>> ^gwiz665:

I can't remember the name, but there's a condition where one half of the brain dies, and the remove an entire hemisphere, which you can survive.


I think it's called "marriage"

I'm skeptical whether or not the patient would make a full recovery after a cyst of this size. There are definite consequences for this degree of compression, BUT her young age should be able to compensate for the damage done.

Usually with things like this, the younger you are, the more equipped your body is to heal itself. Those surgeons did some great work.

>> ^Hawkinson:

from http://scienceblogs.com/retrospectacle/2008/01/brain_hydatid_
cyst_with_surgic.php (not verified by me)
"The cyst is a hydatid cyst, which is the result of a parasitic infection by tapeworm larvae(Echinococcus). Generally speaking, it does not occur in the USA, but rather occurs in Mediterranean countries, the Middle East, the southern part of South America, Iceland, Australia, New Zealand, and southern parts of Africa. The cysts, which are initiated by one larvae, eventually come to house thousands of tapeworm larvae. So it is very important not to rupture the cyst during its removal, else the host could easily die. The cysts can occur in any organ, in this case, the brain... "


Damn nature, you scary!

>> ^KnivesOut:

So what's left? A person missing 75% of brain mass in a vegetative state?


I can't speak for this case, but I had a benign tumor the size of a kiwi fruit removed from the left side of my brain 7 years ago, and I'm fine (albeit on anti-seizure meds for probably the rest of my life). How damaging the tumor or cyst is to the brain I think has to do with how quickly it grows,and surely the location; it's probably generally less serious if the tumor/cyst growth occurs on the "outside" of the brain vs inside it.

The brain gets compressed to accommodate the growth, but the brain itself in some/many? cases isn't considered damaged. In my case the compression of the brain finally got to the point where I had a grand-mal seizure -- that was my first clue anything was wrong. After my surgery I basically had a dented brain, but it "bounced back" to its former size over a few months.

My guess is that this person had a similar experience, that they had no clue it was there for quite a while, even though their brain was getting progressively more squashed and they might have been having weird symptoms, like motor or behavioral oddities, or seizures, etc. Depends on the area of the brain that's being stimulated from the compression.

Oh, here's more info on the video from the link provided by Hawkinson above:
_________________

The video below uses saline to gradually "float" the cyst out of the brain. The neurosurgeon gently squirts small volumes of saline into the space around and behind the cyst until it neatly plops into the surgical pan, intact. The patient, a 16 year old girl, fully recovered.

- And, what happens to the hole the cyst left in the brain?

"The empty space initially gets filled up by the fluid which covers thr brain called CSF, then the brain which was compressed by the cyst expands to normal state filling up the space."

from http://scienceblogs.com/retrospectacle/2008/01/brain_hydatid_cyst_with_surgic.php (not verified by me)

"The cyst is a hydatid cyst, which is the result of a parasitic infection by tapeworm larvae(Echinococcus). Generally speaking, it does not occur in the USA, but rather occurs in Mediterranean countries, the Middle East, the southern part of South America, Iceland, Australia, New Zealand, and southern parts of Africa. The cysts, which are initiated by one larvae, eventually come to house thousands of tapeworm larvae. So it is very important not to rupture the cyst during its removal, else the host could easily die. The cysts can occur in any organ, in this case, the brain... "

If you're as ignorant as I was, the definition of a dermoid cyst is according to wikipedia:

A dermoid cyst is a cystic teratoma that contains developmentally mature skin complete with hair follicles and sweat glands, sometimes luxuriant clumps of long hair, and often pockets of sebum, blood, fat, bone, nails, teeth, eyes, cartilage, and thyroid tissue. Because it contains mature tissue, a dermoid cyst is almost always benign.



An introspective third eye... Dunno if I want one though.

LordOderus is right - the problem that Winstonfield_Pennypacker doesn't seem to realize is that in an ER, they cannot refuse you care, but that doesn't mean it's free. YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR IT (or declare bankruptcy). Now, a social worker (either gov't employed or working for the hospital) will reduce certain fees and setup a payment plan, but it can be an astronomical debt.

My brother lives in a rural area, is a self-employed small business owner, and cannot afford health insurance. A few years ago, he had a cyst in his throat that required surgery, otherwise he would suffocate and die within a day. The local hospital did not have the facilities to do the surgery so he had to be taken to the city. 100-mile ambulance ride was > $10,000. (the helicopter ride would have been triple that, so he opted for ambulance). The surgery (not that complicated, probably took the actual surgeon 15 minutes, 2 hour total with setup/prep by the techs in the OR) was > $70,000. You can buy a house for that.

So, with some bad luck, you can get sick and get yourself into a lot of debt, or you can choose the republican plan - TO DIE QUICKLY.

If he had health insurance, he could have gone earlier (at the point where it wasn't an emergency situation), or if not preventable with earlier treatment, at least the insurance would cover most of that $80k of expense.

And people also seem to think that "the public option" would be free - it wouldn't. you still have to pay for it. It's simply cheaper than private insurance for the same coverage. I don't think it would ever be as efficient as a single-payer system (such as in Canada), but it would help millions of people financially.

Honeestly, I don't think congress is doing enough. Just put in the public option, but don't make it mandatory to have health insurance, and all the naysayers (people like QM and WP) will have the FREEDOM to choose the plan they want. If they want to spend $500/month instead of $100, that's entirely up to them. Or they can spend $0, cross their fingers, and if there is a major problem go to the ER and get in debt.

(I just hope I never see a 1-800-SAFE-BODY commercial, starring Justin Case.)

"I'm looking for all people to have access to the same quality level of healthcare."

Is that not a theoretical social construct? It's much more idealistic than "Every man's labor should be his own." My point is that as long as there are uncurable diseases out there, everyone will not have the same level of healthcare.

Almost any "common" illness or injury can be treated quickly and easily in almost any area of the country - for under $100 in most cases - ailments that would have killed people not even 100 years ago. So I don't understand your argument about lifespan or "quality of healthcare."

Maybe you should include some illnesses that fall under "quality level of healthcare" because chemotherapy, triple heart bypasses, and $10,000 surgical removal of cysts are not treatments for "common" ailments. Cancer, heart disease, and diabetes - three of the main killers in the US - are rare diseases (1 in 100,000 one hundred years ago) that have only been recently made common (1 in 3) due to our lifestyle choices. Xeroderma pigmentosum, an extremely rare disorder (1 in 80,000) was actually more common than heart disease prior to the dietary intake of over 150lbs of sugar a year - as we see today. Smoke 5 packs of cigarettes a day and suddenly a "rare" form of lung cancer becomes real common.

Your lifestyle plays a large role in the development of "rare" illnesses and injuries. Many people will never have an injury requiring hospitalization, yet some fly through windshields and break half the bones in their body. These are not "common" injuries.

As I pointed out, there are simply not enough resources in the world to cure every rare disease or fund the correction of every poor lifestyle choice. So tell me, how can you justify funding research for any one particular rare disease over another?

If we exclude rare disease, which we must - there will always be rare disease regardless of our medical technology, where is the disparity in healthcare? As far as I can see, you can walk into a clinic on any street corner and be treated for 99% of the existing diseases and injuries for under $100.

^That's neither here or there. Usual libertarian clap trap of the middle class who don't understand not everyone is able to suddenly find $10,000 when they get a cyst.

Last time I checked its was America for the people by the people. The people want at least AFFORDABLE health care that has their interests at heart not the insurance industries.

This video has been declared a duplicate; transferring votes to the original video and killing this dupe - dupeof declared by EDD.

*dupeof=http://www.videosift.com/video/Drunken-man-has-cyst-bursted-with-scalpel

>> ^deathcow:
I am sure he is left with something his immune system took out in the end.

Probably, but it's also possible that the cyst lining remained (having only removed the "gunk" that the cyst produces) and it would eventually fill up again, especially if it's actually a "cyst" and not just an abscess.
Even if it were an abscess (the diagnosis of which is supported by the apparent odor), it could still recur if nothing was left in the incision to allow it to drain.

>> ^phlogiston:
Silly me, I made an appointment with a doctor (surgeon no less) for my "mass" that looks like an extra (outie) bellybutton below the original. I just need a scalpel...


you sure it's not your penis?

>> ^EndAll:
...it's not just fluid, I think - it looked like a clump under the skin with bits being broken off with the pressure applied.. so it's more viscous and cheese-like...


This is Keratin - a semi-solid material consisting principally of sebum and dead skin cells.
They mention how badly it smells which suggests to me that it is probably infected, but given it's size I agree with deathcow that his immune system will handle this fine.

Oh and "zit", "boil" and "abscess" are all terms relative to size. Most zits, be it face, back, or scalp acne are mild staph infections. When the skin traps oil on its own you tend to get cysts. They tend not to swell quite as much and when you purge them its more like oil or a waxy clump. When its a combination of natural skin oils and staphococci bacteria, a mild infection or zit results. If the immune system is unable to deal with the infection in its own, you tend to get boils and abcesses. Go bad skin and cosmetology school!( half of skincare class was recognizing common problems and knowing when to say "sory, you'll need to talk to a doctor about that.")