"And I Want to Swab Your Navel"

That's what I thought I heard from the orthopedic surgeon's nurse at yesterday's pre-op appointment for a hip replacement.

I was somewhat stunned even thought the navel is closer to the operation site than, say, my left foot.  Still ... it was puzzling ... did they plan to go through my navel to replace the hip? 

So, I said, "Excuse me?  You want to swab my navel?"

She looked startled and then started laughing.  "No!  (clearly not wanting any part of my navel)  I want to swab inside your nose!  We want to make sure you don't have any germs or virus that could affect the surgery internally."

Oh, well, that's rather a different matter!  She did a test swab and packed it away for the lab and then told me that the pharmacy will have an ointment for me to use a.m. and p.m.

They did.  I was busy when we got home (mainly resting up from the stairs here and making my way up them) and didn't look at it until later.  To say I was surprised that it was Mupiricin, an antibiotic I use in lieu of anti-biotic o-t-c ointments is understatement.   I already have a tube!

Still ... it was to be applied to inside-my-nose and not my navel (God only knows what lives there anyhow and I don't want to find out.)