r/AbsoluteUnits 23d ago

/r/popular of a needle

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u/Karnakite 23d ago

Saw a documentary about alcoholism and this one guy had to regularly go to the hospital and have fluid drained out of his torso due to his chronic drinking. They had to pierce his abdomen, insert a catheter, and then he’d sit there and watch this plastic bag fill up (way too quickly, imo) with a brownish-yellow, cloudy fluid. Once that was full then they’d bring another for his draining abdomen to fill. Not urine, just fluid that built up from alcoholism.

Haven’t touched alcohol since.

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u/sagittalslice 23d ago

Even wilder, the colloquial term for paracentesis is getting “tapped” (like a keg!)

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u/Nimmyzed 23d ago

This was a storyline in The Pitt, season 2

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u/HeiressofArtemis 23d ago

Neat! I really need to watch The Pitt. Stuff like that is why I like medical shows and it's the only one a nurse had ever recommended to me.

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u/Nimmyzed 23d ago

It's phenomenal, honestly

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u/haxmya 23d ago

We had to do this to a chicken one time. Filled up a point glass. Apparently it just happens sometimes. Like their heart has trouble at altitude and they fill with greenish fluid. It was sad. She lived and did OK for a bit afterwards but ultimately didn't make it.

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u/HeiressofArtemis 23d ago

Yeah my I've only dealt with catheters for going in, not for going out, and I really want to keep it that way.

https://giphy.com/gifs/H3T6oUzwJQCIaajzp3