My Dad told me his belly button is gone.

15 years ago

Yep - that's what he said. He told me at breakfast this morning. My Dad is almost 89 and has lived with us for over 3 years. He had a pacemaker implanted a few weeks ago and it seems to be working great. His finger tips aren't blue any longer and his skin tone is back to pink.

But he claims his naval is gone. I asked him when did he notice that it was missing. He replied that the surgeon must have removed it when he ran the wires from the pacemaker to his groin. I told him that his incision is only 3 inches long, the pacemaker is just under his collarbone and the wires only run to his heart - not down his leg.

He just shrugged. So I asked him to show me where his belly button used to be and he undid his belt and tugged his trousers down and,... well... no belly button.

I asked him to lift up his shirt and ...guess what we found....yes, I'm sure you guessed correctly - a belly button!

He said - "Oh - I thought it was gone." and went back to eating his Raisin Bran Crunch.

I sure hope this was just an extreme senior moments.

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Comments (16)

bigack
15 years ago
Oh, that's so funny! Kinda sad too, but we have to take this kind of stuff with a laugh.
gardenspice
15 years ago
Okay, I'm not sure I was supposed to, but I laughed out loud.
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lynn_d
15 years ago
Awwwwww. I too hope it was just one of those precious moments, but for sure it is one of those that will love on in memory.
msprettyky
15 years ago
Too funny! I work around elderly people all night. Strange comments like that are common after a major surgery. I was told by a nurse one time she thought it had something to do with the after effects of the anesthesia.
caroline94535
15 years ago
Oh McMann, give your father a big hug from me. This is such a sweet story. We all have those moments; I hope his "missing belly button" will be his biggest concern this year.

You know you're the hero now...because with your cunning and smarts (which he knows you inherited from him) you found the missing belly button.
alisande
15 years ago
I assume he had anesthesia when the pacemaker was installed, yes? Anesthesia can do strange (but temporary) things to the elderly. The staff at Florida Hospital warned us about that when my dad had surgery. Sure enough, he imagined all sorts of weird things ("The doctors cut me in half!") for few days afterward.

Or maybe your dad's experience was just a blip.
rosebudms
15 years ago
God bless your dad and you.
pattico_gw
15 years ago
LOL...that's funny...

I always told my kids that when you grow up your belly buttons fall off...and told them I didn't have one...

You can imagine the surprise on their faces when one day I forgot about hiding it...and they spotted it....LOL

patti
liz
15 years ago
Awww...what a sweet story...glad your daddy found his belly button...or rather...glad you found it for him!!
janie_ga
15 years ago
LOL! I can just imagine an old guy looking at his belly like little babies do when they first discover their belly button!

When my Granddaddy was a younger (not sure if he was in WWII or while a kid), he had his appendix out and ended up with a "second belly button" off to the side. We didn't find out he had surgery until we were teens, growing up, it just proved to us kids that he REALLY was a little strange.
mcmann
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks for the sweet replies. And for those of you who laughed at the story - that's quite all right. It was all I could do to keep a straight face. At first I thought he was teasing me, but that's not his nature. He's really a sweet little old Irish fellow, he's just my Da' as they say in Ireland.

I wondered too if it could have been anesthesia related. But it's been 3 weeks. I've decided that since his heart is now pumping correctly his blood is finally reaching into all those little nooks and crannies in his brain and blowing out the cobwebs.

He certainly wasn't worried about losing his navel!
marilyn_c
15 years ago
Wow, I've heard of misplacing things, but I think that wins the prize. ;)

I remember some of the things my mother came up with when she was that age. They can keep you laughing...like the time my mother thought I was a man, and wouldn't let me tell her otherwise, so I showed her my breasts, and then she thought I was a man with breasts. She laughed and said, "I've seen everything now. Titties on a man!" And no, I have never looked the least bit masculine. I look very feminine, infact...but I had cut my hair short...even tho I was wearing make up...she thought I was a man.
sharon_fl
15 years ago
Bless your dad for giving you a funny story to share with him down the road, once his 'fuzziness' has gone.
I actually don't have a belly button either! After having the big weight loss, a year later I had 12 lbs of stomach skin removed, during which my bellybutton was cut out as well. My Dr asked if I wanted him to make me a new one. I said..'Do I need one?" He replied:'No, but if you want to wear a bikini...' I laughed in his face & said "Not in your lifetime nor mine."
joyfulguy
15 years ago
Great story!

At least, he didn't decide to change his name to "Adam", the only human who was never a fetus, according to the story of the origin of everything, in Genesis!

The Hebrews loved a good story, that was play on words. The word "ad-em-ah" in Hebrew was "dust" ... and someone said that God took some "ad-em-ah", "dust", blew some of His/(Her) breath into it, and it began breathing, and S/He called it "Ad-am" ... which carries a parallel meaning of "Mankind" ... or a person called "Adam": the first man.

ole joyful
joyfulguy
15 years ago
Great story!

At least, he didn't decide to change his name to "Adam", the only human who was never a fetus, according to the story of the origin of everything, in Genesis!

The Hebrews loved a good story, that was play on words. The word "ad-em-ah" in Hebrew was "dust" ... and someone said that God took some "ad-em-ah", "dust", blew some of His/(Her) breath into it, and it began breathing, and S/He called it "Ad-am" ... which carries a parallel meaning of "Mankind" ... or a person called "Adam": the first man.

ole joyful
des_arc_ya_ya
15 years ago
Aww...give your sweet Daddy a hug for me, would you? I miss mine so much.

Glad you found it for him. Hope that relieved his mind a little.

I can relate to being a little "strange" after surgery, even a trip to the dentist. That stuff is POTENT!

My Dad told me his belly button is gone.

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My Dad told me his belly button is gone.

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