For followers of @jrr4film and @painted_duchess on Twitter (or of either of us on Facebook) may know, we had a bit of a crisis this past month. Shortly after the new year, I was stricken with sharp abdominal pain during one of my night shifts. I mistook it for hunger and ate an early meal. However, I still felt the pain and mistook it for an unusually bad case of constipation. I attempted to tough it out for the rest of the night, but the pain was so bad that I couldn't walk around fast enough or bend down or reach up to finish my counts. So, I informed my manager that I'd have to go home early.
Once I got to the car, I called my company's Nurseline for advice. They believed it to be a stomach bug and gave me advice on how to treat it. Not five minutes after getting off the phone, and after I had just drove my car out of the lot and onto a right turn lane into the highway, I felt an onrush of saliva coming up from my throat. I barely got the car door open when I threw up violently on the side of the road in what felt like a blistering cold.
Once I got home, it didn't get any better. I must have threw up everything that was in my stomach plus more every two hours throughout that night. The vomiting stopped, but I still had the abdominal pain. For the next two days, I attempted to treat it a home, as if I had a stomach bug. On the the third day, I still had the pain and I called the Nurseline once more. The nurse I spoke to was concerned about the fact the pain was still there and advised I go to the emergency room. I have her to thank for saving me from unnecessary pain and suffering, if not for my saving my life.
When I got to the E.R., the intake nurse gave me an attitude after hearing my symptoms. She assumed that I was getting better from a stomach bug and even said, "I'm trying to figure out why you're even here." Well, after getting a C.T. Scan and vomiting (among other things) the barium contrast I had to drink to do it, I learned why I was there: I had acute appendicitis!
[read more after the jump]
I was booked in for a laparoscopic appendectomy (thank goodness!) for the morning. I was lucky that my appendix was only inflamed, though I later found out it was worse than that when they finally got to me. My appendix was perforated and had pus coming out, which would explain what happened after.
Anywho, there was a time there where Pam was left in the cold about how I was doing. I couldn't really use my cell phone in the E.R., though once I found out that I was getting my appendix removed, my mom was able to text her to inform her.
The surgery itself seemed to be a success. I was put under general anesthetic and they were able to do it laparoscopically, which means I have three tiny incisions in my belly and belly button, as opposed to a big one. I was only in the hospital for a couple days before being discharged, but Pam was able to get a thoughtful gift delivered before I left:
For the next week, I would keep my meals light and try to build up my appetite. I had a week's worth of antibiotic and I powered through my percocet/oxycodone prescription (without realizing I could've taken it "as needed"; Pam insists I *did* need it that often). I thought I was getting better as my bowels was moving again.
But, on the following Monday, a day after my course of antibiotics ran out, I went out to fax some forms and get some groceries. Once I got home, I was in severe pain. My bowels rebelled against me again and I could barely move. I went through this all the way into my Thursday follow-up where the doctor first informed me of my perforated appendix and where the doctor saw I was still in much pain. He advised me to get a blood test and follow up with him the next week.
However, the next day, while Skyping with Pam, I was so visibly in pain that Pam insisted I go to the E.R. And with that, Pam took her turn at saving me. Once at the hospital, they did an abdominal X-Ray and then another C.T. Scan (I vomited the first batch of contrast before holding down one cup's worth). It revealed that I had an abscess and an obstruction of my bowels. The treatment for this was longer and, for me, worse than the appendectomy. I needed an NG tube (which was inserted up my nose, down my throat past the gag reflex, and into my stomach) to empty my stomach and a catheter up my right buttock to drain the pus from my abscess. None had general anesthetics, though the catheter had some attempted "numbing". I still felt the pressures. It was uncomfortable, to say the least. Let's just say I *refused* to take pictures of myself. I don't think I even looked at my catheter directly.
In the meantime, Pam had to watch from afar as all this was happening. I couldn't have her take care of me as I attempted to recover from my appendectomy (though Ma did a valiant job at it) and I couldn't hold her hand as I waited in the E.R. or recovered in my hospital room.
But, Pam would soon change that...
To be continued...
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