Are you bionic, or inorganic?

Reading a book re surgery, it occurred to me to ask: Are you completely organic, or do you have body parts that have been replaced? Do you wield implants of any kind? Are your retinas your own? Have you had metal or plastic replace joints or vertebra? Have you been sewn up, or maybe you sported a pin to hold a bone in place? Does a bullet reside in your body somewhere? Have you been the patient of a plastic surgeon? Do you carry mesh around inside you? A stent? A metal plate or a bullet?

I dont know what that might feel like. Would you even feel something different inside a body once any inflammation or pressure is diminished? A stent, a bullet, or something foreign like a lapband?

Besides carrying the 2 children inside me (organic), I have had dental work done, cavities filled and such, and I had an IUD inserted years ago. Thats about it.

 

To date, all of my alterations have involved having thing removed. Balky appendix, impacted wisdom teeth, part of my collar bone, and some light trimming in my hip joint.

 

As I noted in previous postings, my teeth are bad. So I have fillings or crowns on every tooth.

My wisdom teeth had no structural problem, but they also rotted, and it was decided to pull them rather than fill them.

I had cataract surgery on my right eye, which involved the replacement of the lens with an acrylic substitute.

At the age of 46, I had long-overdue nose and throat surgery (UPPP), including removal of my tonsils and uvula.

 

I've had multiple stitches in different parts of my body over the years, but in the surgery I had done on my forehead after my 4-wheeler accident, they left stitches inside to hold it together.
They told me they would dissolve over time, but one end came poking out of my forehead about 2 years ago, 5 years after the surgery.
I thought it was a pimple at first.

 

I've got two rectangular polypropelene patches of mesh in my lower abdomen, and the answer is absolutely yes I can feel them as well as their effects. To get an idea: Blow your nose. It's probably pretty easy for you. Now try to do it without using any of the muscles from roughly your navel on down. Then put some cardboard inside your waistband under your shirt and try to bend over. Finally imagine how bloated you were after the biggest meal you've ever had. Aside from the pain that's about what it's like.

And almost like some kind of mocking taunt right above where they worked I still have a sharply defined "two pack".

 

I have some fillings in my teeth. I've had cartilage surgery on my right knee, and a few stitches here and there. I have had my spleen(s) removed, with related patching up. No major bionic appliances yet though.

I assume this was for apnea. Did the surgery work? I'm very tired of my CPAP, though it works, and would possibly look into this surgery as an alternative, if the doc thinks it would help.

 

Other than dental work many years ago, I'm organic.

I wouldn't mind having lasik on my eyes, or maybe have lense implants (after wearing glasses for about 45 years). Dry eyes, droopy eyelids, and toric contact lenses don't work well together.

 

Yes, it was for apnea, and yes, it did work -- for a few years.

I was an unusually good candidate for surgery, because my tonsils were always huge. After the surgery, the surgeon told me my tonsils were even bigger than she thought.

It didn't permanently end the apnea, but I am very glad I got the surgery. My throat was severely constricted, and I had a few very scary incidents of near-choking on food.

Eventually, though, I gained weight, the apnea returned, and I had to get a CPAP.

 

I'm glad it worked for you. I'm gonna go on my doctor's opinion regardless, but it's good to hear about alternatives.

 

My only permanent inorganic components are a few composite fillings. The three piercings I have—two lobe, one helix—are permanent to me in the sense that the captive beads are enough of a pain in the ass to get back into them that I never taken them out, unless required for a medical procedure.

Most of mine was surgically removed immediately after birth, and the abdominal scar they left me with has grown with me over the years to be about 6 inches long.

Me too, except the last piece got embedded in my ring finger only two years ago, and it was my own fault.

 

I have three pretty minor scars from it. One about an inch long on the top of my belly button and two small scars on the side of my belly. My belly, on the other hand, is now lop-sided with the left side poking out further than the right. It's noticeable when I look down on it. I guess if I lose some weight it won't be as bad.

 

I have a bunch of fillings, but I think they're all polymer so they're still organic.

I do have one porcelain crown, so I'm slightly inorganic.

 

Ha! Mine does the same thing, at least when I'm lying on my back and doing any kind of abdominal exercise.

Silly body.

 

Lots of missing body parts and plumbing rework due to cancer surgery. A few titanium screws in my foot from bunion surgery and several gold crowns. I'm mostly reworked organics.

Between her back, legs, and knees, my wife is in trouble if there is ever a titanium shortage. Her X-rays are pretty impressive.

 

Titanium.
In my maxilla (the bone that holds your upper teeth).
It's holding in my dental implant. I had a bad bicycle accident as a kid that cost me a few teeth.

 

This thread reminds me of an old joke about people my age being in the Age of Heavy Metal. Silver in my hair, gold in my teeth, and lead in my ass.

 

I have a porcelain crown, three composite fillings and a permanent retainer from a nasty orthodontic experience that crushed my teeth together and later caused collapse of the side wall of the teeth. The crown was from whacking my face on a steering wheel when I was 17. The tooth randomly died five years later and the nerve was improperly removed so I have major dental anxiety.

There is titanium mesh wrapped around my right peroneal tendon, so my ankle doesn't flex right.

I'm not missing too much... A ganglion cyst that grew inside my wrist joint, my wisdom teeth (that were chipped off my jawbone, so I think there's probably some bone missing there, too).

I do have a bizarrely shaped pelvis and ribcage, but they're okay with it. I broke my pelvis at 17 in that same accident, and the bones healed a little wonky and thick. My ribcage is larger on the right side from fibromyalgia. For now, it's not causing a problem, but it's getting a little worse as I get older.

I'm fairly sure I'll have to have more mesh placed at some point, as my connective tissue is likely to get more fucked as I get older. Mom's got two fake knees and ripped her calf muscle off the bone 10 years ago. Dad's got his bicep fixed to the bone with screws. That's why I do yoga.