I am gearing up to see the Body Worlds exhibit at the Baltimore Science Center. From what I have read, I don't think I could have dreamed up a more bizarre yet impressive tool for the study of human anatomy and physiology.

Apparently, in 1977, when my biggest concern was coming up with the perfect prom dress, Dr. Gunther von Hagens was coming up with a method he called plastination. Plastination halts the decay process in deceased humans by removing fats and water from the body and infusing it with polymers -- basically preserving it from the inside out. Body Worlds puts these individuals on display in life-like scenarios.

I think Bachman Turner Overdrive best expresses my mixture of anxiety and excitement about the exhibit with their lyric: "B-b-b-baby, you ain't seen nothin' yet." I expect it to feel a little science-meets-sideshow, so I plan to bring a paper lunch bag with me. But not for snacks.

Just like an airplane with oxygen masks that deploy from ceiling compartments in the event of cabin depressurization, I travel with a brown bag for my breathing comfort in the event that I come upon an unexpected scene of carnage.

Yes, the primary course of action in Janet's World when coming upon a medical catastrophe is: Breathe into a paper bag.

As far as I can tell, the world can be divided in half: There are those who can debone a chicken without flinching, and then there are those who will buy only chicken parts because we cannot cut through cartilage without shivering. We are the same folks who are perfectly happy with a heart that is a cheery painted symbol on Raggedy Ann's chest.

So why would I go to the Body Worlds exhibit, if the sight of the most common childhood knee-gash makes me grip the sink top for support?

It's educational! Also, my kids insist on going.

A friend of mine forewarned me. She said a few of the exhibits made her squeamish. She said one of her sons just couldn't get past the fact that these were real people who had died; the specimens are representative of all ages, races and life stages. The exhibit basically explodes the notion of X-ray glasses.

On the flip side, we who are not medical professionals with unparalleled access to internal organs can see, for the first time, how being overweight taxes the joints, or how a sedentary lifestyle results in heart disease, or how smoking affects lung function.

Recently my Aunt Egram -- whose first name has been spelled backward for privacy, but whose last name, Schweickert, doesn't need to be spelled backward because it already appears that way -- had knee replacement surgery. Someone in the family started sending around a helpful link to a "virtual knee replacement" game (www.edheads.org/activities/knee/).

Because it was educational, I gave it a go, and I performed virtual knee replacement surgery for approximately 7.9 seconds. And this is what I learned: I should not attend the Body Worlds exhibit, unless I am good and plastinated first.

Contact Janet at janet@janetgilbert.net.