Medical technology a marvel

Never having an operation before didn't mean I'd stay lucky my whole life — or so I found out the other day.

My Ob/Gyn told me 25 years ago that that I looked pretty good on the outside but things weren't so swell on the inside. In fact, they were mighty prolapsed.

I suspected I might need to have surgery, but I tried to avoid it. I kept my weight down, worked out and did my Kegels waiting for a red light to turn green, but I finally hit the end of the road.

No one in the world wants to have surgery unless it's really necessary, except for people like poor Michael Jackson.

I listened carefully to my doctor, a urogynecologist, explain the pros and cons of what I was facing — at my age no less. And so, dear reader, I am putting my name on the list of "those who have had operations."

By the time you read this, all should be over and done with. Supposedly I will be practically as good as new, and the surgery will only take a couple of hours to tie up all my sagging parts.

Unfortunately, not being superhuman, the healing and recovery won't be as fast. I hear it is at least a two-week process and will require a real slowdown on my part, which is not second nature for me.

Let's just hope it is successful. Great doctor; should be.

Nervous? You bet!

But there is a big club of women who have gone through similar problems, many with a bunch of young kids, so how can I complain?

Still, this procedure is not on top of my list of ways to stop and smell the roses.

This will not put me in a unique category by any means. Many of my friends are getting hip and knee replacements, having back surgery, cataract surgery — you name it.

A few of them have had minor complications, but most of them — once the healing process is over — have an amazing new quality of life.

All the medical expertise and the extraordinary procedures of today can border on the miraculous.

My dentist told me about a one-day implant procedure he did on a 95-year-old woman. She had four teeth left, so he pulled those and put in four implants in her bottom jaw. Then he screwed on the teeth. She was as good as new!