Surgeries, Medical Procedures, etc

Geo

Around 6 or 8 o'clock today, I'll be having my wisdom teeth removed and it will be utter hell for a week. Not being able to eat anything other than pudding or jello won't be fun at all (it probably won't be so bad at first but it's inevitable that I'll be sick of it by the end of the week). This inspired me to create this thread which brings me to my main question: What medical procedures/surgeries have you ever had? If you had any could you name them (you don't have to)? What was the recovery period like?

Sail

I had a receding gum like so I had a gum graft. Three days of immense pain. That's pretty much the worst thing I've ever had to have. No surgeries, no broken bones, I've been pretty lucky.

Churba

The list would be as long one, all told, but as for proper medical procedures, I've had some stitches in my face, I had an infected toe cut open and half of the nail bed removed(Worst one, I had to get needles for that. I hate needles.), Both shoulders re-set after dislocations, broken knuckles, minor fractures, that's about it. I've also given myself stitches more than once where required, and re-set some dislocations, some minor stuff like that.

Edit - I don't like Hypodermic needles specifically. Other sorts, I'm perfectly fine with.

Bronzdragon

The list would be as long one, all told, but as for proper medical procedures, I've had some stitches in my face, I had an infected toe cut open and half of the nail bed removed(Worst one, I had to get needles for that. I hate needles.), Both shoulders re-set after dislocations, broken knuckles, minor fractures, that's about it. I've also given myself stitches more than once where required, and re-set some dislocations, some minor stuff like that.

Edit - I don't like Hypodermic needles specifically. Other sorts, I'm perfectly fine with.

wow, that's pretty intense.

I myself didn't get any surgery at all, but my smaller sister broke her arm, and the day the cast came off, she broke her other.

Churba

wow, that's pretty intense.

Gotta do what you gotta do.

andy_xie

I myself didn't get any surgery at all, but my smaller sister broke her arm, and the day the cast came off, she broke her other.

That's some bad luck she got there. But now she can say "I BROKE BOTH MY ARMS MWHAHAHAHAHA."

Funfetus

I'll be having my wisdom teeth removed and it will be utter hell for a week.

Good luck with that. I've had a few friends who had it done, and I hear it's not really THAT bad. Could be worse. An ex-girlfriend of mine had her wisdom teeth out, THEN had an expander put into her palate that gradually spread it out over the course of a few months, until it cracked her palate in half. Then she had her jawbone cut completely through and bolted back on.

Σπεκωσποκ

I had my wisdom teeth out a few years ago. It was, hands down, the most pain I had ever experienced in my life (the painkillers had almost no effect on me). I would wake up uncomfortable from sleeping on my couch (you can't lie down or it becomes a bloody mess) in agonizing pain at around 5:30 in the morning because that's when the painkillers I had taken prior to going to sleep wore off, but by that time it was impossible to get back to sleep, due to the pain. Exerting myself at all would cause blood to start coming out of the gaps, and I'd have to stuff gauze in there. This lasted for about a week, with some minor lasing effects (you'll have holes in the backs of your gums for a few weeks, for example).

Beware, though, because the first day isn't so bad (due to all the Novocaine). Brace yourself. I hear it's far more painful if you don't have room for your wisdom teeth and they come in anyway, though, so consider yourself lucky.

gomidog

Having your wisdom teeth out sucks! You can't smile right. It also bleeds and bleeds and you can't chew anything. It's not the worst thing in the world, but it's sure not fun either. Eat lots of nice soups, but no french bread.

I've actually been pretty lucky. I broke my hand once and have had a variety of minor sprains and stitches, but other than that, it's been okay.

Geo

About two years ago I seriously broke my left pinky so much so that it was nearly broken all the way around. It was so bad that I had to have three surgeries just to fix it up. What's even worse is that the year after that, I broke my wrist on my left arm. What makes all these injuries sad is that my left hand is the hand I write with.

gomidog

Ugyaaa! Horror Stories! My Right hand allows me to draw, which allows me to pay the rent. If something bad happened to it, I'd be in a lot of trouble.

Viga

Ugyaaa! Horror Stories! My Right hand allows me to draw, which allows me to pay the rent. If something bad happened to it, I'd be in a lot of trouble.

That is my 3rd biggest fear. ((o_o)) Scary!

HungryJoe

When I was a senior in high school, I contracted ITP, a blood disorder that dangerously lowers a person's platelet count. Platelets help coagulate blood, so when a person has a lower count than normal, they can have anemia-like symptoms. When I had it the first time back then, I noticed blood blisters in my mouth and on my body at the start of the schoolweek. By the end of the week, I was actually able to cry blood and spit blood. I had to blow my nose a lot because blodd would drip into my nose. Whenever I blew my nose, it was all bloody. I was also urinating blood. It was a pretty cool to be able to do that, and it scared the crap out of my friends at school, but obviously something was wrong.

We went to our family doctor. He immediately sent me to the hospital. There, they decided they'd better test to make sure I didn't have leukemia. So they took a bone marrow sample. They gave me the choice of taking it from my spine (they'd have to put the needle in my spine) or my leg (they'd have to put the needle in my hip). I chose the leg. They anesthetized my hip, and then wheeled in the needle. I'm not kidding - it was the size of a railroad spike. Now, since it was going in through bone, they actually had to hammer it in!

They took John Henry to the graveyard
WHAM!
Laid him down in the sand
WHAM!
Every locomotive comin' a-rollin' by
WHAM!
Hollered there lies a steel drivin' man, Lawd, Lawd.
There lies a steel drivin' man.

It was so weird feeling the needle being pounded in. I was numbed of course, but I could feel the blows make contact. They told me that I wouldn't be able to feel anything else, but I swear I could feel marrow being sucked out. It felt like you would imagine a tube of toothpaste feels like when you squeeze toothpaste out. Later, my leg felt really weird, like there was empty space in it or something. I was really aware of where my femur was in my leg and it felt hollow.

I was in the hospital for a week, and they treated me for an entire semester with Prednisone. Prednisone is a type of steroid, so when I was on it I really bulked up. I was always very thin. At that time I was 6' 1" and I weighed 130 lbs. On Prenisone, I bulked up to 180 lbs. I was ravenously hungry all day long. I started eating as soon as I woke in the morning and didn't stop until I went to sleep at night. As soon as they stopped the Prednisone treatment, however, I went back down to 140 lbs.

It was the oddest thing. They told me later that, if I hadn't gone to the hospital that weekend, that I would have just hemorrhaged and died in my sleep. However, I never felt even the slightest distress with the exception of that damn needle.

gomidog

...Holy Crap, Joe. You cried BLOOD?!

Rochelle

Ok, this thread scared the crap out of me. I'm getting a wisdom tooth extracted today. I'm really dreading the dentist now. I actually have a huge cavity and hole in it right now, however it really doesn't hurt at all.

Kiey

I had a surgery last year to remove a cyst from the base of my neck. It was an infected sweat gland that puffed up, and hurt. I was back up and around in a few days.

My junior year of high school was my biggest surgery where I was hit in the face with a shot put, and had to have my cheek bone reattached. I had to wait a week between the incident and surgery due to the swelling, and then I had about two weeks of recovery at home in bed after the surgery.

HungryJoe

...Holy Crap, Joe. You cried BLOOD?!

Yes. I could spit blood too. It was cool.

Rochelle

My junior year of high school was my biggest surgery where I was hit in the face with a shot put

HOLY SHIT! Male or Female shot put? I know it doesn't matter too much, because it's a large ball of metal.

How did that happen?

I was a thrower in track and field and being hit by either a shot put, discus, or javelin was something I was quite paranoid about during those years in high school and junior high.

kiwi_bird

I too am getting all my wisdom teeth removed soon. Sadly only with local anaesthesia.

Your Mom

Pish: I had a freaking Whopper the day after the removal of all four of my impacted wisdom teeth. The more liquidy foods (of lukewarm temperature) feel the best, but you can eat most anything, if slowly.

Mosquitoboy

I broke the largest bone in my body. I was bedridden for 3+months.
I had to relearn to walk because my mussles were so messed up from this.
Stairs = hard as hell. I still take pride is being able to walk down a set of stairs super quick. It took me so long to be able to do that.

Li_Akahi

My Right hand allows me to draw, which allows me to pay the rent. If something bad happened to it, I'd be in a lot of trouble.

We need to start researching how to get armoured hands without any sort of side effects.
As for surgeries, I had 22 teeth pulled over the course of 2 years and when I was only a month old I had to have surgery on my stomach because I couldn't hold food down.

HungryJoe

I had a cavity once that ruined a molar. It wasn't a wisdom tooth, but it was way back there. I was in rural KY at the time and had to go to my local redneck dentist. His equipment was all 40s era art deco bakelite. He did give me a shot, but he used actual pliers to pull my tooth. He pulled and pulled but he couldn't get it out. THEN he decided to x-ray my mouth and found that the roots of that tooth had curled inwards and were gripping my gum like barbs. I had to go to the big city of Owensboro (50,000 hillbillies) to have a surgeon actually cut it out.

Loganator456

I got appendicitis and had my appendix removed in the 2nd grade. I found out after I was extremely sick and throwing up so much, and so I called my doctor and that's what he said. He also said that if I had waited a couple of more days, I would have died. I was sick for a couple of days afterwards, but it's all good now.

Kiey

HOLY SHIT! Male or Female shot put? I know it doesn't matter too much, because it's a large ball of metal.

How did that happen?

I was a thrower in track and field and being hit by either a shot put, discus, or javelin was something I was quite paranoid about during those years in high school and junior high.

It was a 9 lb girl's shot, but it was thrown by our best male thrower who was throwing the 12 lb men's shot almost 45' at the time.

Anyway, it basically involved him attempting to throw a shot like a discus, and instead letting it go really early. I was a thrower as well, but it was always concern, but never worried about it too much. Even afterwards it still wasn't too much of a concern.

Apreche

The only "surgery" I ever had was some stiches in my lip. In my house there is a big landing at the bottom of the stairs. I tripped over it and landed with the side of my face on the floor. I think I had braces at the time, too. My lip was bleeding all over the place. A white washcloth was turned bright red. There is still a giant lump in my lip to this very day.

...

Aaah, surgeries. Never had many. When I was a weee little lad, about a year I guess I had Inguinal Hernia. So they fixed that, and according to my mother the stitches had come loose or something, so they had to do it again. And so I have a scar that is pretty much as old as I am. I had completely forgotten about it till I saw this thread. Other than that, eh, I've had a part of an ingrown nail removed from my big toe on my right foot. I remember thinking "What the hell? Get that cotton swab with whatever brown junk on there away from there!" seeing as the skin below your nails is (supposedly) one of the most sensitive parts of your body. Plus I do not like cotton swabs anywhere other than cleaning the insides of my ears. It's also insane the amount of blood that came out, and that I had to walk with a crutch and have my right foot raised pretty much above the majority of my body (yay for laying down in front of the TV and not having to go to school), all because I got a piece of nail cut. Crazy!

I myself didn't get any surgery at all, but my smaller sister broke her arm, and the day the cast came off, she broke her other.

I laughed at this. Yes, it most likely sucked a ton for your little sister, but it's an hilarious story.

I'm really dreading the dentist now.

He's not going to do an anal probe, or stab you in the back, or shove a pipe down your throat, what's the fear? He's just pulling a tooth. Just like you probably did when you were a little girl.

Rochelle

He's not going to do an anal probe, or stab you in the back, or shove a pipe down your throat, what's the fear? He's just pulling a tooth. Just like you probably did when you were a little girl.

Whenever I had a loose tooth, I would keep messing with it with either my tongue or fingers until it eventually came out. I don't think I've ever had any teeth pulled.

I've seen friends who got their wisdom teeth pulled out the day of and and the day after. They looked like chipmunks.

I will be requesting long lasting Novocaine, nitrous oxide to calm me down, and a lot of pain meds for afterwards. Perhaps percocet or something with codeine.

The only positive thing is that I'm wearing my trust Geek Nights shirt today, and I will also being listening to Geek Nights during the procedure. It will help the time pass by as I have my mouth wide open with my dentist's hands in there. I also have a 3 day weekend due to Monday being a holiday. I will at have all weekend of relaxing in bed, sitting up, and watching tv or playing video games.

...

Whenever I had a loose tooth, I would keep messing with it with either my tongue or fingers until it eventually came out. I don't think I've ever had any teeth pulled.

That's the exact same thing I meant. The dentist just does the same, only faster.

as I have my mouth wide open with my dentist's hands in there.

You're hopefully exaggerating there.

Rochelle

That's the exact same thing I meant. The dentist just does the same, only faster.

Baby teeth comes out naturally though. This is different.

gomidog

Really, don't worry. Wisdom Tooth removal is not fun, but it's not the worst thing ever. My dentist decided to take a couple of my wisdom teeth out before they erupted (I only had 3), he failed at getting at the one, but the other was taken out from the gum. I only had a shot of local anesthetic and I came out of it okay. Just take Tylenol or something every day and you'll be okay.