When a surgeon cut out part of my colon –my doctor thought I might have cancer — he closed the incision with staples.
After the operation I walked the halls of Rex Hospital in Raleigh several times a day, trying to get well as fast as I could. All that walking paid off. Four days later the surgeon said I could go home, right after a nurse took out the staples.
That afternoon one of the older nurses who had been caring for me brought a young nurse to my room and asked if it was OK if she removed the staples, under the more experienced nurse’s supervision, of course.
“Have you ever done this procedure before?” I asked the pretty young nurse.
“Not on a live person,” she replied.
Postscript: In spite of her inexperience, I said OK. But let me say right now that her good looks had nothing to do with my decision to become her first live patient. I was just trying to be helpful.
NOTE: There’s really not much to taking out staples as you will see in this YouTube video.
Coming Monday: Two Was The Limit