I hesitated to call my surgeon. I really did. But the swelling that caused the sudden appearance of 100 stretch marks across my abdomen freaked me out. Maybe Willy Wonka's oompa loompas would have to roll me to the juicing room and squeeze me before I exploded.
So in angst I called the poor dear man" at 2:00 am. The 24-hr answering service woke him and got him on the line. Honestly, part of me wondered if he would take my call. But, of course, he did.
The odd thing is while he could hear me clearly on the phone, I could not make out a single word he was saying. He was speaking a lot and I was growing increasingly uneasy because I could not understand him. Not one bit. He was breaking up. It was like I was caught in a bad dream in which I phone for help but I cannot get through.
I told my surgeon several times that I could not understand him, as I scampered from room to room in hopes of getting better reception on my mobile phone. Finally I made out a few words, "emergency room" and "drain." So I asked, "I cannot understand you. Are you telling me to go to the emergency room and have this drained?" Then I heard him loud and clear, "YES." He went on to speak some more but again I could not comprehend him. I just said, "Thank you," and hung up the phone.
In the E.R. the doctor looked at my stomach and asked if I'd had a lot of children. No! I emphasized that these were newly formed stretch marks this very night. That's how awful my brand new $7000 tummy looked, as if I'd had many children. I wanted to cry again.
I relayed the whole story to the E.R. doctor and asked him to call my surgeon because I'd had no idea what he had told me. So, my dear surgeon received another call at about 3 a.m. He ordered a CAT Scan and if any intervention was needed they were to call him.
我很高兴,我的外科医生是directing my treatment from 700 miles away. A family member of mine had developed a seroma in her neck following surgery. She had been treated many miles away from her home at one of the finest facilities in the nation. Her surgery was flawless. But when she was treated for the seroma at her local hospital, they use drains that left her with a prominent scar on her neck. I did not want some doctor I did not know potentially messing up my new tummy.
When all was said and done, the E.R. doctor informed me that everything was normal on my CAT Scan. I did not have a seroma. That was great news and all of this drama was for naught. While I'd rather do the thing that is safe rather than take a risk with my health, I still felt foolish.