What Medical Surgeries and Procedures Have You Had?

[David]

I'm interested in hearing about all the various medical surgeries & procedures you've had. Please share.

When I was 11 years old, I was a Boy Scout. It was summer & my troop was getting ready for Scout summer camp on Catalina Island. I was up all night before, throwing up. I threw up 23 times. Naturally, the latter 18 or so times were just wretching basically. There was nothing left in my stomach to actually throw up.

Anyway, morning rolled around & I felt kind of weak but I didn't want to miss Scout camp. So our troop catches the boat to Catalina. We get there, set up camp, & go down to the harbor to take our swim tests. The water was ice cold!!

After my swim test, I went back to camp because I had a stomach ache. Well, it got worse & worse & worse. I thought my stomach was exploding. At first it hurt on the left side, & then it hurt on the right side. My dad, the Scoutmaster & a physician, & Joel Kramer, the assistant Scoutmaster & an optometrist, took me to the camp clinician. He had me lie on his examining table & he prodded me all over my abdomen. "Does this hurt?" YES!!! I screamed.

They carried me back to camp where I rested for a short time. The officials had to get a helicopter to transport me back to the mainland. By that time, my appendix had already ruptured, but all I knew was that my "stomach ache" was much better. I was feeling infinitely better. I got aboard the helicopter -- there are no doors on those damn things! -- & flew back to the mainland. We landed in the parking lot of Torrance Memorial Hospital, where an ambulance transported me just a few hundred feet to the emergency room entrance.

There was no room on the helicopter for my dad, so he was still stuck on Catalina. In the meantime, my mom was on her way from our home in Arcadia with family friend Marlene, our pediatrician's wife & a nurse. They had a long drive on the freeway.

In the meantime, I was in the ER having blood drawn & all sorts of tests. Finally, a doctor walks over to me & says, "David, my name is Dr. Ashe, & I'm going to operate on you."

I said, "You'd better ask my mom & dad first." He laughed & said they were both on their way to the hospital.

I was in the hospital for nine days, on I.V. for about four days, & had a drainage tube, too -- my appendix had ruptured, causing peritonitis. Surgery required two hours of "cleanup" of the abdominal & pelvic cavities.

I loved the whole experience! When you're 10 years old, you're King of the Hospital! All the nurses baby you.

Some other procedures I've had are: two endoscopies, one colonoscopy, one esophageal manometry & a 24-hour pH probe (MOST unpleasant), some ingrown toenail surgeries, four wisdom teeth out all at once (no problem), numerous EKGs & two stress-echo tests, not to mention plenty of blood lab work over the years.

I've also had a CT scan & an abdominal ultrasound.

So let's hear what you've had done.