Question:
Okay, a really weird question...

My son (12yrs) asked me if the doctor would "save my insides" so that he could see what they look like. Is that sick or what? He told me they discussed in his class that some culture buries umbilical cords under their porches so their children can always find their way home. For some reason, he thinks it's the same...Should I be pricing psychiatrists?    — Kimberly S. (posted on January 3, 2003)

January 2, 2003
Sorry if your getting the RNY they dont remove anything, just rearrange the parts. He will be disapointed:) Yeah I asked for my appendix and didnt get it... Back in 1975 when it went bad.
   — bob-haller

January 2, 2003
He just sounds curious to me. Maybe he'll be a bariatric surgeon one day! LOL If you have cable maybe you could find the surgery on one of the medical shows. I know I used to be interested in stuff like that, too. Real useful when I wanted to be a dr. Of dubious value now that I am a technical writer. At least the hours are better! LOL
   — ctyst

January 2, 2003
No, no psychiatrist needed! He sounds like a normal, healthy and curious young man. This is probably how doctors/surgeons get started, wanting to see the insides and how they work. Have him watch the Discovery channel when they do surgeries and see if he is fascinated by it. I, for one, get sick at the sight of blood, but thank goodness for those, like our surgeons, that enjoy their work.
   — Cindy R.

January 2, 2003
At least he didn't mention the practice of eating the placenta after childbirth for the nutrition....gives new meaning to the term "eating your guts out", huh?!?
   — merri B.

January 2, 2003
When my 18 year old son visits me at work (a hospital) he always wants to go with me to check my mail. I thought this was sweet until I found out it was because the internal mail boxes are located right next to pathology and there's always some organ or body part sitting in the intake window. He just wants to see the "stuff". It's a normal curiosity for almost everyone - not just kids. Unfortunately for your son, Bob is right - nothing is taken out after RNY so he'll have to be happy with just hearing all the gross details. ha ha Best wishes to you and your curious and normal son!
   — ronascott

January 3, 2003
Sounds like you have an intelligent boy with a great curiosity. I think it's terrific. Maybe you could go to the library and find an anatomy book so he can see what's on the inside. We have a science museum near our medical center in Houston that my daughter (11 yrs old) absolutely loves. She came home from a field trip there and told me all about a brain she saw. So in answer to your question.. No psychiatrist!
   — Lynn E.

January 3, 2003
Well you all might enough this, my 16 yr old daughter, thought I would come home skinny after the surgery...lol... I think she was thinking they would just suck out all the fats cells and then send my on my way.. If that where only true....
   — paulsgirl

January 3, 2003
I would turn that one into a positive. Fill his need of curiousity with a productive way we can learn from dissection, or things related to that subject. He might like "frogguts.com" if he wants to get into some real life frog dissection. I would not recommending saving your stinky insides.
   — doubleh

January 3, 2003
Also, I think I would get involved and find out who is teaching him what in his "class"! It may defy your morals!
   — doubleh

January 3, 2003
I remember how upset I was when they wouldn't give me my tonsils in a jar after I had them out as a kid. I was about his age at the time and I turned out OK!
   — Michael N.

January 3, 2003
hi i think it just sounds like curiousity to me and perhaps he may even be interested in the medical field. i was dissapointed when i came out of the recovery room and found that my surgery had not been video taped, i would have loved to see how the procedure went.
   — carrie M.

January 3, 2003
Was'nt Jeffery Dalmer like that? Hmmmm. Probally just curiousity, but I would wonder.
   — Danmark

January 3, 2003
Jeffry Dahmer????????? Surely you're joking, right Dan? I mean this is normal boyish curiosity.....just ask me, I know! I raised two of the little guys who are now all grown up and completely normal in spite of the fact that the grodier the road kill was the better they liked it. In fact my son once looked at a dead coyote with my father when he was about 5 and when he recounted the story to his friends he excitedly told them "it's guts were hanging out and all that good stuff". It's not that my children or the vast majority of children are cruel or insensitive or heartless - they're just easily amazed at the world around us. You gotta figure that we don't get to see our parents "insides" on a regular basis so this is cool to a kid. I don't think this issue involves morals or canibalism. Let's don't blow this out of proportion.
   — ronascott

January 3, 2003
Kimberley, i wouldnt worry about a psych yet, he is a normal curious boy there is nothing wrong with that expecially if they were dicussing body parts at school. I wanted to see my spleen when it was removed of course they said no but i still asked i was just curious, they wont let him see the stuff as they dont take anything out unless of course your having your gallbladder removed, in that case they take that to the lab for testing. maybe you can find something on the internet to show him or a book of our anatomy (sp) just to help him understand whats inside of us..just my opinion good luck!
   — Deanna Wise

January 3, 2003
As mothers, most of us worry from time to time (or hourly!) if our kids are weird. I applaud you for posting and being able to find out all of our kids are weird. I think we forget we were too! I kept so much of what my daughter said and did quiet and found out later that there are many kids like her and that she was actually "normal". Thanks for posting!
   — Nell C.

January 3, 2003
He sounds like a normal 12 year old to me, possibly a future surgeon!
   — Cara F.

January 3, 2003
Sounds like something I might have asked at his age - and I'm a girl even - lol. I'm now 22 and a senior in college majoring in biomedical engineering. He sounds like a future "geek" like myself (which I consider a high compliment - ok so I'm a little odd myself hehehehe)....
   — Toni C.

January 3, 2003
I have 3 boys. All are normal, healthy, functioning adults. Any one of them would have asked a question like that at 12. Really. 12 year old boys are pretty weird as a species. :)
   — susanje

January 3, 2003
Thanks so much for all of your responses. I'm glad to know other kids are as curious as my son. Thankfully for us, our son doesn't start fires or hurt small animals. (Characteristics of many serial killers). Smiles, Kimberly
   — Kimberly S.

January 3, 2003
Hey Bob... back in 1973 (in a cave, by lantern light), they let me keep 4 of my GB stones! LOL! Yes, no spare parts with WLS. But um, I don't think it's weird. One of my cats had surgery, and since the problem was in her intestine, the vet saved what they had to remove for me to see. It isn't every day to get to see intestines, you know? Same curiousity that drove me to observe a coupla surgeries, I guess. Me, who almost fainted when my kids got tiny booboos. Go figure.
   — vitalady

January 5, 2003
I would have liked to see my insides and I'm 29. By the way, I'm post op and did pass my psyche eval. Sounds normal to me.
   — Melanie N.

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