Pre-op appt done & question about staples/stitches

Well, my pre-op with my regular ob/gyn was this afternoon (pre-op with onc/gyn was last week). And this one was MUCH better than the one with the onc. I was so uncomfortable with the onc, and when my ob/gyn asked if I was comfortable with the onc, I said I wasn't. He asked was he "short and to the point", and I confirmed that he was. My doc said that's how he is, but that he is an excellent surgeon (one of the top ranked doctors in the state, from a survey of medical professionals). So I am comforted in that knowledge.

I had a list of questions to ask my doctor, but I was so busy crying (I'm very scared about the whole thing) I didn't ask most of them. But when reading through them later, he had answered nearly all of them during our talk anyway.

One thing surprised me though. I mentioned to him that I assume I would have staples as opposed to stitches. He said not necessarily. It depends on how much strength is needed to hold the stomach shut. I'm a larger woman, and my body is very slow in healing. Any cuts and scrapes I get seem to take much longer to heal than with most people. Upon examining my belly and the way gravity controls it he told me I would end up having both staples AND stitches. Has anyone else had both? What can I expect when they are removed? I've been told staples don't really hurt when they're taken out. What about stitches? It's been many years since I've had any, and all I remember is that it hurt quite a bit when they were removed. I'm hoping they've found a better way to remove them so the pain is less.

In 36 hours, I will probably be at the castle. I sure hope my nerves hold out that long, lol. Best of luck to everyone whose surgery is upcoming. Speedy and uneventful recoveries to all.

Sue

Hi Sue,

I had a TAH in March and I had "dissolvable stitches" so I didn't have to have them removed ( although, one stitch at approx. 3 weeks was sticking out of the left side of my incision, which was infected had to be removed as it was driving me nuts) Most likely, your surgeon will use dissolvable stitches. I also had a C-Section 18 years ago and had staples ( I forget how many but quite a few) when I had them removed before I went home with the baby, it did not hurt at all when they took them out. They use these neat little "clippers" ( they kind of look like little scissors) and just put one end under the middle of the staple and squeeze. Both sides end up lifting out of the skin. Didn't really hurt, just felt weird.

Good luck with your surgery!!

Kathy


Abdominal hysterectomy, bladder repair, kept ovaries.
March 11, 2005

Thanks for your reply Kathy. I didn't know they have dissolvable stitches these days. I hope that's what I get. It'll be one less thing I'll worry about. Only 999,999 left.

My doc told me he would decide on staples or stitches when he closed me up. He said if there was a lot of oozing he would use staples so the incision could ooze. Otherwise he would use stitches which would dissolve on their own. I ended up with staples. I had them for 8 days and some of them were pretty painful when removed.

I had the disolving stitches inside and staples (about 16) on the outside. I had surgery on Monday and the nurse removed my stitches on Wednesday before they sent me home. I was really nervous so they gave me my pain medication about 45 minutes before they did it. It felt a little strange and a couple of them hurt just a little but NOTHING bad. They then put the steri strips over it and those lasted about a week at home, since then I've had nothing on my incision. It's healing fine!
The waiting is indeed the hardest part!

Sherry

Hi there,

I had surgery on Tuesday last week and I had the staples until Friday when they took them out. I was surprised that I only kept them form Tuesday through Friday morning. I have a pouchy belly and now sags more with the Swelly Belly, so I think that is why I had them staples too. They did the dissolvable stitches as well. After they took out the staples they put this glue and steri strips on the incision to help keep it together too.

I understand about the slow healing. I seem to take forever to heal and usually with bumps along the road.

The removal of the staples for me wasn't so bad, just a little strange feeling. My belly is numb in some areas and not so in other areas.

I hope this helps.

Good luck on your upcoming surgery and I will send my prayers out to you for a safe surgery and smooth recovery.

s
Kristi
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TAH/BSO on May 24th, 2005 due to Endomrtiosis and now on the road to recovery and a painfree life.