# Would you want to keep a bone surgically removed from your body? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 28, 2023, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-to-keep-a-bone-surgically-removed-from-your-body/981783 "2023-03-28T12:52:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-to-keep-a-bone-surgically-removed-from-your-body/981783/21 "2023-03-28T16:36:13Z")
> [@tofor](#): > > …and use it as the handle for a cane! Gear shift knob. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-to-keep-a-bone-surgically-removed-from-your-body/981783/22 "2023-03-28T17:10:22Z")
I had some teeth removed so the rest would fit in my mouth (guess that means I don’t have a big mouth 😉 ). I asked if I could keep them and the dentist said “yes” – I think I still have them. Brian ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-to-keep-a-bone-surgically-removed-from-your-body/981783/23 "2023-03-28T18:02:37Z")
Had a tooth removed and asked the dentist if I could keep it but he said they threw it in the medical waste bin immediately and didn’t want to fish it out. He said if I asked before hand he would have given it to me. Surgeons are usually required to send anything removed from the body to the lab for testing. A quick search told me it’s not a federal law, regulations change state by state. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-to-keep-a-bone-surgically-removed-from-your-body/981783/24 "2023-03-28T18:21:02Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I had some sort of cyst removed from my foot when I was 16. I had a growth removed from my foot about 20 years ago. It kinda looked like a solid white jelly bean. The doc was all excited, though. I was a bit groggy from anaesthesia, and he was excitedly jabbering about how unusual it was that this type of (benign) tumor was on a foot. I had no desire to keep it, though. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-to-keep-a-bone-surgically-removed-from-your-body/981783/25 "2023-03-28T18:21:39Z")
I had my tonsils in a jar for a year or so, then my mother threw it out because gross. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-to-keep-a-bone-surgically-removed-from-your-body/981783/26 "2023-03-28T18:33:17Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > I had no desire to keep it, though. Should have donated it to a Museum of Anatomical Oddities! ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-to-keep-a-bone-surgically-removed-from-your-body/981783/27 "2023-03-28T19:16:19Z")
I had to check to see if you were Beckdawreck … And I already kept the molar they yanked out [gave it to my goddaughter for that tooth in cola experiment in her science class. Everybody else had cute little baby teeth and here she comes with a honking huge adult molar +)] so I voted yes, why not =) I do have a bone sliver here that worked its way out of my jaw after the molar extraction I was thinking of setting into a piece of jewelry because bone polishes up decently. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-to-keep-a-bone-surgically-removed-from-your-body/981783/28 "2023-03-28T19:18:27Z")
I don’t have a mad bone in my body! …anymore. \*takes out bone I’m sorry I didn’t laugh at your joke. This is my funny bone. \*takes out bone. Endless hilarity. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-to-keep-a-bone-surgically-removed-from-your-body/981783/29 "2023-03-28T19:24:21Z")
My mother had her gall bladder removed. She was allowed to keep the gall stones that gave her such pain. We were told by a nurse that this was common with gall stone patients. IIRC Samuel Peeps had a huge kidney stone removed. He kept it in a jar of preservative and toasted to it on the anniversary of its removal. ---
**Author:** ![FluffyBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@FluffyBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FluffyBob)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-to-keep-a-bone-surgically-removed-from-your-body/981783/30 "2023-03-28T19:30:46Z")
Im getting two big chunks cut off my femurs at the end of April. Those should make some significant stock bones. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-to-keep-a-bone-surgically-removed-from-your-body/981783/31 "2023-03-28T19:34:19Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/XCCR8D7C0PU/maxresdefault.jpg "They let you keep the piece of brain they cut out") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCCR8D7C0PU) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-to-keep-a-bone-surgically-removed-from-your-body/981783/32 "2023-03-28T20:02:38Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > > [@tofor](#): > > > > …and use it as the handle for a cane! > > Gear shift knob. All you gotta do is carve the shift pattern in and the word “HURST” [https://www.cjponyparts.com/hurst-manual-shift-knob-t-handle-4-speed-1965-1973/p/MSK108/?year=1970](https://www.cjponyparts.com/hurst-manual-shift-knob-t-handle-4-speed-1965-1973/p/MSK108/?year=1970) 🙂 Sorry, they don’t allow hotlinking; you’ll have to click. ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-to-keep-a-bone-surgically-removed-from-your-body/981783/33 "2023-03-28T23:02:30Z")
The hospital lab where I work will give patients their parts (what’s left of them) back if they request it. Not a lot of them do though. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-to-keep-a-bone-surgically-removed-from-your-body/981783/34 "2023-03-29T00:01:44Z")
Sure, if it wasn’t a big deal, I wouldn’t want to go through a lot of hassle over it, ---
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-to-keep-a-bone-surgically-removed-from-your-body/981783/35 "2023-03-29T12:05:32Z")
> [@FluffyBob](#): > > Im getting two big chunks cut off my femurs at the end of April. Those should make some significant stock bones. If you eat soup made from your own bones, are you a cannibal? ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-to-keep-a-bone-surgically-removed-from-your-body/981783/36 "2023-03-29T12:28:15Z")
No, because it strikes me as sick and disgusting. LOL ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-to-keep-a-bone-surgically-removed-from-your-body/981783/37 "2023-03-29T13:25:04Z")
I used to have the screw and washer that was used to repair my knee, and that was subsequently removed (I wanted to be able to have MRIs done in the future!), so yeah, I’d probably keep a bone too. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-to-keep-a-bone-surgically-removed-from-your-body/981783/38 "2023-03-29T13:59:52Z")
In the “you can’t make this shit up” category, the daughter of friends of ours had a 5cm teratoma which contained teeth and hair removed from her abdomen yesterday. I refrained from asking if she was allowed to keep it. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-to-keep-a-bone-surgically-removed-from-your-body/981783/39 "2023-03-29T14:14:44Z")
No. Unless I was planning some mad scientist project down the line where I would need my own, used body parts. I don’t need more random crap cluttering up my house. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-to-keep-a-bone-surgically-removed-from-your-body/981783/40 "2023-03-29T14:23:50Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > I refrained from asking if she was allowed to keep it. Oh man! That’d be totally cool to have. Although depending on the daughter’s age and sensitivity it might be impolitic to ask. Some girls can squeel “Eeeeewwwww” load enough to break eardrums. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-to-keep-a-bone-surgically-removed-from-your-body/981783.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-want-to-keep-a-bone-surgically-removed-from-your-body/981783.md?page=3)