I just read the Saturday section of yesterday's papers. And there's this article on a recent operation done by Dr Matthew Cheng on a guy who was paralysed waist down. What they did was to remove the entire lower half of his body, and some of the skin from his thigh was taken to replace the base of his upper torso. Since the lower part of his body is removed, waste disposal takes place on the outside of his body. A custom-made bucket is fitted around his chest. The aorta is clamped and the spinal cord had to be properly sealed so that it would not leak spinal fluid, which would be fatal.
Not many details were given. It was a pictorial description of how the surgery took place. But it stunned me how it was annotated in such a cold, formal, matter of fact way. Of course, I understand that this surgery is a private affair for the man and his family. Details as to how the decision was made, or the repercussions of the surgery Should be hidden from the public eye. But, then numerous questions arose in my head as I pondered about what it meant to lose some of the faculties that one has taken for granted, like excretion (which naturally is done by one's own body) and one's legs (I can't imagine the pain he, as do all amputees, must go through as the body gets accustomed to the loss of limbs).
This is one brave man. I don't know how much I am willing to go through in order to live a longer life.
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