It wasn’t when the patient first spoke — he was in a lot of pain when he came into the ER and needed surgery right away. It was when he opened his mouth to be intubated that the doctors were shocked.
He came in with a condition called “acute abdomen” — sudden and severe stomach pain with nausea or vomiting. In his case, it was so bad that surgery was needed immediately.
While he was on the operating table, the anesthesiologist opened his mouth to prepare for intubation. What they found was one of the biggest surprises of their careers. The surgeon and my girlfriend, who was his trainee, could hardly speak — not from surprise, but from disgust. This was an extremely rare situation they would never see again.
The man’s throat was full of feces. His bowel obstruction was so severe that it caused him to start vomiting his own waste, which also explained the terrible smell from his mouth.
This was a very serious case. The three doctors were unknowingly facing death through the patient’s open mouth. They tried to help, but unfortunately, it didn’t work out.