The Liver as a Tool

The other day my husband was trying to operate something heavy. He asked me to help him, so I went into the house and got some chicken liver. He gave me a weird look when I handed it to him. Exasperated, he said, “I was looking for the lever, not the liver!” Time to get my hearing checked.

Humor and Health

The healing properties of humor are well-documented. In fact, if I was a doctor responding to middle of the night phone calls, instead of saying, “Take two aspirin and call me in the morning,” I’d say, “Call me in the morning AFTER you have read the comic pages.” It’s a good thing I am not a physician…

Courage

According to Wikipedia, the word for liver (isibindi) means courage in the Zulu language. Thank goodness, Disney used Swahili rather than Zulu, or Simba might have been called Isibindi. I can just picture the snickers after the word got out that The Lion King was really The Liver King.

Hepamonial Vows

This weekend is my husband and my 30^th wedding anniversary. This means that my liver cells survived the many glasses of wine through the courtship and honeymoon (pre-hep C). My marriage has survived hepatitis C and its treatment. The side effects of treatment were a huge challenge, and I suppose the fact that we are together provides testimony of our commitment. They ought to include a clause about hepatitis C treatment with the “in sickness and in health” vow, so people really know what they are getting into.

I can just see it after the attorneys get a hold of this idea—the hepamonial waiver.

Liver and Lymph

The liver produces approximately one quart of lymph fluid daily. That seems like a lot lymph fluid to me, although I can’t honestly say that I have any idea of what lymph fluid looks like. In fact, I don’t think I have ever given lymph fluid much thought, although it doesn’t surprise me that my liver makes it. I think the liver does just about everything, and it could probably make a smoothie and a soufflé if called upon.

Protecting the Liver

Football season officially began and I want to know if players are protecting their livers. We all know about cups to protect the delicate male anatomy, helmets for the heads, shoulder pads, and the like. What is protecting those livers? It is time for mandatory liver cups.

Next stop, pancreas protection.