Weirdest Medical Events

I should warn you that the article contain some graphical images.

Doctors told 28-year old Artyom Sidorkin that he has a cancerous lung tumor, and that he needs to be operated in order to survive. When they opened him up, the doctors were chocked to see that he did not have a tumor inside of his lung, but a tree, which was still growing. Yes, you read that right, a tree which you can see in the forests or in the parks was growing inside of his lung. The doctors could not believe it, so they even called the assistants to come and take a look at it.

The seed started to grow until it touched the capillaries in the tissue which caused Sidorkin extreme pain. The branch was later removed, and what surprised Sidorkin was the fact that he could not feel it inside of him. He also said that he was glad that it was not cancer, and I believe him. In 2007 there was a very similar case to this one only that instead of a tree branch, the doctors found a piece of grass inside of the lung.

Ashok Shivnani of Mumbai, India was about to undergo surgery as the doctors needed to remove a seven-centimeter-long tumor in his right kidney. They discovered that he suffered from a very rare congenital disease called Situs Inversus. The disease is manifested through a strange positioning of the organs. Basically all the organs from the body are positioned in an opposite direction. All the aortas and all the blood vessels were inverted as well. The doctor who was in charge of the operation, believed that he looked at the X-rays in the wrong way, as he could not understand what he saw. The condition did not allow the doctors to proceed with the operation.

It was believed that Shivani was the only person who had the condition, but it was then discovered that there are in fact numerous people who have it. These people feel all right, they do not have any pains, and they usually find out about it when they go to the doctor for an X-ray. They can go on with their lives without any worries, playing sports, and so on.

You might have experienced this sometimes: the phone rings, you answer it, and you do not know who you are talking with even if in real life you know the person very well. It seems that there is even a condition for this, called Phonagnosia, and the people who suffer from it, can not match the voice they hear over the phone with a person. These people have no problems talking to people face to face, but they can not make the connection when they are talking with someone over the phone, even if it is a very close friend.

It was believed that this condition appeared as a result of a stroke, but it seems that there are people who were born with it as well. Such is the case of a 60 year old woman who had troubles all of her life recognizing the voices of both familiar and famous persons. Dr. Brad Duchaine of the University College of London, stated that the incapability of recognizing the voices does not seem so bad as the one of recognizing the faces, however it is very important as well. One needs it in many occasions whether if it is talking on the phone with the boss, or hearing the voice of someone on the radio, and so on. The woman in question did not answer the phone calls that were not in her schedule, as she knew that she will not know who she is talking too. The woman was incapable o recognizing voices, but she could identify the emotions behind them, and she could recognize famous songs, although she had no idea who the artists were. She did not have any damages to the brain, so she was just like any other person, except for that inconvenience.

Joanne Mackie, a 28-year old mother from Erdington, West Midlands, discovered soon after she gave birth to her sun that she was suffering from a very rare condition called Pemphigoid Gestationis which made her allergic to her own child. She developed blisters and rashes all over her body whenever she held her baby in her arms. She had to cover her arms with towels while she fed him. The condition is very rare, and it affects one in 50,000 pregnancies.

She said that it was very terrible for her, as she could not hold her own son in her arms, she could not bathe him; feed him, and so on. The doctors were able to take care of her problem by administering her some very strong steroids.  They told her that she would get the same condition the next time she will give birth, so she decided not to have any other babies.

Believe it or not, there are babies who are born with a genetic condition called sirenomalia. The children who have it, have their feet “glued” together, having the appearance of a mermaid. Milagros Cerron was born with it in 2004, in Peru. Unfortunately, the legs are not the only body parts which are affected, as the kidney is affected by it, and the digestive, urinary and genital tracts share the same tube. In most of the cases, the babies who are born with it, die after a few days.

Dr. Luis Rubio from Peru, together with another group of doctors managed to improve Milagros’ situation by separating her legs in order for her to be able to walk. The surgery went excellent, and two weeks after it, Milagros was able to walk. However, the doctor said that Milagros would need to undergo numerous other surgeries in order to be fine, and that it will pass years until she could be declared completely healthy. The oldest person, who was born with this disease, is Tiffany Yorks of the United States, and she is now 24 years old.