posted a link to an urban myth page - with this exact story on it. Extract from that site here: Claim : A man who has had an embryo implanted in his abdomen is engaged in the world's first human male pregnancy. Status : False. Origins : The possibility of a man's becoming pregnant has been the subject of more than a few works of speculative fiction and comedy, and the topic was given some sober consideration in the media after the British weekly New Society ran an article discussing specifics of the procedure in 1986. It could be done, New Society reasoned, if an egg were fertilized in vitro and implanted in a man's abdominal cavity. The embryo would have to attach itself to a major organ, the man would have to undergo hormone injections, and the child would have to be delivered by caesarian section, but it was possible, they speculated. (The child would have to be male, though, or else the necessary hormone injectio...

There have been a couple of comments over the last week on our male pregnancy post. Nooo. Can't be. Impossible. You're yanking our chain. La la la. Chaps. It's true. Check out the interview...

I didn't get it. But the Doc did...

OK. So this isn't new news... But I'm willing to bet there are a BUNCH of people out there who don't read Time Magazine. So here it is. And it's FASCINATING! This is why I became a doctor (for weird shit, of course!). My last post introduced the concept of extra-uterine pregnancy. So, is male pregnancy possible? Time magazine seems to think so... Now, my position on this first of all (scroll down if you really must see the picture). As a women's rights activist (mostly), I DON'T think that men should throw down the corporate life and take up the child bearing role. Firstly, as a Doctor, I believe that it is extemely dangerous and you risk the life of not only the fetus, but also of the father. Implantation has to be in a good place ( where the HELL might that be in a man?! - Andy ) giving a good supply of blood to the fetus... and at the same time not harming the father. Believe it or not, the liver is NOT a good place (when the placenta detaches, the liver coul...

When I was still in medical school we had a very unusual case come to Groote Schuur Hospital . A woman had an ectopic preganancy in her liver. Tasty. Now for those of you who don't know... or for some sicko Intern-like reason, are interested... An ectopic pregnancy simply means a pregnancy that occurs outside the uterus. Almost 100% of these will never survive as most ectopics implant into the tiny fallopian tube. At 8 weeks, the fallopian tube bursts as it cannot contain the growing fetus. Then, it's surgery and the usual save-her-life type stuff. Remove the tube, decrease fertility - but keep the patient. A delicate balancing act, no? But, there is an exception every rule - sometimes - very rarely, the egg retrogradely moves out the fallopian tube into the abdomen and implants itself onto the bowel or peritoneal lining or, in this case, the liver... This woman, with the help of some amazing Obstetricians and surgeons (to save her life and stuff) delivered a healthy baby girl...