Back Office Supplies

Today was a milestone in sorting myself out after my operation last week, the day the clips come out. Instead of stitches I had clips which, when I asked what they were, was told they were 'like staples'. Uh huh.

So, this morning I merrily trotted round to the doctors (metaphorically speaking, you understand) to have the clips removed by the nurse. There was some ouchness involved in this as I stood leaning against the bed and trousers daintily lowered slightly. I asked to see the clips, imagining they'd be slim bits of plastic used to hold the skin together over the wound. I surprised to see that the clips aren't 'like staples', they really *are* staples, small metal staples. The only assurance I have that the surgeon didn't just nip into the hearest office at the end of the operation to borrow a stapler to close me up is that the staples have a little dent in the middle that make them look other than normal office supplies... That makes me feel so much better.

The nurse counted them before removing them and counted them again when they were out to make sure she got them all out - 11 in total (correct). And a bit of blood, of course. She then covered it in a pad to protect it as it heals but used a ridiculously small amount of surgical tape to hold it in place. When I got home to check everything was ok the pad was clearly held in place by the waistband of my trousers. And I don't wear my trousers all the time so that's not a very good means of keeping it in place.

Luckily I'd got some water-proof dressings on my way home so removed the pad and had a look at the wound. Nicely red and raw, about 2" long and looking quite healthy (if you see what I mean). At the base of my spine and just above my bum, so perfectly placed for whatever I wear to rub against it. It took quite a while and was fiddley, trying to put the dressing on so that the padding was over the wound and not the sticky bit (imagine pulling that off and ripping open the scar....) but I did it and was quite proud of myself for it being such a neat job. Now I can have a proper shower again! I need to keep the wound dry for another 10 days for some reason (I'm sure I didn't last time, but hey ho) so I've got a few waterproof dressings. I'm a nurse now.