Freaky Friday

***Warning! This post is Un-PC. If you are easily offended and/or pride yourself on living a life of flawless political correctness, you may not wish to proceed. Thank you.***

I'm fascinated with news stories and television programs about medical oddities. I'll drop everything to watch a show about two-headed babies, parasitic twins, 200 pound tumors and elephantiasis. I've never been to the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia, but I don't doubt that I could spend several hours gawking at the exhibits. My husband thinks my fascination with medical abnormalities is a bit on the demented side, as do a few of my friends, but obviously I'm not the only one into this stuff as TLC and Discovery Health offer a variety of bizarre medical programs. I've enjoyed several such programs lately, thanks to the ridiculous amount of free time I now possess, and it is this same free time that has allowed me to catalogue a few of my favorite oddities for your viewing pleasure. Dear blog readers, I present to you: Lady Wanderlust's Gallery of the Weird and Wonderful.

Many of you have probably heard of the baby girl in Egypt who was born with two heads. If not, you have now. The baby's name is Manar, and according to Snopes, she is 10-months old in this photo. Last night, I watched a show about her birth and separation surgery, and the facts of this case case amazed, as well as disturbed me. Before I saw the program, I thought that the extra head was brain dead, however I was quite mistaken. Both of the twins had fully developed brains and the extra head was conscious. It showed video of the developed twin smiling and the extra head crying. At the same time. The medical professionals in the video said that it was not uncommon for one girl to be asleep and the other awake. That is just creepy. The extra head was living on her twin's blood supply, so doctors had to separate the girls before Manar died, but I want to know what would have happened if they'd remained fused (in the imaginary situation that the extra head was not life threatening). Would the head have been able to speak? The program mentioned a boy in India who lived to the age of four with this same condition, but it didn't say if the extra head could speak or not. The boy died of a snake bite of all things. If you want to look up the show, it is oh so imaginatively titled "Born With Two Heads," and the schedule is listed on Discovery Health's website. If I were the producer I would have called it "Two Heads Are NOT Better Than One." Har har har har!!

A few weeks ago, I saw a program featuring sixteen-year-old conjoined twins that look like a two-headed person. Both girls have their own lungs, hearts and other organs, but everything below the belly button is one. Apparently the girls each control one side of their body, and while you would think this would be cumbersome, they're able to move around like a normal person. The show followed the twins as they earned their driver's licenses, attended classes and chatted on Myspace, (this may or may not be their profile) and I was surprised at how normal they seem and how well their classmates treat them (I'm sure having a camera around didn't hurt). In one segment they flew on a plane, and while the camera didn't really show it, I'm sure people were gawking like crazy. What would you do if you saw a two-headed person in the airport? Of course, one has to wonder how they'll handle dating and sex as they share reproductive organs. I'm sure the twins will have all kinds of nasty perverts after them seeking bragging rights.

Then of course, there are people with massive tumors growing on their body. Some of you may have already seen footage of this girl. I haven't watched any programs discussing tumor abnormalities recently, but Discovery Health and TLC show them from from time to time. There's one called "Super Surgery: 200 Pound Tumor" which features a 120-lb woman with a (surprise, surprise) 200 pound tumor glommed onto her body. Can you imagine?

I've long had a fascination with the medical condition known as fetus-in-fetu. In completely non-scientific terms, fetus-in-fetu is when one twin absorbs the other while in the womb, with the absorbed twin leaving "pieces" behind. At least that's how I understand it. According to an article on TheFetus.net, (who knew there was such a site) fetus-in-fetu is "an encapsulated, pedunculated vertebrate tumor representing a malformed monozygotic, monochorionic diamniotic parasitic twin included in a host (or autosite) twin." Got that? If not, the simple, non-dramatic video above is explanation enough. Quote of the day: "And as the fluid came out, I put my hand inside and to my surprise and horror I could shake hands with somebody inside."

Here are photos of parasitic twins that I found on this site. A parasitic twin is similar to fetus-in-fetu, I think, except the absorbed twin appears on the outside. I just can't help being fascinated...



The site has tons of photos about a variety of medical abnormalities, but that's all I'm going to post today as it's nearly 3:30 in the morning. What a life I lead! Many of you are sure to think I'm demented for my interest in fetus-in-fetu and the like, but oh well. Perhaps I am. Is there anybody else that shares my sick fascination with medical oddities and also willing to admit it? Come on.....

Peace out!