Spleen

A friend of mine is having his spleen removed. Anyone spleenless or know someone who is spleenless? What are the practical implications?

• Isn't just a reserve pint of blood?

• Everything should be fine as long as no one accidentally drops some Junior Mints into an open body cavity.

  Kramer

• My niece had her spleen removed at 4. She is now 36, very healthy all her life. I do know that she has had inoculations periodically (pneumonia, flu, meningitis) to strengthen immunity since the function of the spleen is to cleanse the blood of bacteria, old blood cells, and parasites. It is important to alert doctors to the fact of removal during visits.

• Spleens are good eating! Tender 'n' juicy.

  Cannibals

• Back when I was learning such things, I read that physiologists don't know why we have a spleen. When you remove it, nothing bad happens, or so it was believed in the 70s. Have they figured out what a spleen is for, yet?

• They do try and repair the liver and save it, if they can.

• For medical questions I always check Mayo Clinic.

  http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/splenectomy/MY01271

• I don't know anyone who's spleenless, but I know plenty of people who are spineless.

• The spleen helps clear encapsulated bacteria from the blood stream, so post splenectomy patients receive extra vaccinations against several bacteria which cause pneumonia, meningitis, and sundry other maladies. Most patients do very well without a spleen, assuming they are relatively healthy otherwise.

• Well, from a numeral stand point, the person can no longer be considered splenetic.

• L U C Y, you have some spleen'n to do

• Stay away from tick infested areas. I've had babesiosis from a tick bite and it babesiosis can be fatal in people without a spleen.

• OP, she will be much easier to get along with. She will no longer vent.

• I had an abdominal MRI done three or four years ago, and one of the findings was that I have a splenule.

• Presumably the person removing the spleen will have some idea of the effects. Or is this a DIY project in someone's garage?

• Before we got her, our cat was hit by a car and had her spleen removed. Her right eye was removed too. We call her Blinky. She's cute as a button & healthy as can be!

• Splenectomies for all the DL posters who freely vent their spleens on multiple threads.

  Anomynous%20

• It is sensitive to accidents -- usually "internal injuries" are all about spleens...

• Spleens are for sissies. I had mine removed just because I am tough.

• Just saw this as I was headed to bed after working a double sift tonight. I'm to tired to write more than this. I was in a car crash in India 4 years ago and had to have my spleen removed. I'll write more about what day to day life is like living with out a spleen once I've gotten some sleep. It's a pain in the ass but considering I would have been dead as the alternative, it's not so bad.

• Please, I would like to know more about life without spleens.

• Make sure they give you the spleen to take home. Put it in a jar of vinegar. After a week, use the vinegar for salad dressing. Delish! Keep refilling the vinegar so you can continue to have the spleen dressing. My boyfriend loves my spleen salad.

  GG - back with ex-boyfriend

• Did you also eat his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti?