10/16/2003: Colossal colon on tour
 

http://cellar.org/2003/bostoncolon.jpg

Just what you were hoping for? Thanks to axlrosen for sending this along. It's 40 feet long, 4 feet tall, and was created with the help of an actual colonoscopy. It's the Colossal colon. It's coming to a town near you. And the point is to introduce you to how the colon works, by allowing you to move through it.

See, normally parts of you might be digested and absorbed, which is not helpful to the learning process.

Once inside, you can see things like cancer and Crohn's disease and polyps and, well, literally the whole nine yards.

Apparently you travel in the right direction and there is no sphincter model to poot you out as you leave. Pity.

http://cellar.org/2003/colon-from-top.jpg

Ummmm kay.

Is it just me or does that guy look way to excited to be crawling through a life sized colon?

Re: 10/16/2003: Colossal colon on tour
 

Does the person whose colonoscopy was the basis for the model get any credit??? :cool:

All I can think is, it'd be a great complement to the giant walk-through heart at the Franklin Institute.

DAMNIT! Did I really fucking miss this? They were in Philly two weeks ago! I don't pass up too many opportunities to explore the innards of humans - the drive to D.C. may be worth it.

*hehe* I've heard of this before, but never with such ... interesting picture. Lovely. A gastroentestinists dream, eh? (spelling may be incorrect)

and then leave you with the Riddle of the Sphincter

the missing sphincter:(

Re: 10/16/2003: Colossal colon on tour
 

"These are the metal rings that keep your colon from collapsing. And the little square cutouts in your colon, demonstrated *here* and *here*, allow material to flow freely to and from your abdominal area."

Edit: Sorry, I thought the tunnel was made of flexible material. Looks like it's hard plastic.

Dang
 

I missed it. Ok well I missed it by a lot. I live in Chicago and it looks like it was last spring.

Too bad I missed it. I have Crohn's disease. I would love to have released a little anger on the Crohn's model.

Ewww
 

So, tell me, after going through this, does one feel like shit?

Re: Dang
 

I get to kick the shit out of the ulcerative colitis section (had my colon removed in 1990...and yes, I did intend the pun).

You can never have too many opportunities to visit a long lost internal organ...

Yep...it was sitting across from my job, over at LOVE Park. I kept meaning to go over there (it was under a big tent), but never got around to it. And it was sitting next to the fountain...from what I heard, people liked it so much when the fountain was turned pink by vandals over the summer that officials decided to dye it pink this month for cancer awareness.

Now, will the city fill it with soap or foam for Xmas, because people thought that was great when vandals did that too (about a month before they turned it pink, from what I remember)?

It has changed in hue though--it was more of a hot pink until earlier this week, when it became more of a carnation pink.

From listening to the organizers on WHYY a few weeks ago, apparently the colon had been given/earned a nickname--CoCo (COlossal COlon), but the people in charge don't want it used--they want people to talk about colons out in the open. You know, it's not dirty, don't feel ashamed or embarrassed, etc. etc.

Okay...fair enough. Ladies and gentlemen...

I HAVE A COLON!!!

Thank you.

Maybe he was a gerbil in a previous life.:rolleyes:

Re: Ewww
 

Ha ... ha ...

Can I borrow yours sometime? I occasionally miss my own...