My favorite old medical story

Setting: surgery rotation, third year med school, surgery clinic on some Wed. afternoon

So I picked up the chart of the next patient to be seen and saw that he was there for a post-op check. Like a dutiful med student, I looked up his operative report to see what type of surgery he had done. The op note read, "Mr. So-and-so is a 33yo AA male who presents with bilateral inguinal hernias to the level of mid-calf..." At first I skimmed right by it, thinking it said mid-thigh. But no, it clearly was mid-calf. I read on and groaned when the report said, "a urology consult was obtained to place the foley catheter intraoperatively as we were unable to locate the meatus." Instead of the usual small incision over the hernia to place a small piece of mesh, the patient had full laparotomy incision to pull up all the bowel and place a 12 x 15 INCH piece of mesh into the abdomen. There must have been 25 pounds of bowel in his scrotum. When I actually saw the patient, he told me that he had had the hernias for 15-20 years. All I could think about were questions like what made him finally decide to go to the hospital on that fateful day? How did he use the restroom? My question of what kind of pants he had to wear was answered when I saw him in (very) baggy overalls. Though the hernia was repaired, he had not yet had the plastic surgery to resect the redundant skin. I didn't have the guts to ask him why he had waited so long to seek treatment for the hernias. I guess it's a testament to the power of denial. Sorry that the first story is such a gross one.