Wow... makes one think twice before having surgery!! So sorry you've had such a rough and scarey time with this.

Is there any chance that you could be allergic to latex? My mother-in-law is. She had some dental surgery and did not know she had the latex allergy. Her face, lips, gums, ... any place touched by the dentist latex gloves peeled and itched like crazy. At first they thought she had shingles it was so bad.

Years later she was being prepped for back surgery and she remembered to tell the nurse just as they were wheeling her into surgery that she is allergic to latex! They had to completely change out everything in the surgical suite.. the gloves, suture materials, tubes for IVs and the breathing tubes and masks. Apparently the non-latex versions are so much more expensive that they don't use them unless the patient is allergic.

I hope you mend quickly and completely! Good luck finding a doc that will actually figure this out for you.