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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsHow many times have you had surgery?
Was thinking of californiapeggy's surgery when I see that she's under the knife today. I had a knee replacement back in October, that was my 15th surgery. I knew I had a lot, but when the anaesthesiologist brought out my records, and said, "I think you know the drill" and I saw the thickness of my records, I did the count.
Nice anaesthesiologist, he did a spinal and for 5 weeks, my spinal stenosis and pinched nerve pain was relegated to a 2 on a the pain scale, down from my usual 8-9.
Honestly, except for the pain, I consider myself in good health.
dana_b
(11,546 posts)I know that not all surgeries are equal. I've had 6 and am awaiting another one. I think the strangest part is waking up from anesthesia. It's so confusing (and cold)!
mrmpa
(4,033 posts)siligut
(12,272 posts)And it was on my wrist and I was conscious through it.
Swede
(34,402 posts)Never spent a night in the hospital. Hope this luck lasts and lasts.
Scuba
(53,475 posts).."minor" surgery is surgery someone else has.
An even half-dozen for me, all major of course.
REP
(21,691 posts)Nerve reattachment right thumb
Exploratory laprascopy
Tubal fulguration
Endometrial ablation
Renal biopsy
Removal of struvite stone from lower pole of left kidney
Endometrial biopsy
LEEP procedure to remove cervix
Probably a couple others
Coming up:
Removal of part of AC joint, left shoulder
Repair tendons, left elbow
Repair tendons and cuff, left shoulder
Possible joint replacement, left elbow
Joint replacement, right shoulder
Tendon repair, right elbow
Neoma
(10,039 posts)REP
(21,691 posts)Although the stone removal (cystoscopy/uretoscopy with YAG laser and basketing into lower pole left kidney with double-j stent placement) HURT LIKE FUCKING HELL!!! My husband said I was screaming once we got home, but I still maintain I was just groaning quietly. After I got stronger meds, we both agree I didn't talk or move much for 3 days - I wasn't stoned; it was just too painful!
But yeah. Compared to what most people have endured - minor. But you are very sweet! I love sympathy!
Liberal Veteran
(22,239 posts)If so, 1.
If not, 0.
I do remember being wide awake and in mid-sentence when the second dose of Versed was administered. Then.....recovery room.
I remember looking for a clock as soon as I woke up.
dana_b
(11,546 posts)put you out, so to speak, and it is very invasive.
Liberal Veteran
(22,239 posts)I will say it put some fear into me.
WilmywoodNCparalegal
(2,654 posts)Rhinoplasty to fix deviated septum (and yes, it included a 'refacing' of my old aquiline nose)
Bilateral breast reduction (my husband's least favorite )
Achilles tendon tear repair
Various D&Cs for heavy bleeding
and the one I like the least (because it's giving me a lot of post-op problems)... laparoscopic hysterectomy.
skygazer
(20,546 posts)Hmmm... let me think....
I'm coming up with seven. Seems like more but I'm glad it's not. Never any fun.
Tonsillectomy.
Tubal ligation
Tendon transfer
New hip this past December
REP
(21,691 posts)Sorry about the other stuff, but I see we both have a good one on our lists!
NV Whino
(20,886 posts)Stupid git of a doctor tried to tell me I really needed to experience pregnancy. I set him straight.
REP
(21,691 posts)Extra Respek Knuckles for you, fellow Childfree person:
I had mine done sans pregnancy as well, but it took me until I was 35 to find a (kick-ass) surgeon to do it.
Had mine done at 30.
Pool Hall Ace
(5,850 posts)plus a laparoscopic cholecystectomy and a craniotomy!
REP
(21,691 posts)You get extra Respek Knuckles for tubal ligation
And a Stop That! + Stay Well! for the other ones!
Pool Hall Ace
(5,850 posts)An outstanding neurosurgeon took care of me -- we are going to make sure that meningioma will not come back!
HopeHoops
(47,675 posts)Graybeard
(6,996 posts)Tonsils out as a kid. (Does that count?)
Baker's cyst removed.
And recently a hip replacement.
geardaddy
(25,317 posts)Hernia - age three
Wisdom teeth removal - age 17
Laparoscopic gallbladder removal - age 27
A-V fistula - age 27
Renal transplant - age 28
Long terrm central line installation - age 28
Right hip replacement - age 29
Left hip replacement - age 29
mrmpa
(4,033 posts)geardaddy
(25,317 posts)I wish I hadn't had kidney disease, but am glad I was able to have a transplant that allowed me to live a relatively normal life.
REP
(21,691 posts)Sad you needed them (well wisdom teeth not so much but very happy you got them, especially the tx.
It'll be 19 years this coming April that I've had the kidney.
REP
(21,691 posts)It breaks my heart we're the same age and your Welsh is soooooo much better .... Stay healthy and well! We need all the Welsh speakers hale and talking!
geardaddy
(25,317 posts)Ymarfa!
Well, the kidney's actually nearly 81!
Odin2005
(53,521 posts)Late 20s???
geardaddy
(25,317 posts)and then because of the high dose of steroids to combat rejection, I got the side effet of deteriorating hip joints. The good thing is I'm doing pretty good 19 years later.
Response to mrmpa (Original post)
Iggo This message was self-deleted by its author.
wisdom teeth
fibroid tumor removed
2 C-sections
trof
(54,270 posts)handmade34
(22,857 posts)this...
then further surgeries to remove the external fixator and put in a internal rod...
then... bone marrow transplant and then surgery to cut out chunk of fibula to help the tibia heal...
I love my leg! scar and all
oh, yes... and the ritual tubal ligation
pink-o
(4,056 posts)I'm so old, they actually knocked me out with ether! And I want to go to my grave with that being my only surgery ever. Working hard to achieve that goal.
Unfortunately, I also had two other health goals I didn't make it to: Other than the useless tonsil procedure, I never wanted to spend a night in a hospital. But 10 years ago I broke my leg on my bike, and they kept me in the ER till the next morning. My other broken promise is that I swore I would never take antibiotics. But I got walking pneumonia in 98, so no choice there either.
But let that be the END of it! Want to avoid drugs and being cut open as long as I possibly can!
bluedigger
(17,140 posts)Circumcision and tonsils - age I don't remember
Wisdom teeth - age 22
ACL reconstruction - age 40
(I really only count the ACL, which sucked.)
Thinking of you, CalPeggy!
Old Troop
(1,991 posts)15.
applegrove
(122,629 posts)mia
(8,420 posts)av8rdave
(10,596 posts)Hernia repair as a kid, thumb reimplant/skin graft and vasectomy.
Enough for a lifetime IMO.
rainbow4321
(9,974 posts)C section, appendix, gall bladder....
Appendix was the worst because it burst, my abdominal cavity was full of appendix pieces and the toxins that come with it for hours..went home with an open surgical wound and had to be off work for like 6 weeks. The whole process was started because I was misdiagnosed as having a stomach flu and sent home when I went to the ER for non stop nausea/vomiting. Then 24 hours later it burst...another trip to the ER (via ambulance), 6 hour wait for a hospital bed and FINALLY, surgery.
The other two were a piece of cake compared to the appy nightmare.
femmocrat
(28,394 posts)Fortunately that's it... and I hope it stays that way!
Best vibes to our dear Peggy!
Generic Brad
(14,374 posts)I have all my original parts. They may not be in pristine shape, but they are all in working order.
And I hope California Peggy has a full and quick recovery.
csziggy
(34,189 posts)Tonsillectomy as a kid, tubal ligation, rebuilt left rotator cuff, medial meniscus left knee, hysterectomy, medial meniscus right knee, cleaned up right rotator cuff.
Now I'm waiting to hear back from the surgeon who will be doing bi-lateral knee replacements, most likely this year.
I recently met a woman who has had 14 surgeries in the last five years and is going in for major heart surgery this year. Six of her surgeries were knee replacements - three bi-lateral. The first two times, the prosthetics were defective. She did say she had gotten a really good amount in a class action suit, but I don't know if it would be worth it!
I had 2 surgeries on my left ankle when I was 17 & 18... Broke my ankle and had to have pins and plates in, then the surgery to remove them
D&C @ 28 to remove polyps
Gall bladder out I think at 29 or 30
The D&C was the worst because I had a severe reaction to something in the anesthesia cocktail.
Ugh.. I hate surgery.. I hate that feeling of helplessness.
UrbScotty
(23,985 posts)Response to mrmpa (Original post)
AtomicKitten This message was self-deleted by its author.
sinkingfeeling
(52,868 posts)Major Nikon
(36,898 posts)Every time I've been put under, it seems like only seconds from the time I go under to when I'm waking up in recovery even if it's hours later.
I've had my ankle operated on twice and two colonoscopies.
Bruce Wayne
(692 posts)And it's all from skiing accidents. I swear, just skiiing accidents. I was no where near that vigilante incident!!
mrmpa
(4,033 posts)Bunionectomy
repair of plantar fascititis
medial menisectomy
arthroscopic of the knee
knee replacement
3 laparoscpies for endmetriosis
hysterectomy
broken hip repair
removal of broken hip repair plate-included cadaver bone transplant
repair of broken elbow
breast fibroadenoma removed
cataract removal
removal of stone from tear duct
That's it until I'm ready for an elbow replacement, for the elbow that was broken and I don't have full use of.
sakabatou
(42,902 posts)But there may be possible brain surgery in the future.
DFW
(56,316 posts)Knees, 2 (1 each)
Sinuses, 2
Left ear (major), 3
Heart, 3
Minor stuff, forgotten.
Probably more down the road, but I'm in no hurry.
My wife has tumors on what's left of her thyroid, and gets them (and it) taken out in a few weeks.
She hasn't had a recurrence of her cancer since 2001, and we're hoping this isn't one.
treestar
(82,383 posts)to all it that - local anesthesia things. Mole removal should not be called surgery, but they did it.
Wisdom teeth extraction was my biggest.
Adenoidectomy/Myringotomy
Appendectomy
These are the only procedures done under general anesthetic. Nothing else for almost 40 years. *knock on wood*
greatauntoftriplets
(176,695 posts)And now I don't need to wear glasses. A difficult adjustment because I'd worn them for 40 years.
17 orthopedic surgeries & 2 cesarean sections.
lunatica
(53,410 posts)No pain and your vision is excellent right away.
Hotler
(11,968 posts)For open pelvis fractures and broken left leg and all the torn up parts inside.
BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)--exploratory surgery age 10
--Ileostomy (translation: bag O' shit you wear permanently. They did not tell me the surgery I would inevitably need would involve anything so disgusting. I woke up to a biiiiiiiig surprise.) = Removal of most of large intestine age 19 (emergency. Finally. Ulcerative Colitis started age 7, increasingly debilitating until basically an invalid age 17-19)
--Completion of removal of intestine and conversion to Koch pouch (construction of internal reservoir) age 23
others more minor, including assorted deep abscesses, lumbar disc ruptures, rotator cuff tear- right shoulder (WOW! Shoulder surgery recovery HURTS!! Yowza!), gall bladder laparoscopy, D&C's for fibroids
Odin2005
(53,521 posts)Being put under was a strange experience. One moment I had just been rolled into the OR and was joking with the anesthesiologist, the next moment I was waking up in the recovery room with my mom asking "Are you up"?
Orrex
(63,897 posts)I'm told that it traumatized more than anything else in the whole entire world ever.
nolabear
(43,055 posts)I'm actually pretty much kicking ass.
NewJeffCT
(56,834 posts)for kidney stones.
But, before that, I had two surgeries to get wisdom teeth removed, and then two as a child - one to get tubes put in my ears to help them drain, and then one other one to remove my adenoids.
So, 7 times in total, but all fairly minor.