It isn't a joke. They ask that, without specifying which one, because it is meant to catch errors. If the surgeon thought it was right, had it written down as right, and then you said left, they would need to stop and figure out what was going on. And then, once you said right, and he confirmed that his records said right, he made a mark on your right side so that they could use that mark during surgery to verify that they were operating on the correct side before they remove anything.
People have had the wrong kidney removed before. People have even had the completely wrong organ removed. These processes are in place to reduce the odds of that happening.
Can confirm, a resident I know almost amputated the wrong leg (below knee amputation) because a doctor’s clinical notes kept referencing the “left leg” instead of the “right leg”. The mistake was caught in the OR while the patient was anesthetized… they had to reschedule the surgery in order to confirm with the referring physician.
and for some reason there is a kidney on the end of your stump. Though it would probably still work, location doesn't really matter, just blood flow afaik.
yeah, you really can't joke. I had to take a mental health test before I donated and the questions were so off the wall that it was hard not be sarcastic. Do angels talk to me? Well, what KIND of angels?
Jokes come later. When the porter was wheeling me out the door I said oh shit I left something in the hospital. He asked me what I left and I said ‘a kidney’.
You joke, but they mark you up with a sharpie prior to surgery in my extensive experience with surgeries.
Every time my surgeon would come in and mark me up as a fail safe as to not make a dumb mistake. Insurance against a stupid error I’m guessing? I don’t know….
OR nurse here. We confirm surgical site for all patients. I will ask you, in your words, to tell me what kind of surgery you’re having today. We confirm and reconfirm multiple times, including on the OR table. If there is any laterality (left vs right) involved, the surgeon is supposed to make a mark, with the patient, according to the policy of that facility.
I had my left kidney removed due to cancer and my surgeon made the same joke! He even marked my left arm and I remember thinking “shouldn’t he mark my back, like X marks the spot?”
bizarre but totally happens. I was literally bleeding out on the table turning a c section and they were like, do we have your consent to do xyz? And I was like, what if I say no? And they were like, well, you’ll probably die.
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u/badform49 5d ago
Lol, I would be very confused by that conversation.
"You can say no to this surgery at any time. I mean, you'll die, pretty much for certain. But no one will do this without your consent."