An elderly couple came into our clinic lab with a specimen. They were upset. The gentleman said he found shrimp in his stool and he had never eaten shrimp. Had someone snuck it in his food?
His wife agreed she had not feed him any so it must have been secretly put in his food. We said we don’t have a shrimp test but we’d check his sample and let him home. They left.
No one wanted to look in the container, so I said it’s just stool, and opened it. The supposed shrimp looked a lot like grapefruit or orange pieces.
Another tech decided to call him. When asked if he eats citrus fruit he replied,”oh I love oranges. Sometimes I swallow the pieces whole!”
Mystery solved. No shrimp was harmed in the episode.
Submitted by:
Noreen Saukko
Medical Laboratory Technician
Minnesota, USA
Behind every mystery is an awesome lab tech who can crack the case!