Doggedly searching for the crux of the biscuit.
In the normal way of such things, I happened across this news story:
A transsexual is complaining of a "phantom erectile penis" after having her genitals removed. The 52-year-old - who is now a woman after gender reassignment surgery - believes she can feel her old manhood even after it was cut off, according to the report Phantom erectile penis after sex reassignment surgery, published by Okayama University Medical School in Japan.
Following sexual reassignment surgery, it's reportedly common to suffer some phantom penis and erectile syndrome for the first few weeks, however in the case of this patient, she experienced the sensation of an erection for over six months and has undergone a second operation. The condition is thought to be related to nerves still intact in the patient which can be stimulated and send the brain a signal related to the organ they were previously connected to.
Okay, it's not really that interesting of a story and that's the entire text. What caught my eye, though, was the photo they chose to run with the story, carrying the caption "illustrative photo."
Well, I guess it is illustrative of something, but I'm not sure what, exactly.
...
I'd be afraid to lick that for fear I would cut my tongue.
And also because it's strange.
Posted by: Amanda at October 19, 2008 08:52 PMbelieves she can feel her old manhood
Well, certainly no one else can (unless it`s in a jar somewhere)!
The phantom limb stuff is interesting. A Doc named Ramachandran who studies the brain has described how he has "cured" phantom pain by visually fooling the patient into believing that the limb is attached, but in usual, non-painful position. Not quite sure how that would work in this case ...
Posted by: TokyoTom at October 20, 2008 11:03 AMEveryone knows that's just what transsexuals look like. This was an admirable show of journalistic integrity.
Posted by: Doctor Slack at October 22, 2008 12:21 AMSo in other words when you get old old old, instead of having to take Viagra and have a stroke or a heart attack or something like that, all you have to do is chop the useless old thing off and you get the subjective effect of a hard-on forever? This bit of good news has brightened my declining years significantly.
Posted by: W. Kiernan at October 24, 2008 11:31 AM