Forget emotional baggage — you’re hauling around spare parts.
Turns out, you don’t need all 78 of your organs to get through life, which comes in handy when surgeons have to start making cuts. Literally.
“Here’s the astonishing truth: For many of these internal components, a truly functional existence is not just possible, but often surprisingly robust,” Dr. Indraneil Mukherjee, a minimal invasive surgeon at Northwell’s Staten Island University Hospital, told The Post.
Just ask Louise Altese-Isidori, who had seven organs removed after doctors discovered her ovarian cancer had spread throughout her body. Now she’s in remission and living a mostly normal life.
“It’s a testament to the human body’s astonishing capacity for adaptation and modern medicine’s ingenious interventions,” Mukherjee said.
She broke down the 10 parts your body can live without — including two that can be swapped for a bag.
#1: Appendix
“Think of it as the intestine’s dusty attic — largely useless in modern life,” Mukherjee said.
Scientists aren’t totally sure what it does in humans, but evolutionary theories suggest it once helped digest plants when humans were mainly herbivores.
Removing the small, “worm-like pouch” usually has no long-term effects, Mukherjee said. Patients don’t need meds and often bounce back quickly.
“Most people are able to resume normal activities within a couple of days, with no change in diet or physical behaviors,” she added.
#2: Gallbladder
This tiny sac stores bile, which helps break down fats during digestion when you’re not eating — since the liver produces it nonstop.
“After removal, the liver simply drips bile directly into the small intestine,” Mukherjee said. “While some might experience initial digestive adjustments, the body quickly compensates within a few weeks.”
She added that most people go on to lead perfectly normal lives without it, needing no special medications.
“One kidney is usually more than capable of filtering your blood and keeping you healthy”
Dr. Indraneil Mukherjee
#3: Kidney
These bean-shaped organs filter your blood, remove waste and balance your body’s fluids.
“We have two for a reason, but one is sufficient for most of us,” Mukherjee said.
After losing a kidney, regular check-ups are important, but lifelong medications usually aren’t needed: “One kidney is usually more than capable of filtering your blood and keeping you healthy,” Mukherjee said.
#4: Stomach
The stomach is “the body’s initial food blender” and stores food before breaking it down for digestion.
“If it’s partially or completely removed for cancer, ulcers, or weight loss surgery, food goes directly to the small intestine, but digestion changes dramatically,” Mukherjee explained.
Lifelong supplements, especially vitamins, are essential, along with careful eating to manage nutrient absorption and “dumping syndrome” — when undigested food moves too quickly into the small intestine.
“Life is manageable but requires constant dietary vigilance and medical support,” she said. “In times of crisis, people can get quickly dehydrated and malnourished, so need to have a low threshold to seek help.”
#5: Small bowel
This organ’s primary jobs are to further digest food and absorb nutrients.
“Removing a small section, up to two thirds, often causes minimal issues — but if a large portion is gone and if one is left with less than a yard of it, it can manifest as ‘short gut syndrome,’” Mukherjee said.
This condition reduces nutrient and fluid absorption, often causing diarrhea, dehydration, malnutrition, weight loss, fatigue, bloating and foul-smelling stool.
Patients may need IV nutrition, lifelong digestive enzymes, and treatments to manage chronic diarrhea, Mukherjee noted.
“It’s a battle for nutrition and hydration, but with new advancements in medicine and a watchful eye of an expert team, life can be sustained with a lot of behavioral changes,” she said.
#6: Colon
Part of the large intestine, the colon is the final stop in the digestive system, absorbing water and nutrients from waste before it’s excreted as stool.
“Without it, you’re looking at frequent, often watery, bowel movements,” Mukherjee said. “While manageable with diet and anti-diarrheal medications, it’s a permanent shift.”
When the colon is removed, doctors may reconnect the remaining intestine to allow waste to exit normally. The body adapts by passing waste faster, but careful management is crucial to avoid dehydration and maintain comfort.
If reconnection isn’t possible, doctors create an opening in the abdominal wall, called a colostomy, where stool exits the body and is collected in an external bag.
“With good nursing assistance and support, one can lead a near normal life — even go swimming and ballroom dancing,” Mukherjee said.
#7: Anus
“The body’s natural exit,” as Mukherjee calls it. If it needs to be removed, doctors will create a new opening through the abdominal wall called a colostomy or ileostomy.
“This means waste is collected in an external bag, a lifelong commitment,” she explained. “While adapting to stoma care requires learning and lifestyle adjustments, it allows for a healthy, active life, simply with a different waste management system.”
#8: Esophagus
This muscular tube connects the throat to the stomach, carrying food and liquids for digestion.
“Removal often means complex surgical reconstruction, sometimes using part of the stomach or intestine to create a new pathway,” Mukherjee explained. “Swallowing can be challenging, and diet often needs careful modification.”
Life is possible, but you usually need to watch your diet carefully and manage ongoing digestive problems.
“Temporarily, one might even need a feeding tube to make sure one gets enough hydration and nutrition during the recovery process,” Mukherjee noted.
#9: Urinary bladder
Mukherjee calls this organ your “urine reservoir.”
If it’s partially removed, your bladder won’t hold as much, so you may need to urinate more often.
If it’s completely removed, a urostomy is created, rerouting urine to an external bag. Sometimes, doctors build an internal pouch to store urine instead.
“This is a lifelong change requiring meticulous care of the diversion,” Mukherjee said.
“It demands adaptation, but with proper management, individuals can lead full, active lives, as the kidneys still function to produce urine, but would definitely have challenges going to swimming and other recreational activities,” she added.
#10: Lung
Losing a lung means your breathing capacity is permanently reduced.
The body adapts by making the remaining lung work harder, but your physical limits will change.
“While the remaining lung works harder and often compensates remarkably, intense physical activity can become more challenging, leading to lifelong shortness of breath with exertion,” Mukherjee said.
“Athletic people would be able to compensate and keep pushing, but should be extremely vigilant as small allergies, cold or pollution can tip the balance,” she added.
