A History of Cystoscopy

The hospital where I work, Hôpital Necker-Enfants Malades, is known for its excellent pediatrics care. In addition, the hospital has some other claims to fame. For instance, the physician credited with the invention of the stethoscope, Laennec, was a Neckerite. (note: I don't think the word "Neckerite" really exists until now). In addition, every time I walk up the stairs in the building with the real-time PCR machine, as I pass the 4th floor I see the plaque on the left commemorating the birth of "les opérations uretroscopiques et cystoscopiques"! For those of us who aren't kidney specialists, this is when a doctor sticks a camera on the end of a flexible scope up your urethra to take pictures of the bladder and ureters, often helpful in the treatment of kidney stones, bladder cancers, and a bunch of other stuff. Hmmm---I don't think I would have been the one volunteering to be the first person to try out the ureteroscope...

The U.S. versus France Topic of the Day is the category "old shit." You know, stuff that's really historic and old and shit. This category is really a gimme for the French: the sense of history in Europe is shifted several centuries earlier than that in the New Country. But can't help it; I'm a sucker for old buildings and artifacts. Everywhere you turn in this country you bump into an important church from the Middle Ages, or a tapestry from the Norman Invasion, or millions of skeletal corpses stored beneath the streets in the Catacombs. Tell me that's not cool.

U.S. 5, France 4.

French Vocab For the Day: "Man Overboard!" in French is "Un homme à la mer!" (lit: "A man in the sea!")