Philadelphia, Disturbingly Informative

As a birthday present, mom took me (& Joe) to the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia. It's part of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. I've wanted to go there for years to see all sorts of medical oddities. Mom called up one day to ask me if I had ever heard of it & asked if I would like to go. I was really excited about it.

Let me provide a little information about the museum:

In 1858, Thomas Dent Mütter, retired Professor of Surgery at Jefferson Medical College , turned over his personal collection of unique anatomic & pathological materials to The College of Physicians of Philadelphia . Over time it grew to contain more than 20,000 specimens. This includes fluid-preserved, skeletal, dried, plaster, wax, plastic & papier-mâché specimens of anatomical & pathological specimens, medical instruments & equipment through the years, along with the memorabilia of famous scientists & physicians of the past. There are also a variety of medical illustrations, photographs, prints, and portraits.

Cool medical oddities include:

• The plaster cast of the torso of Siamese Twins, Chang & Eng, and their conjoined livers
• Joseph Hyrtl's skull collection
• Preserved body of the "Soap Lady"
• Collection of 2,000 objects extracted from people's throats
• Cancerous growth removed from President Grover Cleveland
• Tallest skeleton on display in North America

It was great. There are some things that actually freaked me out a bit! I was looking at a jar of skin the a woman scratched off of herself as a compulsion. It was in a jar & reminded me of instant mashed potato flakes. Guess what I won't be eating any more of! After years of taking biology classes, I was always fascinated by polycystic kidney disease. Well, I finally got to see one up close... awesomely disturbing to look at. Pictures do not do justice to how freaky one of those things looks in person. The museum rotates objects in & out of view from the public, so each time you go, there are some different things to look at. I can't wait to go back & drag Joe again. I just wish I had been allowed to take some pictures. Y'all know I would've posted those things in a heart beat!

After that, we still had a good portion of the day to do something with. The 3 of us decided it might be fun to go to Valley Forge National Historical Park. We're all big on history, so it was actually a great thing to do because we could all enjoy it. The picturesque, rolling hillsides of 3,600-acre Valley Forge National Historical Park is where General George Washington forged his Continental Army into a fighting force, during the winter encampment of 1777-78. While there were no battles fought there, some 2,000 soldiers died as a result of hunger and disease. Those rolling hills had my mom complaining, "my chest hurts, I can't breathe, my left arm is numb. " All her bitching was a real drag... just kidding, she was fine. I was able to take pictures there, so I already posted those up on flickr.

We out-voted mom when it came to having Italian food for dinner & went to Olive Garden. That was interesting. I can't really get into all the details, but here's a snippet of our dinner conversation:

Mom- "So, all my friends are posting pictures of their grandkids on facebook."
Me- "So, you want me to send you some pictures of the dogs?"
Joe- Laughing
Mom- "I think you'd be a great mom"
Joe- "That's what I tell her."
Me- "I hate kids!"
Mom- "That's why you would be a good mother, your kids would all be in check."


Ahhhh, family.... can't live with them, can't hide the bodies fast enough. HA HA