'Wolf visits the doctor ...
 

it's not that I don't like doctors ... after all, I spend most of my life around time. I work in a hospital, but of course, not in the kind of hospital where people are actually SICK or anything. (we occasionally have patients with medical issues, but that's usually confined to things like being really, REALLY drunk (like over .300) or just getting over an overdose or something like that.

So, anyway ...

See, I don't get sick. I can count on one hand the number of sick days I've taken in the last 10 years. (one of those was for breaking my hand, another for a recent bout of the stomach flu). This is common for folks in my dept. We play hurt all the time. Plague again? Get a psychiatrist to write you a script for Zithromax and get the hell back to work ...

Well, I got this pain. Upper right abdomen. Shoots up into the right shoulder blade. Upset stomach on top of it all ... Started reviewing basic anatomay ... nah ... appendix is on the LOWER right isn't it? so it can't be that ... Hmmm. Upper right quad, pain to the shoulder blade, thunderous belching ... damn. I know what this is going to turn out to be.

Mebbe it will go away. That's it. It will go away, right?

No such luck.

The pain actually started on 1/29/03. I gave up hope of a mild case of food poisoning from a bad balogna sandwich on 2/1. Made an appointment with my doctor.

I love my doctor. He's a great guy. I've had the same doc since I was 12 years old.

He bounces in to see me ... asks "Hey sunshine, how are you doing?"

What other response could there be ... "I'm miserable Barry. I'm here to see you. You know I have to think I'm about to die. Other than that, I'm doin' okay."

The doc concurs with my diagnosis (which is gall stones, incidentally) and schedules me for an ultrasound. Had that done last wednesday (one week since onset).

Nice tech showed me the monitor while he was doing the test ... he got to the part where he was explaining "and here's your gall bladder ..." when he went "Wow."

I do not like it when radiology techs of any kind go "wow." remember, when my hand fracture was revealed, I had a tech go "Eeeeeuuuuuw."

The "wow" in this instance relates to the fact that I appear to have ONE damn gallstone. It is of impressive size ... 4 cm. I don't know if this is "gets written up in a journal" level of impressiveness, but I sure as hell think it must be ...

So you must be wondering at this point ... what's the next step?

I'm wondering that too ... you see, the test was done last Wednesday (2/5). Thursday is my doc's day off. Friday his sissy-butt practice decided to close because of the snow.

All I can say is that they damn well better break out the sled dogs and make it into work tomorrow, snow or no goddamn snow!!!!!

(I'm running short on motrin.)

Hey! You're not alone!

My sister (jeni here on the Cellar) just had her gall bladder removed two weeks ago (okay, it was a little more - the same day that I was sick as a dog, if you remember that). She also had this awful awful pain in her back and whatnot.

If I were a betting man, I'd guess that's what they're gonna do for you, 'cause that sounds like a stone that's WAY too big to pass. Jen couldn't work for two weeks. Maybe you'll get some PS2 time :)

I'll point her at this thread so she can toss in her own two cents.

Well, I'm KEEPING _my_ gall bladder, damn it. They can't have it! I don't care if all the cool kids are having theirs tinkered with!

My Mom had hers out a couple years ago. Being an RN she knew pretty much what was going on and still almost delayed too long. She claims she was making sure the right surgeon was back in town. Anyway, don't delay it. Isn't there a non-invasive therapy involving ultra sound to break up stones?

While I'm certainly HOPING for lithotripsy (which is the cool name they give for busting the big stone into little pieces) I'm not putting all my hopes in that particular basket. My suspicion is that I'll end up with both lithotripsy to break up the stone as well as surgery. Hopefully i will know that before too much damn more time passes!! (Owie).

My brother had one of those kidney stones when he was 12. They did that ultrasound therapy and broke up the stone. It turned out he got the stone because he ate too many Tums.

The Update
 

My Doctor called me at work last night. He called me from home. (he's definitely rare for a doc. Totally good guy)

Anyway ... I still don't know what the actual treatment plan is going to be, but I have my suspicions. I'm being referred to the "King of Laparascopic Surgery." I'll see him next week. I do understand that you often get a cool video of your surgery as a bonus. My boss has already told me I have to make sure I ask for it. I understand that most people watch their surgery videos more often than their wedding videos.

I think it's very nice of doctors to give you a videotape that they may see later in court during a malpractice suit. No clue who came up with THAT idea.

In the meantime the acute attack seems to have died down for the most part ... I'm not eating normally by any means, but I ventured forth beyond the confines of the dry chicken sandwich and survived tonight. I may even be brave enough to attempt something like Cheetos tomorrow. (this is a bigger struggle than you might imagine. It's not the snack food aspect of the Cheetos that I yearn for ... I'm cool with eating a pretzel or a carrot if I'm looking for CRUNCH-factor, but Cheetos are my big-time ever since childhood comfort food. I'm not feeling good. I'm NOT puking, so I need cheetos!)

Wolf, just curious, why would a gallstone hurt sometimes and not all the time? Are they like 'floaters' in your eye, which move around when agitated? If so, would standing on your head help when in the throes of an attack?

The little bastids move around ... you get pain when one manages to lodge itself into the duct through which the bile passes into the stomach. Bile is the happy body fluid that helps you digest fat.

Soooo ... every time your stomach identifies fat, it notifies the gall bladder, which gets the bile from the liver. The whole system grinds to a halt when there's a stone in the way ... Bile has no place to go, backs up ... and OUCH.

The symptoms are similar to those of a heart attack.

After a short while you figure out that you aren't going to die.

But you WANT to.

This is how I have spent most of the last two weeks.

If I knew that gravity would be my friend in this situation, yes, I would have been more than willing to stand on my head for extended periods of time.

I did attempt several different arrangements of pillows in an attempt to have my ass higher than my head for sleeping. Didn't help.

My wife had a kidney stone removed a couple of years ago. It was done laproscopically, and with the exception of the discomfort associated with the post-surgical stent, she claimed it really wasn't all that bad. Certainly better than the pain from the stone itself.

Laproscopy = better, incisional surgery = worse.

Keep us posted on this. I hope you get the most gentle handling modern medicine can provide.

Update 2/25/03
 

I had my appt with the surgeon today. He was a really cool guy (for a man I'm going to pay to cut me open).

In any event, as expected, surgery is the recommended treatment plan. Luckily I'm a candidate for laparoscopy instead of the traditional procedure. (four tiny incisions, overnight in the hosp. vs. great big incision week in the hospital.)

I'm scheduled for surgery on March 12.

I'm as anxious as hell, but they give you a lot of medication up front to "relax" you ... :zzz:

I think that's what Jen had. They went in through her belly button! How weird!

But she's okay and back to work and all that. Weee!

I've had a couple of major surgeries (including a bypass...eek!), and I can assure you that, by the time you've allowed the presurgical meds to soak in, you won't give a damn if they subsequently tell you they are going to perform a craniecotmy.

Hospitals...they keep all the really good drugs to themselves, and then charge you an arm and a leg (sometimes literally) to use them. How do they differ from street pushers?

Oh, yeah...I just remembered the difference! Insurance won't pay for street drugs!

I had my appendix out once :D

Hopefully, once is all that will be required. ;)

if i were you, i wouldn't worry about the cheetos. i would just lay off the burgers, fries, mcdonald's route. a lot of people get flare-ups for things like LETTUCE. you wouldn't think it, but everyone is different. it's pretty safe to say you can eat your cheetos. i ate pretty normally and didn't have any flare-ups for a whole 5 months. so it really depends on the person. anyway, i don't think cheetos will hurt you if you're craving them.

mine started in february of 2002, and continued every single week, sometimes every day, until june. then it stopped hurting at all until november. after 7 different opinions, an ultrasound, and almost a YEAR (11 months, actually, to the day that it started hurting), i got my surgery. it depends on the person, the size and number of the stones, and what you eat. i myself had many smaller stones.

one of mine got lodged in the duct that actually goes to the small intestine. that duct is also connected to the pancreas. at the worst of my pain (november), i was hurting for 4 days straight. this was absolute agony for me. i couldn't eat or drink anything because i would get nauseous, i couldn't stand up straight or lie down, or sit up straight...i begged to go to the hospital, because i knew something was wrong. long story short, i ended up being misdiagnosed and going to a different doctor, and she found out what was wrong.

if i had let it go, i could have developed pancreatitis and died. luckily, it didn't go that far. but it's not entirely uncommon.

it's really NOT all that bad. the first couple of days, you will be in moderate discomfort. they will PROBABLY give you morphine in the hospital, which helps a lot (you can't move in the bed and your back will get sore), and they will probably suggest a prescription for vicodin or some other equally effective drug. the worst part, i think, is the carbon dioxide they fill your abdomen with. it cannot be passed like intestinal gas, therefore you have to wait for your body to reabsorb it. taking deep breaths 5 to 10 times every hour helps with this more than you'd think, but you'll still feel like a balloon. the added pressure on your internal organs isn't pleasant, but as stated...is much more bearable than the pain of the gallstone itself (gut-wrenching. literally.)

it was weird, but i've got three little scars. laparoscopy is amazing. they do the stitches inside, too, so they just dissolve.

you'll have a pretty quick recovery. i was almost perfect within a week, but remember...even if you feel fine, don't overdo it. i turned onto my stomach in bed once after the first week, and i got shooting pain from one of my incision sites. it hurt for a couple of minutes. just don't stretch too much.

i don't know if you crack your back or not, but looking back, that was the worst for me. i crack and stretch constantly, and to be forbidden to do that for 2 weeks had my back in a bit of pain.

take it easy and don't worry about it. i'm sure they'll treat you really well, and i'm sure you'll be fine. :)

by the way...for those of you who don't know, you don't -need-your gall bladder. it just stores bile. so the only thing that will happen without it, and only to 1% of patients, is diarrhea.

CHA CHA CHA!

diarrhea, diarrhea! rock me diarrhea!

uh...falco, amadeus...anyone?

:D ... I got it, even without the explanation. VERY funny, IMHO.

So what are you going to do for a night w/o your PS2 and computer? Perhaps you'll be too doped up to care.

It is going to be very difficult.

However, in addition to the good drugs, there's always my Game Boy. I have copies of Road Rash and Bust-A-Move 4 ready to roll.

Contingency plan in case I end up in there for more than just overnight will include packing the PSOne, cabling, and Syphon Filter 1 & 2 in an "emergency bag" that I will instruct my mother to bring to the hospital. I'll just unplug the telemetry equipment and respirator of the patient in the next bed if I have to to hook it up to the hospital room TV.

The hard part will be no online access. Hell, I even take a laptop to conferences and stuff with me and pay the damn phone surcharges at the hotel. :eek:

I have a friend who works at the hospital where I'm having my surgery. If necessary he'll hook me up. I'll see to it.

i took my gameboy advance. dave and jenno were nice enough to send me 2 games, and i had one already. i also had the tv, and my dad...but i mostly slept.

have you ever been anesthetized?

i barely even remember the day of my surgery. i was out for 2 hours for the actual operation, and the rest of the day was spent sleeping and having my blood pressure taken, etc. i didn't even want to do anything besides sleep.

and i was released before 1 PM the next day.

I believe that I have been anesthetized twice.

Once was for reduction of a closed compound fracture of right radius and ulna and dislocated shoulder.

That was in first grade. I fell off a piece of playground equipment during my second day of school.

(the one thing that made an extreme impression on me was that the kid in the bed next to me was a burn victim of some kind ... she screamed a lot, especially during dressing changes. This may relate to my fear/extreme respect for fire that I have to this day.)

Interesting aside. I still have a stuffed Steiff tiger that my dad gave me when I was in the hospital then.

The only other time was for extraction of wisdom teeth (I had five, btw) which was done at the short procedure unit of a hospital. I awakened earlier than expected, scaring the heck out of a couple cute little german nuns. "Ach, you should be sleeping yet."

That was, damn, in the early 80s when I was in college. 20 years ago.

I don't get sick much.

I was under when they sewed my eyeball back up. I woke up with the sorest goddamn throat I've ever had.

All I wanted to do for the entire WEEK I was in the hospital was sleep.

Man, hospitals suck.

That doesn't begin to describe it. *If* you are able to sleep (I wasn't able to sleep during the week following my bypass surgery - couldn't breathe if I was lying down), they wake you up every three hours for a BP, or, in my case, every *other* three hours to stick a needle into me and try to suck blood out of my already abused and uncooperative veins.

I looked like a road atlas when I finally got out the last time. Between myself, my wife, my son and my mother, I have spent countless hours in hospitals, talked to innumerable doctors, nurses, techs and housekeepers and generally grown to loathe and fear those places above all else.

I always tell my family members that, if they want a demonstration of the fact that I truly care for them in a deep and meaningful way, they need look no further than their bedsides when they are hospitalized...because I fear the place so much.

Gall bladders suck. I had mine out last July -- lap choly. Textbook case, according to the doc.

I had started with attacks in February. I got an ultrasound in early June, then (finally!) scheduled an appointment with a local surgeon in early July. I was thinking, okay, I'll have it done sometime in the Fall... Then the guy says, "You free next Wednesday?"

It worked out for the best, tho. The proceedure was relatively uncomplicated and I was back to work in a week.

Just one hint -- you may not get proper signals from your bladder after they pump your belly full of CO2. They're also using plenty of IV fluids on you... Go to the bathroom every two-three hours while in the hospital even if you don't think you need to.

- Pie

Rho was hospitalized about a dozen times between June 2001 and March 2002. She hasn't been back since though. However, I suspect this is part of the reason why she is hesitant about getting on the UNOS list.

I don't know how your hospital is, Wolf, but you better bring your checkbook. They were charging Rho $6.50 a day at Torresdale for the TV. $4.50 at Bucks County. $5.25 at Temple. I never heard of charging for TV until I moved here...what the fuck? They'll nickel and dime the shit out of you on everything these days.

I'm only supposed to be in overnight ...

Paying for hospital TV is something that's pretty common around here ... I remember the $3/day fee charged by this same hospital when I was in there as a kid (this was in the mid 70s) for a batch of tests. (The big excitement for me at the time was that my cousin worked in the hospital and they picked her to be the spokesmodel on the welcome video, so I was able to watch her.)

I did encounter one REALLY strange charge recently, though. A friend of mine had been admitted to an "extended care facility," i.e., nursing home, for step-down care and physical rehab following a bout of phlebitis. She did not have a phone in her room. Most health care facilities give you a phone in the room as a matter of course, but then you have to make collect calls, third-party billing, or use a phone card. The nursing home didn't do that. If you wanted a phone, no matter how long your predicted length of stay, you had to have one installed by the phone company ... and therefore paid ALL of the regular installation charges, around $60, as well as taking responsibility for a regular phone bill. And, despite having NO PATIENTS ON TELEMETRY, they banned cell phones in the facility. It's a racket.

Nothing strange about it, when you realize "nursing home" is a euphemism for "prison for old people".

Mmmhmm...right. That's what they ALL say. ;)

The stated focus of prisons is to "rehabilitate" criminals and return them to society. (yeah, I know that this ain't the case. I deal with the prison population a lot. Can you say "high recidividism rate"? Good... knew you could).

I also deal a lot with nursing homes. It is more appropriate, IMHO, to use this as a euphemism for "warehouse where we put old people until they die."

As an aside ... there is an 'elder care' facility near my house. Their sign out front describes their specialty: "Assisted Living for the Memory Impaired."

That just struck me as funny. It becomes funnier when you know that they put anklets on their clients that function like those anti-shoplifting tags on the expensive clothes in the shops in the mall. Resident tries to elope through a doorway ... alarms go off and they round him/her up.

For each of my 3 kids (born 13, 11 and 9 years ago at lovely Johns Hopkins Hosp.) I had to buy a phone for the room. There were no set-up or installation charges, just the $5-$7 for the cheepie phone. Each came home as a souveneir of the "big day" and when they're old enough for phones in their rooms (a day that's coming all too soon, I fear), I'll give 'em to them for a laugh.

I must say, given what we know about the high likelihood of catching some dreadful disease at the hospital, I didn't mind paying for a clean phone.


BTW, [feeling sorry] I'm up typing at 3:20 am because one of said offspring had an upset stomach, with all the ensuing clean-up. I've wiped, mopped, and scrubbed, and now I'm hosing the area down with alcohol -- who knew a kid could hold so much? [/for self]

Hoo Boy. Tomorrow is the big day. :eek: And I've foolishly squandered my last few minutes of consumption. Midnight came sooner than I expected, and I'm now NPO. I hadn't actually planned ahead for the pre-surgery binge. It was too busy at work tonight. At least I got to scoot out earlier than usual, so I could get to bed (not sleeping ... I'm too anxious to sleep) earlier than usual.

Surgery is tomorrow (I guess it's now actually this) morning at 1115 EST.

Hopefully I will come away from this experience with some outrageously funny stories to tell.

Good luck Wolf! Hope everything goes well. :)

In my community, we usually 'send energies' to people who are going through a medical procedure, but not without their express consent.

If you don't want any sort of psychic or magickal energies sent your way, how about a pack of AA's?

Seriously, good luck...in a couple of weeks, your problem will be all gone and you'll have another fun hospital story to share! Yay!:p

good luck =)

Now, what sort of piracy should we engage in here? When the Wolfs away...

What do you think Wolf is doing right now?

Sleeping off the barbituates?

--"God, this pain is unbearable! Where's my gun? I'm gonna get that doctor!"

--*blissed out on drugs*

--Inattentive to the world around her, due to being deep into playing Game Boy.

Praying to her particular deity to make the urge to cough, sneeeze or laugh go away.

I'm praying...
 

I believe there is a God and He can help (or compleatly) heal you. So I'm praying for you Wolf! May your road to recovery be swift, and may God bless the Doctor's hands that are working on you to be swift and steady.

on a semi-different note:<br>while we're waiting to hear back from Wolf:
 

Ever notice how we're one of the few species that drinks another species milk (it isn't healthy for kittens either), And how whenever you hear <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=Milk,+It+does+a+Body+good&sourceid=opera&num=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8">"Milk, It does a Body good"</a>[a Google search] those adds are Paid for by the <a href="http://www.nationaldairycouncil.org/">people who make money from the selling of Milk</a>. And for the fact that multiple Medical issues arise from the over abundance of Calcium in your system. I've heard that <a href="http://www.niddk.nih.gov/health/kidney/pubs/whastone/whastone.htm">Kidney Stones</a> are caused by it and so is <a href="http://www.alzheimers.org/pubs/adfact.html">Alzheimer's Disease</a> (the plaque is calcium based, but that's just a hypothosis Doc's arn't sure what realy causes the Plaque). even <a href="http://www.osteo.org/newfile.asp?doc=fast&doctitle=Fast+Facts+on+Osteoporosis&doctype=HTML+Fact+Sheet">Osteoporosis</a> can be prevented by <a href="http://www.notmilk.com/calbones.html">Milk is a construed lie</a>. I don't mind a glass of milk once in a while but the idea of Milk being a staple to any one's diet concerns me.
<br>
so when case said:and the fact that Calcium is one of the main ingredents to <a href="http://www.tumscalciumforlife.com/">Tums</a> this doesn't suprise me. But what is a 12 year old doing eating alot of Tums anyways?<br><br> This may be a bit off topic but the cause of <a href="http://www.niddk.nih.gov/health/digest/pubs/gallstns/gallstns.htm">gallstones</a> [cholesterol] isn't too far from milk.<br> check <a href="http://www.notmilk.com/">this site out</a> for more reasons why milk ain't that great for you. If your looking for calcium.. look twards vegtables there's more digestable calcium in a tree of broccoli than there is in an entire gallon of Milk.
<br><br><br>
<i>----------------------------------------------------------
Just hoping you will look at who's telling you to eat it, just as much as why you eat it.</i>

I'm not a big milk drinker- in fact, I rarely consume milk except on cereal or in cooking - but I am rather partial to cheese. I know it is bad for me, but (insert your preferred diety name here) help me, I can't do without it.

Bitmap, do you object to milk on the basis of human health, or on the basis of cruelty to animals? I'm not trying to be confrontational here, but I am curious. There's a lot of hubbub about animal rights out there, and 'stealing' their milk is one of those points often made. I'm wondering which part of the milk issue is your primary focus.

I personaly think that cruelty to animals is not a good thing, but Cows are bred for Food, and the reason of their existance besides contributing to the Greenhouse effect is for us to consume/use their byproducts. I only object on the basis of Human Health. <br>The people that are Lactose Tolerant are actualy the normal ones here. We're the one's that have been force fed Milk since we were kids and have built up an immunity to it. I drink milk Too! it's jsut that I felt like pointing out that It ain't the best thing for you. and might be the cause of some medical issues such as Wolf's Gallstones.


<i><hr>I'm not Here to Swashbuckle the thread i'm just here to entertain while we're waiting to hear back from Wolf</i>

Re: on a semi-different note:<br>while we're waiting to hear back from Wolf:
 

We're one of the few species which gets the opportunity.

But earlier, you were saying the calcium is bad! Besides, broccoli tastes nasty and milk less so. Milk in the form of ice cream is yummy.

I imagine Wolf will get quite a lot of dietary advice from her medical practitioners after this.

Seems sort of funny to be talking about her and no one knows anything. I guess that after awhile we forget that, at least for most of us, we have no contact with each other outside of this board. I mean, when a 'normal' friend is in hospital, someone calls you up and tells you how they are...here, we just have to wait until she gets home, huh?

Yea, I wish i could visit her i've been blogging for while and i've become quite attached to her Humor, and colorfull commentary.. I think she would be great on the <a href="http://cellar.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2998">Photo shop thread</a> we have going right now.

russotto.. follow the links and read up don't just troll. I know your not a troll but those statements are Troll esque.
yes Ice cream is yummy

(*waves*)

I survived ...

Sorry I couldn't get word out earlier ... but I was only able to sit up for so long last night ... I'm doing a lot better today. I should have asked one of the folks I was in contact with to post to the board to let you all know I was okay, but I forgot to ask ... and also I figured I'd be doing it myself soon enough.

I'm in a moderate amount of pain (mostly I say "owie" a lot when I try to get out of bed, if I stay in one place, I'm good) and am taking the nice medicine the doc gave me. I'm not getting high off it, though, which means that I still need it for the pain ... as soon as I start getting that 'happy goofy feeling' I'll probably d/c the meds since that's my marker for no loner needing 'em. Once they get fun, they aren't treating the pain anymore.) As an aside ... because of the meds I'm following the same rule I do when drinking. (i've unloaded for the first time in months ... don't want to be making any hasty decisions about shooting before properly IDing the target. It wouldn't do to shoot my mom when she's just creeping in to check to see if I need another glass of water ;))

I managed NOT to assault anyone either going under or coming out of anesthesia. I only got to experience the joys of morphine while I was in the recovery room. The experience of getting the versed and dilaudid pre surgery WAS pretty cool ... kind of like being surrounded by warm waves. I was too preoccupied by the pain to notice any fun from the morphine (see above theory regarding the meds only being fun when you DON'T need them to control the pain).

My thanks to all who offered prayers, energy, reiki, and general good wishes ... they all worked. (I had QUITE the variety going ... coupla Christian prayer circles, as well Native American, Voudoo, Wiccan, and other neo-pagan groups/individuals ... all were gratefully received.) The process of healing will continue for quite some time, speeded along by all this!

The surgeon told me that the procedure went very well, and he was able to keep it to the 'easier' laparoscopic procedure, although it got difficult when it came to extracting the stone at the end ... yes, STONE, singular. I only had the one, which he said was the "size of an egg". They had to do a lot of pulling and tugging to get it out through the umbilical incision which is only about an inch and a half wide. His description "Yeah, we had to pull and pull on it, and when it finally came out I said 'It's a boy!'"

Prior to surgery he had told me he'd save a stone for me (my coworkers actually wanted me to get one) but since there was only one, it had to go to pathology :(. Hopefully he got pictures.

I have a follow up appointment next week and I'm not allowed to drive until I see the doc. :mad: I was hoping to get some puttering around done this weekend (the original post-op instructions said that I could drive in 3-5 days if I felt comfortable, but the additional tugging and pulling must have been such that he needs me to lay back longer than that to make sure the healing is going well ... I'm going to miss a gun show and a craft show.

So far my only dietary restrictions are "Keep trying stuff and if it doesn't sit well, back off." I'm not brave enough to head straight for pizza, but I want to try soon. I might go for chinese takeout sometime over this weekend, and also am thinking fondly of things like a Chick-Fil-A Sandwich (no pickle). (Simple pleasures) Should I truly want to tempt the fates, there's a chalupa with my name on it over at the taco hell ... with fiery sauce. (mmmmm... junk food).

Luckily I wasn't in the hospital long enough to generate any REALLY good hospital stories (other than my patient without a country story ... there were NO beds available when I was ready to leave recovery, so I got pushed from holding area to holding area for about six hours until they were able to get me into a room on the surgical floor) ... the coolest thing that happened was that I often take psych referrals from the hospital where I had my surgery ... and had spoken with the night psych crisis worker there about the fact that I would be coming in for surgery, mostly to try to get info on my doc's reputation ... well both the day and the night crisis workers stopped in to see me the next morning, which was entirely cool! :) Also, I was lucky enough not to have a roommate during my stay, so I didn't have to listen to anyone else's whining (or TV choices).

So, for right now, I'm surfing the net, and contemplating taking a shower, esp. since I have these great Glow-in-The-Dark SpongeBob SquarePants Band-Aids I can put on ...

I am very glad you are in better health and I missed you here I think we all did. I really missed reading your posts. Hope to read more posts from ya soon

Great news, Wolf...glad it all worked out right. Energy and positive thoughts are a good thing to have in times of crisis, no matter what the wrapper looks like. It all works.

You'll be aiming and pulling the trigger in no time, I'm sure. In the meantime, enjoy the time off, discomfort or not. Even I am able to look back somewhat fondly on the two months off I had in conjunction with the bypass surgery, at least on some level. For instance, it was the last time I had an opportunity to read a book from cover to cover in less than a year...sigh.

Welcome home!

Size of an egg! Oh mah lawd it's amazing to see what our human bodies can cough up...

Welcome back!

I just received a TOTALLY unexpected phone call ... from my surgeon. He just wanted to make sure I wasn't having any problems, to find out what my level of pain was, and to make sure that I scheduled my follow up appointment ...

I've checked with several people ... no one else recalls ever getting a post-surgery follow up call from the doc himself ... not even from other office staff ...

I also got a follow up call from the floor where I was hospitalized. (that was mostly to remind me to fill out the TQM survey I'd be receiving.)

Talk about customer service.

Hey, lady! Good to hear things are progressing.

I had *several* post-op visits from my surgeon, but he knew where to find me because my regimen was a week of bedrest before discharge. They did have pretty good drugs, but you're right: when you need them they really aren't much fun.

Welcome back.

I expect that a doc will visit you as part of grand rounds when you are in the hospital (it's a billable service, after all) ... what blew me away was him calling me at home.

If anyone in the Phila area needs laparoscopic surgery, I recommend this guy highly. Contact me for details.

You told him you liked guns, didn't you?

Actually given the latest AMA "guns 'r bad" push ... it's a topic that i've carefully avoided. Even went so far as to NOT wear any firearms company logos during my visit ... and I don't go ANYWHERE without my Glock ballcap ordinarily, not to mention my Glock ;)

So no, it wasn't because I intimidated him in any way.