Sometimes I wish I never learned about the digestive system in anatomy class.
Because, on a day like today where I ate a heavy breakfast after going a long time without eating and everything’s gurgling and making noise as it moves along, the knowledge is distracting.
A layperson might think, “Huh, my stomach is rumbling from the food I ate,” but I am forced to think “Huh, my stomach has finished absorbing soluble fluids and compressing solids, and now my pyloric sphincter has opened and the mushed remains of my waffles are being squeezed into my duodenum.”
Oh how I would love to be ignorant once more to the position and function of my pyloric sphincter!
I guess I should add that sometimes it is nice to know a few detailed anatomy terms so you can impress your doctor. Instead of saying “owie owie tummy hurt!” you could say, “There is a sharp throbbing pain directly beneath my ileum. My prognosis is acute appendicitis.”
For example, once during a supposedly-outpatient procedure I had a bad reaction to some painkillers I was given and was hospitalized overnight because I was throwing up everything forever. The next morning, after having some bland food, the doctor came in and asked if I was keeping things down, and I got to say “I do feel a little nauseous still, but I just felt my pyloric sphincter open, so this might be staying down.”
Then I stole some scrubs, pretended to be a doctor, and assisted in three pylorectomies.
I only have this to add now that I’m done laughing…
I think the correct way to say this is that you’re “nauseated.”
Pet peeve called out, back to laughing.
