scars and bruises

I have to admit that I am feeling much much better now that my gallstones are out. Sleep has come back to me. I have also joined forces with this thing called productivity. There is so much that I am getting done now at work and at home since I am no longer tired and in pain. Talk about relief.

I went this week to what was supposed to be my last appointment with the doctor. She was only going to clean out my incisions and put new bandages on. I had mentioned to her that my cuts were really itching and that I thought my belly button smelled. Yes, I thought I had a smelly belly... button that is. She laid me out, checked me out, and let me know some things that I thought were hilarious and scary all at once.

For one, I am allergic to adhesive tape. My skin reacted

against the tape and created small blisters and a rash underneath the steri-strips. This is why it was itching so much. Out of the 4 incisions, 2 are healing as planned. 1 of them is still... open. The irritation from the rash did not allow it to close. As you can see, it looks like a hole with bumps all around it. Pretty grose.

My belly button does not look as bad because I had taken the bandages off after the 1st week. But there is still irritation around it because some adhesive was left on the surrounding area. I seem to have a true "innie" which means that each time I showered, water would collect there. And although I would dry it, I would not be able to get all of the water out. This did not help the healing process because the area would be constantly moist.

So now I get to take care of all of my incisions and rashes and innie problems on my own. I have an ointment for my rash. Neosporin for my belly button. And I have to make sure that I do NOT put any kind of band-aid or anything with adhesive on it. This is the funny part for me. I have never heard of anyone being allergic to tape. Talk about sensitive skin. The scary part comes right after.. it will now take longer to heal. First the rash, then the hole. I hope it closes up. I do not want it to heal like if I had a crater on my stomach/side.

Another interesting fact I learned this trip to my doctor is what people do with their gallstones. I've had a few people ask me if I had seen the stones. I could not even imagine wanting to see them. What for? Only purpose would be to give them the finger and give them my thanks for the pain. Apparently, there are people out there that really put these suckers to good use. Some people keep them in jars. Some people make them into jewelry. Yes, I said jewelry. When the doctor mentioned this to me I could not believe it. Why would anyone want to do that? So I googled it and here is what I found --

they come in different colors. the ones pictured above are made from cholesterol. notice the size compared to the quarter. the color looks like Jade so I guess I can see why they would turn this into a necklace...

yes, these are all gallstones. and yes someone out there is wearing this. Not me. Even after researching all of this - I still cannot imagine requesting to see these. I am just glad that they are out.

Well enough on gallstones. I hope that what was given to me can finally cure my cuts and bruises and scars and rashes. And if not, I can always go to the extreme of scraping my belly button out even if it hurts a little bit.

for now, enjoy the silence.

Cin