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The skinny

By Times Wires
Published November 24, 2007

When hairy met belly

Do you need any help with your post-feast diet?

The New England Journal of Medicine's Thanksgiving issue includes a report about a giant hairball. Giant as in 10 pounds and 15 inches by 7 inches by 7 inches, and medically interesting because it wasn't hacked up by a cat but surgically removed from an 18-year-old woman. The previously healthy woman complained of pain and swelling in her abdomen, vomiting after eating and a 40-pound weight loss. Doctors at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago found a mass that turned out to be "a large bezoar," or hairball. The patient said she'd been eating her hair for many years, a condition called trichophagia. Five days after surgery, she was eating normally and was sent home. A year later, the pain and vomiting were gone, the patient had regained 20 pounds and reports that she has stopped eating her hair.

But did they eat it?

Family not happy to learn about wig

Everything was going as planned for Prabir Das of Dispur in India: He'd advertised for a bride in a local newspaper, someone seeking a man for his daughter had responded, and the wedding was set for Dec. 12. So far so good. But things went bad when his new fiancee, Shreshta Roy, found out during dinner that he was wearing a wig. Shreshta, her father and other relatives yanked off the expensive hairpiece, ripped it apart and began beating Das as punishment for hiding his pate, he claims. They also relieved him of his wallet, cell phone, motorcycle and driving license, he says. Police say the Roys deny the whole thing. Oh, and the wedding appears to be off.

Titanic turkey

It was almost as big as the country

Last year, Rich Portnoy's 37-pound turkey incredibly fell short of the family crown when his sister Andra cooked a 47-pound bird. Going big for Thanksgiving is a Portnoy family tradition since their father prepared 30-pounders. This year, Rich left nothing to chance: He approached the Minnesota Turkey Growers Association, which helped him find an 85-pound breeding tom. Rich bought it for $30 and had it made oven-ready at 72 pounds. It took three men to get the bird in and out of the 36-inch-wide oven, where it roasted for 15 hours, and 26 guests to tackle it. "It actually tastes pretty good," Rich gloated, but he also conceded he had a 19-pound backup on the backyard grill, just in case.

Big mistake

Temptationcame in the mail

Jerry Mika of Draper, Utah, was expecting a $15 refund check from the state Department of Commerce, so he was more than surprised to get a check for $2,245,342. Someone had entered a serial number instead of an amount in a computer system. Jerry was tempted. "I kept trying to find a way to make it legitimate so I could cash it," he said. But honesty - and nervousness about spending time in prison - won out and he returned it. "I wish I could do something more than say thanks," department director Francine Giani said. Jerry, too.

Compiled from Times wires and other sources.

[Last modified November 24, 2007, 00:33:29]