Scarlet ([info]scarletdemon) wrote,
@ 2009-06-08 17:55:00
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Keyhole Of Horror
I haven't been around much on LJ lately. One of the reasons for that is that last Monday I was stabbed five times and had my gallbladder sliced out, using a hot wire...I know there is a fancy name for the operation but I've forgotten what it is. I can tell you that it was "keyhole surgery" (hence all the tiny wounds) and that it healed up fast, with just a few sticking plasters and a bit of mild pain-relief (after the event...I mean, they knocked me out to do it).

So it is, as they say, "all good"... Apart from the way my belly-button looks.

Now, I don't want to complain about a successful operation, with a phenomenally easy recovery and a price tag of ZERO pounds (ah, British medical care) BUT - going in through a hole just below my belly-button left a scar that looks... Well, it looks like my belly-button is twice the size it used to be. I think maybe Unimag has made me feel worse about it than I should do...

Me: What do you think of my belly-button? I think it looks a bit odd.

Unimag (my loving boyfriend): Jesus Christ, it is FREAKISH!

Me: No, you're supposed to say it looks OK and that it will settle down...

Unimag: But it is HUGE. Ughhh! Fucking hell, don't keep showing it to me!

Me: How is that supportive?!

Unimag: I can't think of anything supportive to say. I mean, it looks like it was designed by David Cronenberg.


*Sigh*. Like I said, I'm recovering fast. I wonder how long it will be until I am fit enough to kick him up the arse?

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[info]unwilly
2009-06-08 05:37 pm UTC (link)
Lady Un had that done, and her belly button didn't turn out freakishly.

Sorry about that.

I don't suppose your "free" medical care covers a reconstructive belly button?

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[info]scarletdemon
2009-06-08 05:43 pm UTC (link)
Well, it has only been five days, so I think I'd need for it to settle down before finally judging. Plus I've had three huge babies and I'm 51, so it wasn't the flattest area to mend... Heh. And finally, I think I could get the NHS to fix it but I'd have to convince my doctor that it was ruining my life (which is isn't).

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[info]redherring
2009-06-08 05:38 pm UTC (link)
I'm not sure about the hot wire usage and whether that dictates an even fancier term, but the medical term just for "removal of gall bladder" is cholecystectomy.

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[info]scarletdemon
2009-06-08 05:45 pm UTC (link)
I'm not sure about the hot wire either, hahaha! I watched a video on YouTube and it looked like that to me.

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[info]casecob
2009-06-08 06:37 pm UTC (link)
I would guess:
Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy

the hot wire is electrocauterization, no?

(Reply to this) (Parent)
It is called Lapriscopic Surgery.
[info]daughterofodhin
2009-06-08 05:42 pm UTC (link)
Had that done... I ended up with eyelash looking scars on my belly button.

(Reply to this) (Thread)
Re: It is called Lapriscopic Surgery.
[info]scarletdemon
2009-06-08 05:46 pm UTC (link)
Whew. Hopefully it will settle down then. :D

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[info]misswilde
2009-06-08 06:03 pm UTC (link)
My gallbladder-removal bellybutton scar is sadly NOTHING compared to the hideous stretchmarks. Thanks for that, 9lb baby.

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[info]scarletdemon
2009-06-08 07:58 pm UTC (link)
I think it was my stretch marks that made a decent join hard to achieve. Thanks for that 10lb first baby! Hahaha! My tummy looks like a deflated balloon unless I get really fat. ;)

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Not long.
[info]seferin
2009-06-08 06:04 pm UTC (link)
Grind up some pills, slip them to him, have him cuddle with you in the bed, when he passes out, tie him up.

Then grab a boot and have fun.

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Re: Not long.
[info]scarletdemon
2009-06-08 07:59 pm UTC (link)
Or more creatively, a cucumber.

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Re: You said kick.
[info]seferin
2009-06-08 08:02 pm UTC (link)
If you wanted to explore, don't wimp out. Get a Zucchini.

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[info]minnesattva
2009-06-08 06:22 pm UTC (link)
Glad you're on the mend anyway :) I was just thinking of you today; I've not seen you for ages. You haven't even been to our house since we moved around the corner!

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[info]scarletdemon
2009-06-08 08:00 pm UTC (link)
I know, I must rectify that, as soon as I feel more normal.

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[info]minnesattva
2009-06-09 06:00 am UTC (link)
We'll work something out. Be good to see you. Lots to catch up on too. :) Hope you feel better soon.

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[info]teddywookie
2009-06-08 06:23 pm UTC (link)
When I got my gallbladder out, I didn't wait long enough and played in my next soccer game. My stomach got jostled over into the new void and I've had a lot of trouble with my digestion since then. So take it easy.

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[info]scarletdemon
2009-06-08 07:55 pm UTC (link)
Oohhhh, good advice there, thanks. I feel OK and it is really tempting to think I'm over it. But Unimag KEEPS telling me to rest. Seems like I should heed him then.

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[info]teddywookie
2009-06-08 07:59 pm UTC (link)
Just kidding. Kick him whenever.

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[info]dativesingular
2009-06-08 06:37 pm UTC (link)
Okay, this just happened to poor A's mother in April, and I was just talking to my (former) boss on the phone the other day and she's going in for surgery for the same. It's contagious, apparently.

(Laparoscopy, btw.)

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[info]scarletdemon
2009-06-08 08:03 pm UTC (link)
Darling, gallbladder surgery is the new black. For your wedding to be really trendy you should have given each guest a gallstone, with the date etched on it.

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[info]heatherp8
2009-06-08 08:40 pm UTC (link)
you are such a hoot, darling. No matter how blue I'm feeling, your posts never fail to cheer me up. Even with everything you've been through recently, you've maintained your delightful sense of humour. Well done!
BTW, I'm facing the "new black" surgery at some point myself -- thanks for the preview! lol

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[info]scarletdemon
2009-06-08 08:55 pm UTC (link)
Aww, thanks! Actually, having the op must have lowered my immune system and now I have an abcess under my tooth. I'm not kidding when I say the pain is FAR worse than any gallbladder surgery. Thank god for drugs.

I hope you get your surgery soon and it goes well.

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[info]plasticsturgeon
2009-06-08 09:05 pm UTC (link)
It took my girlfriend a couple of months to get back to normal after hers. Now she just has a little lightning bolt coming out of her navel.

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[info]marsidotes
2009-06-08 09:12 pm UTC (link)
I had my gallbladder removed back in the stone ages (1989) before they did it laparoscopicly and I've got a nine inch scare to prove it. I rather it was done the new way........shorter recover time for sure.

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[info]marsidotes
2009-06-08 09:13 pm UTC (link)
Missed you, as you always keep things fun........

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[info]drjon
2009-06-08 09:24 pm UTC (link)
...it looks like it was designed by David Cronenberg...

Surely that's a *good* thing...?

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[info]mycroftca
2009-06-08 10:07 pm UTC (link)
Operation name: laparascopic cholecystectomy.

Be glad you didn't have it the old-fashioned way, like my wife did (they invented your procedure the next year) because the scar would be several inches long across the top of the right side of your abdomen.

I'm sure you have a simply stunning umbilicus.

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[info]unwilly
2009-06-09 12:06 am UTC (link)
Smooth, doc.

Hee.

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[info]mycroftca
2009-06-09 12:19 am UTC (link)
If her umbilicus were smooth, she wouldn't be getting the naughty comments from her squeeze. But there's no accounting for taste...

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[info]intheblacklodge
2009-06-09 01:57 am UTC (link)
The Cronenberg comment instantly pushes that from mildly irritating to transcendent.

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[info]scarletdemon
2009-06-09 04:47 am UTC (link)
Sadly, that ability is why I'm with him.

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[info]liddle_oldman
2009-06-09 02:45 am UTC (link)
So much for support. ;)

If it's any help, in 2005 I had cardiac surgery, and they put three drain tubes randomly though my stomach -- just sort of punched holes in me and ran them in. Those scars, once lurid, are nearly invisible now, so he only has a while to be insensitive. Soon enough you'll be back to normal.

I hope you'll be happier without the gall bladder. No one else has seemed to miss it.

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[info]rubberduckgrrl
2009-06-09 06:42 am UTC (link)
Must. Post. Pictures.

You can't tell me about something this freakish and not let me see. That's just cruel. My imagination has run amok!

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[info]anemptyflight
2009-06-09 08:26 am UTC (link)
keyhole via my belly button left it not circular. The bottom is square. Same size but..not quite right.

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[info]michaelkeane
2009-06-09 11:13 am UTC (link)
All joking aside, I hope you're back to full health ASAP. And when you are, Unimag better be wearing running shoes.

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[info]seaslug_of_doom
2009-06-11 06:29 am UTC (link)
I had laparoscopic surgery for an adhesion, a few years ago. The surgeon decided to pluck out the appendix while she was in there. The appendix had other ideas and went on the lam, behind the large intestines. The surgeon would have none of it, broke out a chain saw, and carved me wide open. So I had keyholes AND a picture window installed in my belly.

On the plus side, I don't collect bellybutton lint any longer.

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[info]cosmicbandit
2009-06-12 10:21 pm UTC (link)
Had mine done last summer. My scars are right where my waistband naturally hits, so I recycled the same 3 dresses for about a month. Hope your recovery is a cinch. Don't get your foot stuck.

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