Gorilla ObGyn

I was watching the news tonight when it was announced that a gorilla at Brookfield Zoo had undergone surgery for "female issues." As I sat there, they interviewed a doctor about the surgery, and I thought, "Gee that looks like one of the docs who took care of me during my pregnancy." I rewound the footage, and sure enough, it was Dr. Murrey, who I have to say is one very cool individual. I LOVE her! Anyway, I would have caught more, but our DVR started recording Jon Stewart and cancelled the live programming. I visited Brookfield Zoo's site and copied a snippet just for fun. I guess one of my ObGyn's is famous now! I would like to work with primates at Brookfield eventually myself, so now I know who to call :)

"Recently, Beta has experienced some uncomfortable reproductive problems that many human women can probably identify with. In the past, issues of very heavy bleeding and fibroid tumors might have required a hysterectomy to treat, but Chicago Zoological Society vets wanted to try something else. They brought in Dr. Susan Murrey from Adventist Hinsdale Hospital to try out a relatively new treatment used on humans called hydrothermal ablation. The treatment has been used for similar problems in women who were at the same stage of life as Beta. A Case Study In Caring Once again, Beta has paved the way to better care for aging animals in the zoo---when Dr. Murrey performed the surgery it was believed to be another first for the groundbreaking gorilla. Even though this was her first time working with a gorilla patient, Dr. Murrey had no problems because a gorilla’s reproductive system is so similar to a human’s. Beta recovered quickly from the non-invasive, “out-patient” surgery, seeming to have experienced only minor discomfort. Like doctors who work with humans, veterinarians are always looking for new treatments that offer the best care for their patients. As with human women, the problems that Beta experienced are not unusual in older female gorillas. As primates in zoos continue to live longer lives, care like Beta’s will not be unusual---but for now, she is one of the world’s most unique primates and CZS will work hard to keep her happy, healthy, and living the life of a star in the future. "