Chronic Comfort

Great story on how our plush organs are used by chronically ill folks as comfort objects is up on Mental Floss. "'The pancreases are a pretty big part of our family since we all have crappy ones,'" Shay, 28, told Mental Floss reporter Kate Horowitz. "Shay and her siblings have chronic hereditary pancreatitis, a rare illness with tough symptoms like intense abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting. Like her illness, Shay’s relationship with the plush pancreas varies by the day. 'If it’s a bad day,' she says, 'it’s something I can be mad at.'"