Karen posted a comment in

Karen posted a comment in reply to my gall bladder surgery bill wondering what it’s like to have an organ removed. For me it breaks down into two areas of thought. How it affects me while I’m alive and after I’m dead.

As I thought about it I was reminded of an old anime series, the episode is A.D. Police: The Ripper. It’s set in the near-future and a female corporate executive in Japan has her uterus replaced by a cybernetic equivalent. The reason is that in the hyper-competitive executive environment her menstrual cycle was viewed as a weakness that kept her from being as productive as her male counterparts. While the new parts don’t physically affect her (other than no period anymore) mentally she has problems. After the surgery she starts to break down. The absence of her human uterus challenges her understanding of what makes her human and female. Due to the insignificance of the gall bladder I’m relatively free of any nagging thoughts.

However, a few weeks ago All Things Considered had a story about a school that embalmed 90 bodies without the right permission. The quote that haunted me was “My wife now does not have an afterlife…” because her body had been embalmed against their wishes and it violated their Jewish faith. Considering how liquid religions can be when it comes to interpreting their own rules I’m not too worried about being denied anything after I die.

Still which organs can I remove without meta-physical harm? Does one of them hold my soul? Do I lose a little bit of my soul with each one?