What happened to Frank Clark?

[Josea16]

If it's not obvious, that's from some sort of arthroscopic abdominal surgery.

I have only a slight clue/ wild guess that it may have been "sport hernia" repair.



Edit: but the dude in the picture doesn't seem as big as Frank is.
Do we even know if the picture is him?

I wish you wouldn't post pictures like this. I come here to read about the Seahawks, not to look at hardcore pornography.

Hehehe... :stirthepot:

 

[olyfan63]

I was going to skip posting on this since the answer is already in the thread, but since we now have a nascent conspiracy theory, I'll put it to rest.

Anyone who works in surgery would immediately recognize the first picture as being the result of a laparoscopic appendectomy. I certainly did. The port placement is specific for that surgery. There is no other surgery that would have the ports positioned like that. The placement would not work for hernia surgery.

It's not a mirror selfie, the ports go in as follows. First port in the umbilicus. Second port in the lower left quadrant of the abdomen, about a handsbreadth below, and a handsbreadth lateral to, the umbilicus. Third port on the right, about a handsbreadth above, and a handsbreadth lateral to, the umbilicus.

Thank you for the expertise.

My incision from appendix removal is a single incision, on the *right* side of my abdomen, vertically in line with the inside of my right thigh and starting just below a horizontal line across the tops of my hip bones.

In the (reputed) Frank Clark picture, his *right* side gauze pad is much, much higher than where my single incision is. His *left* size gauze pad is about even with my *right* side incision, or slightly higher.

A little Googling shows the answer, exactly as you said, Laparoscopic surgery. So this is how an appendectomy is done in the more modern era... or if the appendix has not burst.
My appendix had burst, and my incision seems to be a "Modified McBurney" incision, aka Lanz or Langer's line incision.

The incision in the "Clark" picture shows his lowest incision as markedly to the left of where the "textbook" ports are placed for Laparoscopic surgery, about in line with where the appendix would be if it were on the left side. (Clark is a human/alien hybrid with his appendix on the left? LOL.) See an example of the "textbook" picture here:

So apparently current practice places the lowest port incision further to the left instead in a straight line below the middle port incision?

From http://www.physio-pedia.com/Appendicitis
Laparotomy: Laparotomy removes the appendix through a single incision that is about 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 centimeters) long in the lower right area of the abdomen.

• Laparoscopic surgery: Laparoscopic surgery uses several smaller abdominal incisions and special surgical tools fed through the incisions to remove the appendix. Laparoscopic surgery leads to fewer complications, such as hospital-related infections, and has a shorter recovery time with less scaring.

If the appendix has ruptured and infection has spread beyond the appendix or if an abscess is present, immediate surgery through laparotomy may be required to clean the abdominal cavity and remove the appendix. If the infection is not treated peritonitis can develop. If the infection spreads to the blood sepsis can develop.[5]


Why the silly mentions of "conspiracy theory?" it's just DATA, folks. Sad that so many people have become conditioned to use that expression so prematurely and inappropriately to try to mock and discredit others who express differing views or experiences. Numerous "official stories" are more preposterous than the so-called "conspiracy theories" of alternative explanations.

 

[bigskydoc]

As a specialist in cardiac anesthesia, I only participate in 30-40 laparoscopic appendectomies per year, with about a half-dozen different surgeons. While port placement varies a bit, the most common is exactly as I described. We can ignore the left-sided appendix red herring as it is quite rare. Likely only one person in professional athletic history has had a true left sided appendix. If a patient had removal of a left sided appendix, the incisions would be a mirror image with the lower incision on the patient's right and the higher incision on the patient's left.

Here is an image of port placement for a different surgery.



This gives you a clue as to why the port placement is as I described. The surgeon needs to get multiple instruments into the same spot from different angles. It is extremely rare that you make an incision directly over the organ to be removed. You typically approach from a distance, either the opposite side of the body, or start up high for an organ that is down low (like an appendix or ovary) or start down low for an organ that is up high (like a gallbladder).

Imagine you are changing out a starter motor. It might seem logical to put the wrench right through the hole where you can see the starter motor from. Sometimes this doesn't give you the best leverage, and blocks you from seeing what you are doing. Sometimes it is better to put an extension on the wrench, and bring it in from one side of the other. You get better leverage, and you can see what you are doing.



When you theorize that Pete and the team are conspiring to hide the true nature of his illness and the true reason for his surgery like this,

Knowing Pete and the team's philosophy on injury disclosure and avoiding giving any potentially useful information to opponents,, Frank was probably advised not to share specifics and coached to just say his appendix was removed. That part could indeed be truthful, "Deceive with the truth", a partial truth.

I'm not sure what else to call it if not a conspiracy theory.