Staples anyone?

Mine were removed 3 days post-op and only one of them hurt. It had been put in at a slight angle and the nurse removing it must have tried about 5 times to get it out. Just stay calm and breathe...it will go by quickly and relatively painlessly.

Good luck!

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Posterior hernia repair & TAH on 10/03/05

My experience was a little different than others who have posted here. I had a vertical incision with about 20 staples that were removed 7 days post op! The area was not numbed prior to removal. The first few (upper part of incision) staples did not hurt, but I had some that were embedded (lower part of incision) and those were very painful-THEN the nurse practicioner actually broke a staple during removal and had to "dig out" the remainder! Talk about an owie! I have a very high tolerance for pain and I actually had tears rolling down my face!

I agree with everyone ... it was pretty simple and no pain. However, I had myself so worked up about it I could not relax myself and tensed up with each staple removal (I had 16). The nurse told me (kiddingly) that I was being a baby and to toughen up. I still could not relax. It was the Saturday before Easter and she happened to have Hershey Kisses in her pocket. She gave one to me before she removed my 3rd staple and the process of upwrapping it and enjoying it definitely helped. Needless to say I had 13 kisses that day.

Best of luck ... you will be ok.

Thanks so much for all of your replies and reassurances. My staples will have been in 2 weeks by Thursday and I hope they still come out easily. The doctor wanted to make sure everything was sealed good before taking them out because I have fluid that builds up in abdominal cavity and she didn't want a leak to start and then not heal. Well, I'm certainly looking forward to them being out and that part over.
s to all