Busting A Gut and The Secret To A Successful Dr's Appointment

So I got confirmation today from a surgeon, to news I learned about a couple weeks ago - I've officially busted a gut. As in, I have a very common, and small, hernia. I wish the hernia had a great story, like I was doing some heavy lifting - but in fact, there's no real event I can trace it back to. Chances are, I was born with the defect that made it possible.

The good news is that the surgeon fixes tons of these, and he seems like a really nice and intelligent guy.

I also learned the secret to a successful Dr's appointment today - bring your wife along. This was a brilliant move. First, she filled out all the paper work - and did it more accurately than I would have. She knew all the details of the insurance. She knows our schedule, so we could pick a day to do the surgery. And finally, she'll remember little details like that I'm not supposed eat from midnight to the surgery.

So far, I have to say, if you have to pick something to go wrong with your body, a hernia seems like an ideal option. If all goes to plan, I'll get months of excuses like, "How can you expect me to take out the garbage - I just had hernia surgery!?"

Update: Oh dear. Shira did some searching on the internet and found this website with way too much information. Not only does it have diagrams, but it has flash videos that outline the whole procedure. I'm pretty cool with it all, except for the warning "In men, painful swelling of the scrotum or testicles occasionally occurs. This may require further surgery." Oh great.

I'm also a bit nervous that now Shira thinks she knows enough about the procedure that she'll just want to do it at home, herself, and save on the insurance co-pay.