FYI

Brandon has been monkeying around with our computers, trying to extract this and sync that (I don't really know what he's doing and I try to stay out of it), but in the process I now have a gajillion more pictures in my iphotos - including a bunch of his disgusting work photos.  I will spare you the grossest, because they really are obscene, but I thought I'd share this one little gem just to give you an idea of the depth and breadth of urology.

Most people think urologists are just good for UTI's (bladder infections) and kidney stones, but the truth is, urology is one of the broader specialties covering all sorts of interesting stuff.  Prostate cancer, kidney cancer, bladder cancer, penile cancer, kidney stones, bladder stones, female incontinence, ED, vasectomies, and infertility just to name a few of the things most people would recognize.  Then there's the weird stuff.  Weird stuff.  You can't even imagine the variety of conditions associated with bladders, kidneys, prostates, and especially the male reproductive system.  And urologists cover all that weirdness. 

Take for example this carrot extraction.  Foreign objects are always a matter of great entertainment in the O.R. I am told.  In fact, during residency at the University of Iowa, the residents had a special shelf in the residents room where they kept their "trophies".  There was a old championship bowling ring, electrical wiring from a fish tank, various sorts of writing instruments, straws and other non-perishables.  In the case of this picture, that would be a carrot at the top of the scope Brandon is holding. 

I hope this isn't TMI.  I'm just always surprised at how little people know about what a urologist actually does.  I sure didn't know.  

It is a dirty job, but somebody's got to do it.  (And you don't want that guy from "Dirty Jobs" showing up for your surgery.)