Two years ago, my girlfriend Freya, who’s a urologist, came home and shared a story with me that was shocking, sad, but also fascinating.
She had seen a patient that day, an older man, around 75 years old, who was complaining of pain in his groin area and wasn’t feeling well at all. Freya examined him where he said the pain was.
What she found was serious. Very serious.
It was **Fournier’s gangrene**.
I’ll never forget how she told me, “It was the very first time I’ve seen a patient with this condition at this hospital.”
Fournier’s gangrene is a rare and dangerous infection that affects the penis, scrotum, or the area between the legs. It can spread quickly and cause tissue to die, which is what makes it so dangerous.
Since 1950, fewer than 2,000 cases have been reported in medical studies, though it can affect both men and women, and even children.
This particular case was really bad.
The doctors worked fast, removing as much of the infected tissue as they could, including the man’s entire penis. But over the next few days, the infection spread faster than they could control it.
Just a few days after being diagnosed, Freya had to have one of the hardest conversations of her career. She told the patient that he had only a couple of days left to live at best.
As she was talking to him, she couldn’t help but cry. But the man, in a moment of calm, comforted her and said:
“Thank you, doctor, for your kindness and your courage. I’m glad this will be over soon.”
And it was.
SOURCES: Google Images, Wikipedia