Every year, Doug’s wife Amelia reminded him to schedule a checkup. It usually took a month or two of prodding to finally get him to pick up the phone and make an appointment. At his most recent checkup, Amelia went with him. They were saying goodbye to the doctor when Doug piped up. “Oh, yeah, Doc. I almost forgot to mention it. I’ve been having blood in my urine.” It turned out Doug had been noticing this for months, never mentioning it to his wife, let alone calling his physician. The doctor immediately scheduled a battery of tests, but the results were grim: Doug had advanced, high-grade bladder cancer.
Ever wonder how archeologists or medical examiners can determine the sex of a long-buried skeleton? Nowadays, this can be revealed through a DNA test, but even before DNA testing, a solid knowledge of anatomy could usually separate the Jane Does from the Johns.
A hernia is a condition in which a part of an internal organ, such as the intestine, pushes through a weak spot in a muscle, usually the abdominal wall or groin. Although some hernias are difficult or impossible to see from the outside, others cause a visible lump.
