Previous surgeon was a quack, apparently. He vertically bisected Hubby's entire lower torso, splitting all the abdominal muscles, and botched the sewing up. So the abdominal support for his back is, shall we say, lacking. But that was 30 years ago, before I even met him.

Should surgeons be struck speechless by the visual confirmation of a patient telling them "I've had lots of surgeries"?

I guess I would be reassured that he was still human enough to be taken aback.

Yeah, my SiL, a nurse, laughed at my ginormous splenectomy scar when she saw it.

Sorry the doctor couldn't hold it together when he saw your Hubby Connie. And that the original doctor was such a quack. Hopefully everything will go well.

Trudy estimated date for things to slow down is - maybe the week of Jan 5th. Maybe, depends on how returns go.

Part of the stress is the lack of knowledge I need to do the job right, normally they would only put someone in this position with at least 6 months experience on the sales floor, preferably 1 year and in at least 2 different departments.

They gave me a shot, I appreciate it. But then the person who worked for the company and in the position for 6 years left and I'm left without a huge resource. Originally they were going to wait and hire someone, but they changed that. And my supervisor, or I guess ex supervisor, got a job more in her field so she's working part time, at least until after Xmas.

It's not so much tiny ducks nibbling me to death, but big giant specific ducks biting huge chunks out of me.

That's a lot of damn ducks.

I'm all ragey.

Work on top of stress issues is hard. It just is. And other people working longer hours doesn't mean it's any less stressful for you, askye. I hope tomorrow is better.

I'm still settling in to working in an office full time. Like, there are other personalities and several of them clash and I am occasionally boggled that we're all supposed to just not murderize each other.

Too many ducks.

Should surgeons be struck speechless by the visual confirmation of a patient telling them "I've had lots of surgeries"?

Well, I think people expect other people to exaggerate a lot of things. Surgeons do hundreds of surgeries. They don't often probably expect patients with dozens under their belt with all the scars to show for it.

But thinking good thoughts for the biopsy and his reaction to chemo.

I think people expect other people to exaggerate a lot of things.

It's always amusing watching new doctors get used to Hubby, who keeps up with treatment options and asks intelligent questions. But we are new to the doctor, so it's OK. And I had fun when doctor said, "We'll do the biopsy, then there will be an expensive test called a PET scan--" and I said "Which he had last week." He should be fine, though.

It's not like the time the intern many years ago tried to bamboozle us with Latin, which we promptly translated and asked what the phrase he'd thrown out had to do with anything.

I make new-to-me doctors do a hard double take when I start talking. (Because, when I go to Urgent Care for a migraine, I am generally NOT dressed professionally, probably not wearing makeup or fancy hair, and very likely not showered. All of which does impact how healthcare providers view a patient. [Which is patently NOT fair to the patient, but it happens.] And then I open my mouth and a medical dictionary falls out and they look at me TOTALLY differently. Saying "I edit for the AMA" makes them look at me like I'm a peer and not some drug-seeker.)

And then I open my mouth and a medical dictionary falls out and they look at me TOTALLY differently. Saying "I edit for the AMA" makes them look at me like I'm a peer and not some drug-seeker.)

"I edit for the AMA NOW GIVE ME ALL THE DRUGS".

You know, if you were miffed at missing out on the twofer.