Hardware implant

     We got home from a long day — with long waits — at Hershey to remove my plastic biliary stent (translation: bile duct tube) and replace it with a new one. The plastic one gets gunked up and has to be replaced every two months.
     Good news: I have a brand new good-for-life metal stent. It came with an important -looking official ID card to put in my wallet to show people whenever I feel like bragging about having an "Implanted device", I guess. It is 8 mm x 80 mm (.3"x3").
     Bad news: my pancreas is complaining. My hope is that it doesn't go into a full-fledged hissy fit and send me back into the hospital. I pray it will "cool down" overnite.

     Here are some photos of my beautiful bile duct. On top is the old worn-out stent. Below are pics of the new metal one. Notice that it is not a solid piece of pipe, but a mesh. The odds are very high (I forgot to get the actual odds) that this will never need to be replaced or fall out.
     Yes, I was sedated to sleeping to have this done. I was not intubated, but kept breathing on my own while they stuffed a tv camera and tools down my throat, esophagus, stomach and duodenum.
     I thought I might go to work tomorrow, but feel like staying home to recuperate. I am not supposed to make any important decisions until 24 hours after the procedure as it takes that long for the sedatives to wear off. So if this post is full of dangling participles, blame it on the drugs, please.