Photocopy of the pathology pics arrived today. It's definitely some type of black wire, though it doesn't look electrical... looks more like black plastic... like something you'd find coiled on a weed whacker... difficult child 1 says he doesn't want to see it, doesn't want to think about it anymore, just wants to move on, lol.
There's a little ruler for scale in the pictures, and by my guesstimation, the "wire" (which is all coiled in a loopy mess) is at least 18"-24" long.
The good news is that difficult child 1 really seems to be feeling GOOD for the first time in a really long time. He's not running to the bathroom a dozen or more times a day, either. I find myself not really recognizing the "new" him, sometimes. It's going to take a while to get used to this!