Do You Shave Your Pubic Area or Not?

You may be thinking....whaaattt?

But I have noticed in the 2 1/2 years that I have worked in the operating room that there is a trend in both males and females toward shaving the pubic area.

Now granted, I live in the South and we're always a little behind the rest of the country when it comes to trends, so everyone else may already know about this!

This seems to be occurring in the teens to under 35 age group, no grandmas or grandpas!

As we sat around discussing this phenomenon in the break room, the most obvious reason that was tossed out was sexual, but since this is a family-friendly site, I cannot elaborate....just use your imagination!

I just thought about this again yesterday when we had a young teenage girl in for an emergency laparascopic appendendectomy. We have to put a foley catheter in during this procedure, so I noticed she was clean shaven. It sure made it easier to put that in!

If you search for "shaving pubic hair" on any search engine, you will find results for various articles discussing this trend, why people do it and how to do it.

My question is....what about razor stubble and itching....ouch!

List of Blogs I Visit

All in a Blog

Angies Silly Stuff

Baby Luvin

Blog About it

Busy Bee Village

The Cajun Blogger

Candle At Both Ends

Cat-o-nine Tales

Claudette's Words

A Christian Marriage

Confetti by:Kateedyd

Coodas Corner

Cypress TX Mom

Da Boss And Bryguy

Different World

Domesticated Diva

Drizzly Blog

Fat Girl Goes Fit

Feelings Just Are

Flipping Adentures

Florida Travel Spots

4 Cats Make Me Crazy!

The Fuzzbutt Files

The Geeks Girl

Godly Woman

Good News

Green 'n' Pink

Have Your Health

Healthy Home Blog

Here On Columbia Avenue

Hillbilly Heart

House of Bargains

House Wife Wom

Huckle Buckle and Other Mom Stuff

A Hunter's Wife

I Don't Commute

I Feel Like A Woman

I Love My 3 Boys

It's Just My Thoughts

Kateedyd What?!

Kimmi's Krazy World

Kim's Kountry Kitchen

KKB Mom of 3

Lipgloss N" Pinups

Liz’s So Called Blog

Luxury Lifestylez

Making My American Dream

Mia's Motivation

Mix World

Mad Mommy

Momas Life

Mommie’s Marbles

Mommy Mia's World

Mom Tidings

My Big Fat Battle

My First Steps With Jesus

My-Junk-Drawer

My Name is Not “Mom”

My Song of Joy

My Wahm Life

My Weekly Beef

Not Just In Your Head

Paradise Fiber Studio

Photos for the Fun of it

Postcard from Somewhere

Pure Jade Home

Raising a Girl

Saving With Tracy

Savvy Business Moms

Secola‘s Space

Secret Thoughts and More

Shrinking Pamelalala

SlickMom

Something Witty to Say

Success Factors

Talk Time with Kim

That‘s What I am Talking About

The Geek's Girl

Thrifty Momma Ramblings

Thrifty Thoughts

Vibrant Healthy U

Wahm Adventures

WAH and Loving It

WICBlog

The Work From Home Blog

Work from Home Options

World of Homemaking

World of Mom

Deal with Chronic Pain

Ms Frugal McDougal

Notes from a wanna be wahm

Happy Healthy Families

Lose Weight Fatty

Gourmet Cupcake Recipes

Death in the OR

I really hate it when a patient dies in the operating room. I've been a witness to this twice in my 2 1/2 years in surgery, but know of at least 3 others. There are numerous reasons that someone might pass....Sometimes, it is because the patient is critical upon arrival in the OR, such as a ruptured AAA (abdominal aortic aneurysm), sometimes it is because their heart freaks out under anesthesia. I remember the first patient I saw die in the OR. He was in his mid 30's and I was the one who rushed the crash cart into the room. And I watched as several surgeons, anesthesiologists and staff members tried to bring him back, but to no avail. I became extremely upset and had to run to the restroom to compose myself. When I returned, one of the surgeons told me "he was in bad shape, and hadn't taken care of himself"....well I understand that, but it was still sad to witness someone die. I don't think I'll ever get used to it. I just say a prayer.

Stress and Pain

Many of the patients who come in for surgery have ongoing chronic pain that they are hoping to get some relief from. I think that if they had the New 2009 Takemi Select 3D Jade Melody 12000 Comfort Masseuse from Takemi Select Wholesale Outlet some of their pain might be alleviated. This chair looks so cool, I wish I had one to help me with my daily stress of working in surgery and stresses of just daily living. The chair has 12 massaging motors throughout that emulate real massage moves. This is what it looks like . Anyway, hop on over to their website and check out this neat massaging chair. In today's world, I think we could all do with a little stress relief!

5 Things To Do Before You Arrive for Surgery

You know how your mom always told you, "Don't leave the house without clean underwear"? Well, after working in surgery, I believe in this statement! Of course, it is impossible to know what is going to happen to you when you leave your house every day, but if surgery is planned, certain hygiene procedures can be done prior to your arrival.

Below are 5 things that every surgical patient should pay attention to before arriving for their scheduled surgery:

1. Make sure you shave. This is in particular for women---underarms, legs (I know there are some cultures that don't do/allow this) but do it if possible. Especially, if you are having a breast biopsy or axillary node dissection. Because, trust me, it will be shaved for you in surgery if you don't! Another area to shave if you are having any type of vaginal procedure such as a vaginal hysterectomy is your pubic area, but only if you can do it safely without nicking yourself. Again, this will probably be shaved in surgery if you don't!

2. Clean out your belly button! This is not typically an area you would think would be dirty, but you'd be amazed at what type of gunk I have had to clean out of patient's belly button holes (after the patient is asleep, of course!). This is particularly important if you are having any type abdominal surgery or laparascopic surgery because one of the holes made in your abdomen is usually via the belly button and it needs to be clean to help avoid infection.

3. Remove all jewelry. This is important not just because they are valuable and you don't want anything to happen to them, but also because they can create a means of being burned in surgery if an electric cautery device is used. This includes ALL piercings...ear, nose, lip, tongue, nipple, belly button, etc. including vaginal and penile piercings. Yes, I said penile piercing....we indeed had a young man one night for an emergency surgery and he had an earring on his penis! We told him we would remove it in the OR. After he was asleep, I tried but was unable to get it off. The scrub tech took pity on me and she was able to remove it, much to her credit! We put it in a bag and sent it with the patient.

4. If at all possible, clean and trim your fingernails and toenails. Again, it is amazing what nasty stuff appears in an OR!

5. Bring patience and understanding with you. When you arrive, most of the time, you will be asked to disrobe and put on a hospital gown. Yes, you do have to remove your undergarments. Many patients don't understand why they have to remove their underwear ("they aren't operating there!") but, if some kind of complication occurs and you need a foley catheter inserted during surgery, that area needs to be easily accessible.

Therefore,Wear Clean Underwear!!

These are my top 5 things to do before surgery.

Ooooohhh That Smell!! aka The Top 5 Worst Smells in an Operating Room

While I was in nursing school, I was fortunate enough to make a 1 day rotation through the operating room. I was intimidated because the only times I had ever been present in an operating room before were as a patient. The first time was when I broke my ankle and had to have a screw put in it, and the other time was when I had a c-section with my first child (she came out fine).

The surgical staff had me put on a surgical mask and hat and put me at the head of the bed to observe the procedure. The first procedure I witnessed was a breast reduction. As you can imagine, there was a lot of flesh that had to be removed. The way the surgeon did it was to cauterize the skin and then cut out large portions of breast material. As soon as they started cutting through the flesh with the hot "knife", I could smell the flesh burning. The scrub tech that was assisting the surgeon must have seen the green look on my face and advised me to breath through my mouth, rather than my nose, in order to avoid the atrocious smells. I'm thankful to her to this day, because not only was I able to endure my day of observation, but I have now worked for over 2 years in an operating room smelling all kinds of nasty smells every day.

With no further adieu, here are my Top 5 Worst Smells in an Operating Room in no particular order:

1. Burning flesh

2. Bowel movements. Yes, these do rarely happen in the OR

3. Dead body parts...i.e. if a foot has lost circulation and is dead, it is usually amputated, or if it is infected with something like gangrene

4. Dead bowel....if a patient's intestines have partly died inside, when the belly is opened for the removal of the dead bowel, it has a terrible smell

5. Obese people....I'm not trying to be rude, just realistic. When people are very overweight, sometimes they are not able to clean their body as they should, and junk gets trapped in their folds creating a foul odor

O.K. enough grossness for the day!

Why Do Some Patients Lie About Their Weight?

I don't think patients understand the importance of being honest about their weight. It is one of the first assessment questions asked by any hospital staff: height and weight. We had a patient today for an orthopedic surgery that stated he weighed 210 lbs, but it was very obvious that he weighed at least 100 + lbs over that.



Reasons it is important to tell the truth about your weight especially if you are having surgery:

1. The OR beds are really narrow and are "weighted" for a certain weight. For example, most of our OR beds can hold up to 500 lbs. But, extra precautions are taken such as putting extra body straps and tape around patients to make sure they are secure on the table. If a patient is over the weight limit, either a new bed or 2 beds put together need to be ready before the patient arrives to the operating room.

2. After surgery, if a person is very large, more moving help from other staff is needed in order to safely transfer the patient from the surgical bed to the stretcher.

3. Excess weight can become an issue when being anesthetized for surgery. Extra tissue in and around the face, mouth and neck and inside can create problems for intubation.



So, forget about being embarrassed and think of your safety and be honest about your weight when having surgery.

Suctioning during surgery reminds me of the X-Files

How many of you were avid weekly watchers of the Friday night episodes of the X-Files? Me me me...I'm raising my hand high!! It is one of my favorite shows of all time.

Well, when I first walked into a surgical operating room and saw the suction machine in operation, I was quickly reminded of the episode of the X-Files (episode 79, season 4; the Sanguinarium) that started off in an operating room and someone was supposed to be getting liposuctioned. They showed all the fat gunk slinking through the tubing then all of a sudden blood starts to come, and lots of it. It was pretty gross. If you go to http://www.tv.com/ and search for the x-files they have a pretty comprehensive list and descriptions of all the episodes.

5 Most Common Surgeries at My Facility

The 5 most common surgeries at my facility are in no particular order:



1. Laparascopic cholecystectomy: in this procedure, 3 or 4 holes are made in the abdomen, a camera and instruments are placed in the holes and the gallbladder is removed.

2. Vaginal hysterectomy: in this procedure, the uterus, cervix and possibly tubes and ovaries are removed through the vagina.

3. Abdominal hysterectomy: in this procedure, the uterus, cervix and possibly the tubes and ovaries are removed through an incision made in the abdomen. The incision may be "bikini" cut or up and down.

4. Laparascopic appendectomy: in this procedure, 2 or 3 holes are made in the abdomen, a camera and instruments are placed in the holes and the appendix is removed.

5. Laminectomy: in this procedure, a bony arch of a vertebrae is removed in the back, relieving pressure (back surgery).

Surgeon Personalities

My preconceptions before I started working in surgery were that it was the coolest place to work, that you had to be tough to work there, and that surgeons were "gods".


Boy, did I sure have a rude awakening! Actually the first 2 preconceptions were right on, but the 3rd was waaaayyyy off. I quickly learned that surgeons are not "perfect", that they make mistakes, and that they are, just as the rest of us, only human.

Following is a list of different personalities surgeons have exhibited over my 2 year foray into the world of surgery (these are my observations and opionions only):

1. The Jokester: actually, this type of surgeon is not too bad because from start to finish, he is cracking jokes. The only problem is that sometimes these jokes are about the patient, and as an RN and patient advocate, I try to tactfully get them to change the subject.

2. The "potty mouth". This is the surgeon that curses every other word, not necessarily in anger. It's just his way of talking. I have been known to ask a surgeon to stop using gd, which of course, got me labeled as a "Christian", which is perfectly fine with me since I am one!

3. The "lash out at others" surgeon: This is the surgeon that, if things start going bad, he seems to get anxious and starts yelling at anyone in the room, whether they can do anything or not.

4. The "thrower". Yes, I have seen more than one surgeon get angry and throw instruments across the room. I've never personally seen anyone get physically hurt, but have heard stories.

5. The "normal" surgeon. This is the kind of surgeon I that I thought all surgeons would be like. This surgeon is polite, seems to care about his patient, does not yell or curse at OR staff, and generally does all things in a calm manner. Sometimes, they can be boring, because they only speak when necessary, but it's better than being cursed at.