Saturday, December 13, 2008


My Surgery


On the morning of December 11, 2008 I had out-patient surgery to remove the sebaceous cyst under my belly button at Taizhou Central Hospital. I had an experienced surgeon. When I first lay down on the surgery table he gave me an injection of anesthetic which hurt. When that took effect he used an electronic knife to remove the cyst, using 7 stitches at the end to close the surgical wound. He carefully bandaged me and prescribed 5 days of IV antibiotics to be sure to avoid infection. The clinic doctors can change the dressing every 3 days and he will remove the stitches himself in 10 days. He asked me to rest for several days, and keep an eye on the wound to see if it is weeping or bleeding. He wrote a notice excusing me from work up to two weeks, but also told me that I can go back to work early if I feel I can.

I was helped by my friend Mrs. Lin who is a dentist at the hospital. She accompanied me during the whole course from registration on. She assisted the surgeon... She encouraged me not to be afraid during the surgery. After surgery she accompanied my wife to pay the bill and to get antibiotics medicine. I cannot thank her enough.

Since that day's afternoon I've had pain at the surgery site... That night I was twice awakened by pain. I asked the surgeon if that is normal and he said it is.

Starting yesterday I would visit the hospital for 4 days for IV antibiotics. The transfusion clinic there is very, very busy so I will have to stand in line for it. Yesterday (Dec.12, 2008 Friday) morning my wife went there then she went to office about 8:30 am after putting in my medicine. I went there about 10 am to get my IV antibiotics. I cannot bathe or shower for 10 days... I will change my underclothes every day.

I hope my pain will stop soon. God help me!

Blogger's note: It was rewritten more in Mary's style by Mary B who I cannot thank enough. The following is my style writing which was fixed sentence by sentence by Mary B:


My Surgery

The day before yesterday, (December 11, 2008,) in the morning, I had an out-patient operation to remove the sebaceous cyst under my belly button at Taizhou Central Hospital. The surgeon is experienced. After I entered the operation room and lay down he injected anesthetic... I felt a little pain then. Next he used an electronic knife to cut out my cyst. He sutured my wound, using 6 stitches. At the end he used gauze to cover my wound and a large gauze bandage to cover it and stick to my body. He prescribed IV antibiotics for 5 days. He asked me to rest those days and check the wound to see if it was weeping or bleeding... He asked me to observe whether I develop a fever or not. I can ask a common surgeon to change gauze 3 days later, 6 days later and so on. He will take the stitches out of the wound himself 10 days later. He wrote a notice excusing me from work up to two weeks, but also told me that I can go back to work early if I feel I can.

I got the help of my friend Mrs. Lin, who is a dentist at Taizhou Central Hospital. She accompanied me the throughout the whole course from registration on. She was an assistant of the experienced surgery while I was operated on. She encouraged me not to be afraid during the surgery. After surgery she accompanied my wife to pay money, to get the antibiotics medicine. I cannot thank her enough.

Since that day's afternoon I felt pain where I was operated on. That night I was awakened by pain two times. I asked the surgeon if it is normal and he said it is.

Starting yesterday I would go to the hospital for 4 days for IV antibiotics. The transfusion clinic there is very, very busy so I will have to stand in line for it. Yesterdday morning my wife went to there then she went to office about 8:30 am. I went to there about 10 am and got my shift to have IV antibiotics. I cannot take a bath for 10 days. I cannot take a shower for 10 days. I will change my underclothes every day.

I hope I will not feel any more pain. God help me!

P.S. Last night I felt a little better. Today (Dec. 13, 2008) the experienced surgeon changed my gauze and bandage.At first he bathed the wound with iodine which kills bacteria without using expensive medication. Then he used two bandages with gauze to stick it to my body.He said my wound was healing well.

Sunday, December 07, 2008

I will Have a Small Surgery This Week

I have had a sebaceous cyst under my bellybutton for more than 20 years. When I was a high school student I went swimming in the Gaoyou passage of the Grand Canal. I got an infection from the water. Then it was very little. It has gotten larger, and I have seen three doctors. All of them said I should have a small operation to cut it out. I had an appointment with a famous surgeon at the Taizhou Center Hospital. He said he was available for the surgery on December 11. So I will enter the hospital on December 11. I am afraid of the pain. He said he will use anaesthetic and I will not feel pain. He said he will test the syst and tell me the exact nature of it. I will leave the hospital, maybe on Saturday, December 13, or Sunday, December 14. God help me!

I want to thank Mary, who polished this passage. Mary has helped me not only to become a better writer and observer, but also a better person.