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Padres Player Uses iPhone to Self-Diagnose Appendicitis

May 13, 2010, 3:00 PM UTC

There is an app for everything on the iPhone, including diagnosing appendicitis, as we learned from the story of Padres pitcher Tim Stauffer.â†µâ†µStauffer, who is 2-1 with a 0.39 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP is the 15-day DL at the moment thanks to the aforementioned appendicitis. How’d he know what was wrong? Through the technological wonder that is the iPhone, of course:â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥By the time [Stauffer] called Padres head trainer Todd Hutcheson in his hotel room Tuesday morning at 3:15, Stauffer already had called up a medical website on his IPhone, punched in the abdominal symptoms that were keeping him awake and come to a highly unofficial conclusion.â†µâ‡¥â†µâ‡¥“He had himself diagnosed,” said Hutcheson. “He said, ‘I think I have appendicitis.’ ”â†µâ‡¥
â†µâ‡¥â†µâ‡¥Hours later, indeed, Stauffer no longer had an appendix. Able to get to St. Mary’s Hospital via taxi and address the issue before his inflamed appendix burst, Stauffer underwent a minimally invasive (one-stitch) laparoscopy.â†µâ‡¥

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â†µIt's not really clear whether he used an app or just went on the web. If he did use an app, whatever company creates said app should get on the horn with Stauffer ASAP and get him an endorsement deal.â†µ

â†µâ†µ(H/T to Big League Stew)â†µ

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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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