# Surgery Monday, wish me luck!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surgery-monday-wish-me-luck/509625>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [September 11, 2009, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surgery-monday-wish-me-luck/509625 "2009-09-11T00:19:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surgery-monday-wish-me-luck/509625/21 "2009-09-11T14:16:04Z")

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> [@norinew](#):
>
> For reasons I don’t understand, a type and cross has to be done within 72 hours of the surgery; I had my blood work yesterday, surgery’s not 'til Monday. So, missed it by 24 hours! Ugh. Oh, well. The nurse at my surgeon’s office said they’ll probably just draw the type and cross through the IV line after they get the IV going. And fortunately, there’s a particular nurse in surgery at that hospital who seems to have a _gift_ for getting an IV started on me (I can be a ‘hard stick’ sometimes). I always ask for him by name!

Many hospitals will allow pre-surgical patients to come in earlier than that, providing they haven’t been recently transfused. Either way, it’s no big deal - usually the testing required to set blood up on a person takes about an hour. Unless you have freaky antibody-laced blood, of course. Then the pressure’s on! But I love a challenge. 🙂

Good luck and please post soon about how it all went!

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**Author:** ![Minnie\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Minnie\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Minnie_Luna)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surgery-monday-wish-me-luck/509625/22 "2009-09-11T15:00:45Z")

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Good Luck!! Hope it all goes smoothly.

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**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surgery-monday-wish-me-luck/509625/23 "2009-09-11T15:44:18Z")

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> [@VunderBob](#):
>
> Not really. My last surgery was an orthopedic procedure on my right hand. I didn’t get any for 3 weeks. :mad:

Not a switch hitter, huh?  
Woo hoo, crappy kidney begone! Do you think they will let you bring it home in a jar?

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**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surgery-monday-wish-me-luck/509625/24 "2009-09-11T16:02:11Z")

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Best of luck to you, and a swift recovery. It sounds like you have the right attitude!

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**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surgery-monday-wish-me-luck/509625/25 "2009-09-11T16:28:36Z")

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> [@gigi](#):
>
> Woo hoo, crappy kidney begone! Do you think they will let you bring it home in a jar?

Ewwwwww. I’ll tell you what: if they _do_ give it to me to bring home, I’ll send it to you, 'k? 😛

Thanks for all the good thoughts, guys. I’m trying real hard not to freak out, and knowing I have a whole crew of people pulling for me really helps! (Of course, so does my Xanax, but moral support doesn’t make me drowsy! 🙂 )

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**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surgery-monday-wish-me-luck/509625/26 "2009-09-11T18:29:50Z")

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> [@norinew](#):
>
> I may actually have to have at least _some_ kind of sex _in_ the recovery room. My surgeon is awfully cute! [http://www.baltimoresun.com/media/photo/2009-03/45333484.jpg](http://www.baltimoresun.com/media/photo/2009-03/45333484.jpg) My doc is the guy standing up, and believe me, that pic is _not_ a flattering one. He’s a cutie. A charmer, too! The fact that we’re both happily married shouldn’t stop us; after all, it’s not like either his wife or my husband will be in the _recovery room_. 😉

Huh. I think I know the seated guy. Your doc looks kinda (to me) like Jason Bateman who I find not at all unappealing.

I’m a pray-er, and now you’re on my list. Best wishes, too.

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**Author:** ![supergoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@supergoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supergoose)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surgery-monday-wish-me-luck/509625/27 "2009-09-11T18:45:03Z")

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Good luck! I hope the surgery and recovery goes amazingly smoothly.

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**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surgery-monday-wish-me-luck/509625/28 "2009-09-11T18:54:34Z")

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> [@gwendee](#):
>
> Huh. I think I know the seated guy. Your doc looks kinda (to me) like Jason Bateman who I find not at all unappealing.
> 
> I’m a pray-er, and now you’re on my list. Best wishes, too.

y’know, I never consciously _thought_ about the Jason Bateman angle, but now that you mention it. . .well, thanks for ruining _that_ for me, since I find Jason Bateman extremely icky since I saw _Juno_. 😛  
Nah, what am I saying? I’ll still adore the doctor. He’s adorable and charming.

As for the prayers, thanks! I really, really do appreciate all of 'em (prayers, good vibes, good thoughts, chicken-swinging, whatever; I’m a theist, myself, and I’ll take all the positive power I can get!)

**Supergoose** , thanks. I’m not as worried about the surgery as I am about the recovery. I’ve had _lots_ of surgeries (too many!), but after the last couple of years, I’m a little skittish about them. See, a couple of years ago, I had a complete abdominal hysterectomy. Unfortunately, it seems I was allergic to the stitches that the doc used internally! That left me with a non-healing wound. More surgery was required to dig all the infected stitches out! (Some of them were infected with MRSA! :eek: ), which left me with a wound that I had to go to the wound clinic several times weekly to heal. Now, it’s finally healed, but it seems to have left me with a hernia that will, after the kidney is taken care of, need _more_ surgery. . .  
You can see why I might be a little hinky, right? Oh, and add to all that: in the past four years sometime, I’ve developed a pretty serious allergy to _all_ surgical adhesives. Ugh.

Sometimes the only way I get through the day is by reminding myself that a lot of people have _much_ worse problems than I have!

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**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surgery-monday-wish-me-luck/509625/29 "2009-09-11T19:22:20Z")

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You’ve had lots of surgeries? :dubious: Are you sure you are still you? You might actually be a complete replacement.

In any case my best wishes for your speedy recovery.

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**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surgery-monday-wish-me-luck/509625/30 "2009-09-11T19:44:50Z")

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> [@BubbaDog](#):
>
> You’ve had lots of surgeries? :dubious: Are you sure you are still you? You might actually be a complete replacement.
> 
> In any case my best wishes for your speedy recovery.

Well, don’t think of me as a car that’s had a lot of replacement parts, so much as a car that’s just had lots of it’s original equipment removed! So far, I’ve had no ‘replacements’; nothing’s been put in, only taken out!  
My husband likes to joke that by the time I finally get a tummy tuck, what with the fact that I’m missing:  
80% of my stomach  
30% of my intestines  
my gall bladder  
all my female internal organs  
and now, a kidney  
I can get a 19" waist if I want one; after all, it’s not like I need _space_ in there for anything! 😛

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**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surgery-monday-wish-me-luck/509625/31 "2009-09-11T20:05:52Z")

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> [@norinew](#):
>
> For reasons I don’t understand, a type and cross has to be done within 72 hours of the surgery; I had my blood work yesterday, surgery’s not 'til Monday. So, missed it by 24 hours! Ugh. …

bwuh? What, are they afraid you’ll switch teams in the interim? switch from an O-neg to an AB-pos or something if they give you time? Weird.

Where will the surgery be done? WV? Cumberland? Bal’mer?

Oh, and are you still hanging around with that VAC or did that wound finally shut up and quit yelling at you?

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**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surgery-monday-wish-me-luck/509625/32 "2009-09-11T20:47:00Z")

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> [@Mama\_Zappa](#):
>
> bwuh? What, are they afraid you’ll switch teams in the interim? switch from an O-neg to an AB-pos or something if they give you time? Weird.
> 
> Where will the surgery be done? WV? Cumberland? Bal’mer?
> 
> Oh, and are you still hanging around with that VAC or did that wound finally shut up and quit yelling at you?

Like I said, I don’t understand the time limit for a cross and match. It doesn’t _seem_ like my blood type would change!

I’m having the surgery in Cumberland, because I’ve had the same urologist there for about five years now. He’s removed quite a number of stones from me, and treated me for others (as well as infections). A friend of mine in Cumberland is a cardiologist, and my urologist was on a panel one afternoon with said cardiologist. Cardiologist’s wife got to hear my urologist speak, and was impressed with him. That’s probably a pretty good reference. 😉 Really, I’ve had four urologists over the past 20 years, and I think this guy is the best of them. I trust him, I know him, he knows me, and he knows my kidneys. He started talking around four years ago about the right kidney going eventually, but he wanted to wait until he was sure it was really the best course of action.

As for the wound vac, long gone. The wound is healed. Unfortunately, the surgery that ultimately enabled that wound to heal seems to have caused a hernia, which will mean more surgery eventually. . .sigh.

Oh well. Not gonna worry about that now. Right now, I’m going to focus on getting the kidney out and recovering from that.

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**Author:** ![statsman1982](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@statsman1982](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/statsman1982)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surgery-monday-wish-me-luck/509625/33 "2009-09-11T21:28:56Z")

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I hope everything goes well. You’ll be in my thoughts!

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**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surgery-monday-wish-me-luck/509625/34 "2009-09-11T23:06:41Z")

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> [@statsman1982](#):
>
> I hope everything goes well. You’ll be in my thoughts!

Thanks, **statsman**! From your join date, it doesn’t look like you’ve been here very long, so you probably don’t know much about who I am. But believe me, _all_ good thoughts are much appreciated!

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**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\
**Post date:** [September 12, 2009, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surgery-monday-wish-me-luck/509625/35 "2009-09-12T15:38:56Z")

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> [@norinew](#):
>
> y’know, I never consciously _thought_ about the Jason Bateman angle, but now that you mention it. . .well, thanks for ruining _that_ for me, since I find Jason Bateman extremely icky since I saw _Juno_. 😛  
> Nah, what am I saying? I’ll still adore the doctor. He’s adorable and charming.

I meant to say he looks like Michael Bluth. That Juno guy is totally creepy.

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**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\
**Post date:** [September 12, 2009, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surgery-monday-wish-me-luck/509625/36 "2009-09-12T17:53:20Z")

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> [@gwendee](#):
>
> I meant to say he looks like Michael Bluth. That Juno guy is totally creepy.

😃  
I had to IMDB ‘Michael Bluth’ to get the joke.

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**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\
**Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surgery-monday-wish-me-luck/509625/37 "2009-09-14T00:49:52Z")

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For me, this is the worst time. The night before. A mixture of please hurry and get here (and get it over with) and OMG, I can’t believe it is here already!

Good luck! Heal quickly.

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**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\
**Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surgery-monday-wish-me-luck/509625/38 "2009-09-14T01:07:07Z")

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Break a leg, **Norinew**.

The night before my gastric bypass, I wasn’t uptight at all. We had just moved 2 weeks before, and I wanted to get the last of the unpacking and settling done before surgery, because I knew I had a 2 week long 15 lb lifting restriction. I was too busy working my butt off to get uptight.

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**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:** [September 14, 2009, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surgery-monday-wish-me-luck/509625/39 "2009-09-14T01:38:26Z")

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I’ll be thinking good thoughts tomorrow!

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**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\
**Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surgery-monday-wish-me-luck/509625/40 "2009-09-14T15:00:27Z")

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Will be thinking of you, hope everything goes well.  
Prayers and good vibes on their way.

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