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The spleen, the strange little organ that can multiply

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Re: The spleen, the strange little organ that can multiply

#11

Post by shakna »

niels_olson wrote: post #3
shakna wrote: post #2

I had a secondary spleen, nestled right up against my main one that I tore completely in half in primary school. Subsequent testing over the next five years showed it, sadly, failed to become active. For people like me, getting your inoculations is imperative. Annual gp visits help keep it in check. As for the rest, depending on herd immunity is the answer.

Hey, those innoculations aren't the end of the story. I was involved with a patient who went swimming in a waterfall pool in Hawaii and came down with leptospirosis. He didn't mention to his primary care provider that he'd had a splenectomy (and the provider documented other surgical history, so not sure why he omitted that, probably just forgot). His 9 friends didn't get sick. But they had spleens. He ended up intub…

I got in a journal after my splenectomy! Being a fascinating subject was bad. 5 weeks in ICU bad.

It's always one of the first things I bring up with a doctor, relevant or not, because without a spleen, my immunity is compromised.

As my GP said, "This stops most people from getting whooping cough, it'll stop you dying from it."

Re: The spleen, the strange little organ that can multiply

#14

Post by david-given »

shakna wrote: post #2

I had a secondary spleen, nestled right up against my main one that I tore completely in half in primary school. Subsequent testing over the next five years showed it, sadly, failed to become active. For people like me, getting your inoculations is imperative. Annual gp visits help keep it in check. As for the rest, depending on herd immunity is the answer.

...I have to ask (of course, you don't need to answer): how did you tear your spleen in half? After all, most organs go on the inside, and are fairly well protected...

Re: The spleen, the strange little organ that can multiply

#15

Post by shakna »

david-given wrote: post #14
shakna wrote: post #2

I had a secondary spleen, nestled right up against my main one that I tore completely in half in primary school. Subsequent testing over the next five years showed it, sadly, failed to become active. For people like me, getting your inoculations is imperative. Annual gp visits help keep it in check. As for the rest, depending on herd immunity is the answer.

...I have to ask (of course, you don't need to answer): how did you tear your spleen in half? After all, most organs go on the inside , and are fairly well protected...

Unfortunately I have no cool story to tell. Most people who lose a spleen are in a motorbike or car accident.

Me? I fell onto the wooden edging of a playground with just the right angle, and just the right force to rupture it. Somehow, it was cleanly torn in half.

Re: The spleen, the strange little organ that can multiply

#16

Post by david-given »

shakna wrote: post #15
david-given wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...I have to ask (of course, you don't need to answer): how did you tear your spleen in half? After all, most organs go on the inside , and are fairly well protected...

Unfortunately I have no cool story to tell. Most people who lose a spleen are in a motorbike or car accident. Me? I fell onto the wooden edging of a playground with just the right angle, and just the right force to rupture it. Somehow, it was cleanly torn in half.

Oh well --- you can't win 'em all, I suppose. For certain very specialist meanings of the word 'win'?

When I was about six or seven I fell over in the playground, sliding on ice, and managed to hit the side of my right wrist against the edge of a concrete slab, and gave myself a greenstick fracture. Despite complaining that it hurt, the teachers at the school didn't think there was anything wrong with me, and it was only after school that my father felt my wrist and decided there was a notch there, and I went to the hospital.

That wasn't the most annoying bit. The most annoying bit was that, while spending the day at school writing with a broken arm, all the teachers commented on how much my handwriting had improved.

Re: The spleen, the strange little organ that can multiply

#17

Post by neighborinooo »

rcthompson wrote: post #12
justinator wrote: post #7

Any research done to nudge these spleen cells into making other types of cells (stem)?

How would this be better than just using stem cells?

I know that we have embryonic stem cells (controversial) and adult stem cells that can be harvested from skin tissue (not controversial, possibly difficult/expensive?). I'm not particularly well versed in this field, but it could possibly be more expedient than other methods of getting adult stem cells. It could also be even more difficult/expensive, and that's assuming that they're pluripotent and not spleen-specific in the first place, though.

Re: The spleen, the strange little organ that can multiply

#18

Post by JshWright »

david-given wrote: post #14
shakna wrote: post #2

I had a secondary spleen, nestled right up against my main one that I tore completely in half in primary school. Subsequent testing over the next five years showed it, sadly, failed to become active. For people like me, getting your inoculations is imperative. Annual gp visits help keep it in check. As for the rest, depending on herd immunity is the answer.

...I have to ask (of course, you don't need to answer): how did you tear your spleen in half? After all, most organs go on the inside , and are fairly well protected...

The spleen is a solid organ. Imagine squeezing a solid ball made of foam or gelatin. It will tear as you squeeze it, as it can't flatten out like a hollow sphere could (i.e. your stomach, intestines, etc).

You have a number of solid organs, but the spleen and the liver are the most commonly injured, due to their positions on opposite sides of your abdomen.

Splenic ruptures are fairly common with serious abdominal trauma. There is even a grading system...

http://www.aast.org/Library/TraumaTools/InjuryScoringScales....

Re: The spleen, the strange little organ that can multiply

#19

Post by shakna »

JshWright wrote: post #18
david-given wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...I have to ask (of course, you don't need to answer): how did you tear your spleen in half? After all, most organs go on the inside , and are fairly well protected...

The spleen is a solid organ. Imagine squeezing a solid ball made of foam or gelatin. It will tear as you squeeze it, as it can't flatten out like a hollow sphere could (i.e. your stomach, intestines, etc). You have a number of solid organs, but the spleen and the liver are the most commonly injured, due to their positions on opposite sides of your abdomen. Splenic ruptures are fairly common with serious abdominal tra…

How common without serious abdominal trauma? I didn't bruise, tear any muscles or crack any ribs or anything of the like. That kind of stat might give me something to brag about, not like a crappy immune system is something to be proud of.

The grading system is kinda cool. Unfortunately I can't use behind my current WiFi away from home. Maybe you can tell me how I did: The spleen was horizontally rupture into two pieces.

Re: The spleen, the strange little organ that can multiply

#20

Post by shakna »

david-given wrote: post #16
shakna wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately I have no cool story to tell. Most people who lose a spleen are in a motorbike or car accident. Me? I fell onto the wooden edging of a playground with just the right angle, and just the right force to rupture it. Somehow, it was cleanly torn in half.

Oh well --- you can't win 'em all, I suppose. For certain very specialist meanings of the word 'win'? When I was about six or seven I fell over in the playground, sliding on ice, and managed to hit the side of my right wrist against the edge of a concrete slab, and gave myself a greenstick fracture. Despite complaining that it hurt, the teachers at the school didn't think there was anything wrong with me, and it was…

Ow. That'd irritate the crap out of me.

My teachers weren't sure how to treat me on return: I was still re-learning walking, after being bed-ridden for 5 weeks. So some kind of let me get away with anything, and the others expected me to try harder to catch up.

But again: The school didn't think there was anything wrong with me at first, probably just winded. Then I started puking blood everywhere. Great way to get people to actually listen to a kid.

Also, what is it with not trusting kids with pain? I developed pains in my leg in Year 9. More than a decade later, and my specialists think that was the first symptom of either MS or one of the fibro family.

I know lots of kids complain about minor aches and pains... But give it a bit of attention would you?

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