GI tract 101

To go along witht he diagram of Ellie's external plumbing that I posted a while ago, I thought that it mightbe useful to include a diagram of what her plumbing should look like in side and where she is different.

Simply put Ellie is missing her intestine from the midway through the Jejunum through the Ileo-Cecal valve, including her appendix. No appendicitis is a positive side effect, I guess.

The surgeon replumbed her to make what is left of the jejunum connect to her colon, the express route for her dinner. The trick will be to teach her gut to slow down the express to make local stops and discharge its nutients before the colon, which does a different job than the small intestine. Fortunately, the doctors tell us that the small intestine can change its form and function to become a sort of super functioning intestine.

I've always wanted to know a super hero. Maybe Eliie will be Gut Girl, or Absorbo.....