Stuck in You
If you've been wondering what to do about that inch-long piece of plastic stuck in your lung, we've got good news. John Manley, a 50-year-old former home remodeler from Wilmington, N.C., had been coughing and experiencing fatigue and pneumonia spells for almost 2 years. It got so bad that he could barely leave the house, according to the Associated Press. After seeing several doctors, it was decided that he had a foreign object lodged in his left lung, but the best solution suggested was lung removal. When Dr. Momen Wahidi, director of interventional pulmonology at Duke University, heard about the case, he thought he could remove the mystery object with a rigid bronchoscope. Dr. Wahidi described the surgery to the AP: “We're looking at it and realizing that there are letters on it. … We started reading out loud, 'A-M-B-U-R-G-E-R,' and realized it spelled, 'hamburgers.'” The full text of the object said, “Old Fashioned Hamburgers,” identifying it as part of an eating utensil from a Wendy's restaurant. “I like to take big gulps of drink,” Mr. Manley said. “I don't know of any other ways of it getting in there.” More proof that fast food is not good for you.
He's Just Pacing Himself
It's not unusual for people attending funerals to say that the deceased looks good—the funeral home industry wouldn't have it any other way—but what if the dearly departed looks too good? In Lorca, Spain, the family of a 70-year-old man who had died of a heart attack called a doctor during his funeral because his skin “still had a healthy pink glow,” Agence France-Presse reported. The doctor concluded that the man, like Generalissimo Francisco Franco, was still dead. The reason the deceased man looked so good, the doctor said, was that his pacemaker was still working.
Controlling H1N1 the Hard Way
If our world headquarters here in Rockville is any indication, the pandemic A(H1N1) influenza situation is fueling a boom in hand sanitizer. There could be a downside, though, as these wonder gels may be throwing a log onto a different fire. A nurse at an elder care home in northern Sweden was going about her business when her left hand suddenly burst into flames as she touched a metal cart, according to