# More surgery in a week. Wish me luck. (long and possible TMI) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 21, 2009, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-surgery-in-a-week-wish-me-luck-long-and-possible-tmi/482349 "2009-01-21T20:29:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-surgery-in-a-week-wish-me-luck-long-and-possible-tmi/482349/21 "2009-01-26T08:39:25Z")
> [@gardentraveler](#): > > > [@Norinew](#): > > > > Why does this remind me of all the **TokyoPlayer** threads reading: > > sticky, sticky, sticky?!?!? > > Cuz it’s a technique that has proven effective? > > Close! Close! Close! > > Hope everything goes really well. Lots of good thoughts and prayers headed your way. It worked for us! Close! Close! Close! I hope it works out this time! ---
**Author:** ![criminey.jicket](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@criminey.jicket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/criminey.jicket)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-surgery-in-a-week-wish-me-luck-long-and-possible-tmi/482349/22 "2009-01-26T12:37:47Z")
Oh-oh, earworm. I have Devo playing in my head…_Zip it! Zip it good!_ Speedy healing thoughts going out to you, **norinew**. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-surgery-in-a-week-wish-me-luck-long-and-possible-tmi/482349/23 "2009-01-26T13:53:42Z")
Healing thoughts from me, too. Close close close! ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-surgery-in-a-week-wish-me-luck-long-and-possible-tmi/482349/24 "2009-01-26T15:45:47Z")
Add me in to the group cheering for the wound to close. Robin ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-surgery-in-a-week-wish-me-luck-long-and-possible-tmi/482349/25 "2009-01-26T16:00:23Z")
Cloooooooooosssssseeeeeee! Thoughts heading your way. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-surgery-in-a-week-wish-me-luck-long-and-possible-tmi/482349/26 "2009-01-26T20:38:19Z")
> [@TokyoPlayer](#): > > It worked for us! > > Close! Close! Close! > > I hope it works out this time! Heh! Of course, now that surgery is day after tomorrow, that could read as ‘Cloze, cloze, cloze’ or “close, close, close” Because the surgery _is_ close (as in soon), but we _do_ hope it will close (as in seal!) Thanks for the good wishes, all! You would think, having had so many surgeries, I’d be ‘over’ the whim-whams about it, but I’m not. I find myself thinking freaky thoughts like: “What if I can feel everything that happens during surgery, but because of the drugs I can’t _remember_ that I felt it?” and "They can call it ‘putting you to sleep’ all they like, but it’s really more like being ‘temporarily dead!’ " Fortunately, I have a 'script for Xanax, and I will be making use of it Wednesday morning! With a ‘minimal amount of water’ as they say! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-surgery-in-a-week-wish-me-luck-long-and-possible-tmi/482349/27 "2009-01-26T21:40:13Z")
Yes, I originally read \*close \*in the sense of \*soon \*and thought it was an odd post. Later I got it. I’m a little slow today. (or maybe more often than that.) ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-surgery-in-a-week-wish-me-luck-long-and-possible-tmi/482349/28 "2009-01-26T21:59:56Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > Yes, I originally read \*close \*in the sense of \*soon \*and thought it was an odd post. Later I got it. I’m a little slow today. (or maybe more often than that.) Given the number of surgeries _you’ve_ had, it’s a perfectly understandable mistake! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-surgery-in-a-week-wish-me-luck-long-and-possible-tmi/482349/29 "2009-01-27T04:49:29Z")
For some odd reason, I always find stories about wounds failing to heal very interesting (in a medical sense). I’m intrigued as to why this happens. So in the surgery, will they just re-open the wound and take out the old sutures, and re-close it? Does the wound hurt a lot? When you go to the wound specialist, does it hurt lot when he examines it? Does it bleed or just ooze fluid? Do you have to keep a bandage on it all the time? Good luck, Norine, I will be thinking about you!! ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-surgery-in-a-week-wish-me-luck-long-and-possible-tmi/482349/30 "2009-01-27T07:53:46Z")
A close friend had multiple hernias repaired last June, I went to stay with her for a week when they allowed her to come home. She had a horribly similar experience with the entire ginormous wound healing except for a teeny tiny stubborn inch that refused to close. Went through the same processes you’ve been through, and wound up at a wound care center for months, but I’m happy to tell you last week was her final visit and it’s all better now. Granted, you’re already four months later into this particular crap saga, but the larger point is, it _did_ heal. So, take heart. Close! Close! Close! ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-surgery-in-a-week-wish-me-luck-long-and-possible-tmi/482349/31 "2009-01-27T13:42:52Z")
> [@nyctea scandiaca](#): > > For some odd reason, I always find stories about wounds failing to heal very interesting (in a medical sense). I’m intrigued as to why this happens. > > So in the surgery, will they just re-open the wound and take out the old sutures, and re-close it? Yep, that’s pretty much the plan. No one seems to know why this happens sometimes, but it’s my understanding that once it’s re-opened and re-closed, it would be very unusual for it not to heal _again_. > [@](#): > > Does the wound hurt a lot? It hurts when there’s direct pressure on or around where the infected sutures are. > [@](#): > > When you go to the wound specialist, does it hurt lot when he examines it? Maybe I’m just a wimp, but hell yes, it hurts! Even for just cleaning it out, I pretty much beg for lidocaine gel first! > [@](#): > > Does it bleed or just ooze fluid? The discharge is bloody sometimes, but not usually. > [@](#): > > Do you have to keep a bandage on it all the time? Here’s my double-whammy: I’m allergic to pretty much _all_ adhesives. The area _around_ my wound looks way worse than the wound itself because my last round of bandaging actually left _blisters_ which are now all dried up and scabbed over. Yuck! So most of the time, I just tuck a maxi-pad (absorbent side against my skin) down the front of some snug-fitting undies (the ‘light control’ kind work great for this!) > [@](#): > > Good luck, Norine, I will be thinking about you!! Thanks! > [@Queen Tonya](#): > > A close friend had multiple hernias repaired last June, I went to stay with her for a week when they allowed her to come home. She had a horribly similar experience with the entire ginormous wound healing except for a teeny tiny stubborn inch that refused to close. Went through the same processes you’ve been through, and wound up at a wound care center for months, but I’m happy to tell you last week was her final visit and it’s all better now. > > Granted, you’re already four months later into this particular crap saga, but the larger point is, it did heal. So, take heart. I’m glad your friend healed! But my insurance company decided not to approve any more visits to the wound clinic, since we weren’t seeing any progress. They had no problem approving surgery, though. I don’t know if an hour-long surgery is cheaper than a year of twice-weekly wound clinic visits or not. Of course, I guess their feeling is, they could end up paying for a year of visits and it _still_ might not be successful, and they’d still have to pay for surgery anyway. Actually, at this point, it has pretty much stopped oozing. That happened once before, when I was going to the wound clinic, and I _thought_ it was a good sign. But the therapist started poking around the wound to check for pain and tenderness, which is still there, and said if we let it close up _over_ infected sutures, that’s very, very bad. So he actually _re-opened it_ :eek: If that sounds painful, let me assure you, it was. I may have said bad words. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2009, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-surgery-in-a-week-wish-me-luck-long-and-possible-tmi/482349/32 "2009-01-28T23:57:33Z")
Many of you won’t know this, but the weather here in western Maryland sucks monkey balls right now. Therefore, my surgeon’s child’s day care was closed today. Therefore, my surgeon was forced to re-schedule all the surgeries she had scheduled for today. I am re-scheduled for Friday, Feb 6th. I’ve been avoiding drinking my dinner-time wine for a week now, as per my pre-op instructions. So, fuck it. Tonight and tomorrow night, I’m damned well going to enjoy my wine. As of this Friday, one week pre-op, I’ll be wine-free again! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-surgery-in-a-week-wish-me-luck-long-and-possible-tmi/482349/33 "2009-01-29T00:46:41Z")
☹ Another week. Sometimes waiting is the worst part. Enjoy the wine! ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-surgery-in-a-week-wish-me-luck-long-and-possible-tmi/482349/34 "2009-01-29T02:11:14Z")
Oh, darn, I was hoping there’d be good news. Closecloseclosecloseclose… ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-surgery-in-a-week-wish-me-luck-long-and-possible-tmi/482349/35 "2009-01-29T13:14:16Z")
Yeah, the waiting sucks! However, when they first called yesterday morning to tell me it had to be canceled, they said her nurse would call me back today to reschedule, and I was thinking it was going to be at least another two weeks (you know how most docs who _do_ surgery have a ‘surgery day’; hers is Wednesday), so at least it’s not quite that long. I _did_ enjoy the wine, though! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-surgery-in-a-week-wish-me-luck-long-and-possible-tmi/482349/36 "2009-01-30T00:55:32Z")
drink! drink! drink! then close! close! close! ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-surgery-in-a-week-wish-me-luck-long-and-possible-tmi/482349/37 "2009-01-30T01:31:41Z")
> [@rocking\_chair](#): > > drink! drink! drink! > > then > > close! close! close! I drank more wine with dinner tonight. Tomorrow, I’m back to Diet Nestea, thankyewverymuch. Thank you for your good wishes! ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-surgery-in-a-week-wish-me-luck-long-and-possible-tmi/482349/38 "2009-01-30T01:47:58Z")
Close closer! Close closer! Close closer! How aggravating, Norine. You are a woman of patience and fortitude. I’d be climbing the walls. (Oh, hey, have you thought about tucking a bribe for the surgeon under your gown? I did that when I had my gall bladder out. Put a pound bag of Hershey’s miniatures under there with a note “it’s my first time. Please be very gentle.” I understand it was a big hit. The anesthesiologist hogged all the Special Darks.) ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-surgery-in-a-week-wish-me-luck-long-and-possible-tmi/482349/39 "2009-01-30T12:42:21Z")
> [@phouka](#): > > How aggravating, Norine. You are a woman of patience and fortitude. I’d be climbing the walls. What makes you so sure I’m _not_ climbing the walls?? 😛 > [@](#): > > (Oh, hey, have you thought about tucking a bribe for the surgeon under your gown? I did that when I had my gall bladder out. Put a pound bag of Hershey’s miniatures under there with a note “it’s my first time. Please be very gentle.” I understand it was a big hit. The anesthesiologist hogged all the Special Darks.) Heh. I’ve had lots of surgeries and never thought of that. I may have to try it! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2009, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-surgery-in-a-week-wish-me-luck-long-and-possible-tmi/482349/40 "2009-02-07T20:44:00Z")
So how did it go? (I’m remembering correctly, am I not? It was yesterday?) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-surgery-in-a-week-wish-me-luck-long-and-possible-tmi/482349.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-surgery-in-a-week-wish-me-luck-long-and-possible-tmi/482349.md?page=3)