From Wikipedia:
“A teratoma is an encapsulated tumor with tissue or organ components resembling normal derivatives of all three germ layers. . . . teratomas have been reported to contain hair, teeth, bone and, very rarely, more complex organs such as eyes,[1][2] torso,[3][4] and hands, feet, or other limbs.[5]“
It can’t be for real, can it? Dan sent this to me. It was taken out of a relative of a staff member. And it is real. Oh so real.
It's not a toomah . . . or maybe it is! Want a taste?
I wish I could take that baby to the top of the CU high-rises, and toss it off.
Here’s a pic of Disco Stu in Costa Rica rockin’ Alchemist gear on a ride. I’m told there is some sweet singletrack down there.
Alchemist in Costa Rica
Team Alchemist Blog 
Jesus, how big was the person it came out of?
As a CST, (now retired) I have been involved in numerous kinds of surgeries, ranging from general surgery – which is nonspecialized, but involves mostly various things covering the digestive tract, breast tumor removal surgeries, minor plastics procedures such as removal of benign (non malignant), fatty tumors from under the skin, LOTS of gall bladder removals, primarily by laparoscopic (“scope”) methods, as well as a few of them done by more traditional means; and others too numerous to list here, etc., then to Urology, Neurology, Peripheral Vascular – non heart related, on the vascular system of the neck, arms, and legs; Gynecology procedures of various types; Obstetrics, most often C-sections, but other procedures considered more minor than delivering babies surgically! Two years I did devote to that particular procedure, working for a very large metro teaching hospital, in Labor & Delivery – my only real specialization period, and I loved it; Pediatrics; and plenty of Orthopedics, to be sure!
But, I never wanted to “pigeonhole” myself into one particular specialty, other than the time I spent working in Labor & Delivery, mentioned above, so I took them pretty much as they came, if they weren’t scheduled for a particular service, like Open Heart/Cardiovascular; or the “Big” neurology service; or strictly pediatrics. Because of their intricacies, those required dedicated teams who did nothing else.
During all that time, over 15 years, I have seen a few Teratomas, mostly scheduled and performed by Gynecologists, because those tumors seemed to emanate from the ovaries in women. Theory at the time was they mostly came from an egg “gone wild” and trying to grow all by itself. Nobody really knew at the time, but their repetitive source seemed to point in that direction! They were certainly not as large as this one, but a few pounds at most, a few ounces at least. Mostly they seemed to contain a lot of hair, but I’ve also seen a few with hair and teeth, and/or definitely what appeared to be bone, and once I swear it was looking back at us, because there sure was what seemed to be an EYE in there too!
The one common denominator they all seemed to possess was a God-awful SMELL, if you cut them open! The contents were frequently visible through the thin, translucent layer of outer tissue that made up the wall that encapsulated it. But, a couple of times the surgeon opened it up, (after finishing closing the patient, which was considered very important, in order to protect the patient from the contents) and the odor was just horrid. The contents looked like something out of a 1950’s Science Fiction movie. I felt bad in a way for the pathologist who would have to examine all that mess for the pathology report, but then always figured that was one of the reasons they made the BIG BUCKS!
Any information on the weight of this monster?? I’m sure the patient felt rather “empty” after having something that size excavated from their insides! Of course, with HIPPA regulations in force, the history of the patient’s experience with that kind of thing isn’t available, but I honestly cannot imagine living with a thing of such dimensions weighing me down! I’ve heard of much larger cases, where the tumor got so big because of the patient’s morbid fear of surgeons, surgery and hospitals, but I’m not sure that occurs quite as much as it used to back in the “old days” when hospitals were places to fear; surgeries were much less controlled as they are now, and fewer patients made it off the operating room table alive.
Now, I did have two babies, the first one in 1979, of eight pounds and 20″ and the second one in 1981, of TEN pounds and 22-1/2″ long (both via drug-free, natural childbirth) but they had an entirely different purpose for existing, and constantly gave indications of being live little humans after about 4-5 months, which was an entirely different experience both times!