Vicky Spleen 🔥

Vicky is fine now. She named her surgical scar “Spencer” (because she’s that person). And every time she gets a vaccine, she jokes, “Pour one out for my spleen.”

“Wait,” I asked her from the hospital waiting room. “You have a spleen? What does it even do ?”

But Vicky’s spleen decided it was time for its fifteen minutes of fame. vicky spleen

“Vicky,” the doctor said gently, “you’re going to miss your spleen .” They took it out. Poof . One laparoscopic surgery later, Vicky was officially asplenic (fancy word for “no spleen”).

Medical magic.

She looked at me from the gurney and said, “Am I going to miss my flight to Portugal?”

It started with a dull ache during a pickup soccer game. Vicky, being Vicky, ignored it. Two days later, she was pale, dizzy, and complaining that her left shoulder hurt—which is weird, because she hadn’t injured her shoulder. That shoulder pain? It’s called Kehr’s sign . When a spleen is bleeding or swollen, it irritates the diaphragm, and your brain gets confused. It thinks the pain is coming from the shoulder. Vicky is fine now

Vicky’s Spleen: A Tiny Organ’s Big (and Dramatic) Story Subtitle: What happens when a small, spongy organ decides to steal the spotlight. If you know Vicky, you know she’s all energy. She’s the friend who runs marathons for fun, eats kale without grimacing, and somehow still has the emotional range of a poet. So, when Vicky got sidelined by something called a spleen , we were all confused.

Have you or someone you know had a surprise organ removal? Tell me in the comments. Vicky is ready to compare scar stories. “You have a spleen

So here’s to the unsung heroes of the body. And here’s to Vicky—still vibrant, still fast, and now a little wiser about the small, spongy organ on her left side.