Well the month of June turned pretty exciting last week. I had abdominal pain that started on Wed. morning and by the next day was in the hospital with a ruptured appendix. After five days in the hospital they let me come home and after another week I got back to work.
I am feeling better now but it was a rough few days after the surgery. Once the appendix ruptures it tends to cause infection in the abdominal cavity and makes recovery a lot harder. At least I know I won’t have to worry about it again.
3 comments for this entry ↓
1 gregtyree.com » Blog Archive » Happy Father in Decatur // Jun 17, 2007 at 10:04 pm
[...] help but improve over Father’s Day from last year when I was in the hospital with a ruptured appendix. This one went much better - and nobody went to the [...]
2 Susanne // Dec 12, 2007 at 9:45 pm
How long did it take you to recover?
I have a similar story, just happened… here it goes
I was seeing an acupuncturist for about four weeks to treat a supposed small intestine / ileocecal valve issue (he established that). The ileocecal valve is located right next to the appendix. Tuesday before Thanksgiving 07 I saw him for a treatment and the very next day I suffered from a fever and pain in my abdomen. I initially thought it was a bad case of IBS and called his office to inquire. He suggested to take acidophilus and Vitamin C.
The pain never went away and I called his office again on Monday after Thanksgiving. He suggested I come in. I was in no shape to do this, but drove the 40 miles to his office anyway. He insisted it was a missing enzyme, tested me with biofeedback to establish which enzyme would be best for me and sent me on my way with the remedy. I had explained the location and severity of my pain. He simply shrugged it off. This is a man who has 35 years experience and claims to be the guru of acupuncture – Dr. Sunderlage of Elgin, IL. Yet, he was unable to pick up the usual symptoms of appendicitis. Where does that leave biofeedback and acupuncture? Sometimes we simply need a Doctor!
The pain got more and more excruciating. The next morning, I finally could not take it anymore. In the wee hours, my boyfriend took me to the ER at Chicago’s St. Joseph Hospital. I cried and moaned in agony, I needed assistance walking. I would have done anything for the pain to go away. The Doctor suspected an appendix problem right away. I was given some pain killers and prepped for a CT Scan. In my agony, I had to drink a big bottle of white liquid for them to see my abdomen on the scan. I hurried up drinking the liquid. I wanted to move on and get rid of whatever was bothering me. The pain grew more and more intense.
The CT scan confirmed a ruptured appendix. I was getting nervous but somehow felt relieved that we knew what the issue was. Within an hour I was in surgery. The anesthesist confirmed the surgeon had 25 years of experience and knew what he was doing. I begged the Doctor to put me out right away. I could not lie there much longer. Never in my life had I experienced pain like this.
A couple hours later I woke up in the recovery room. I was freezing and felt weird. After about an hour they put me in my room. Shortly thereafter, the surgeon paid me a visit and told me my appendix case was the worst in ten years. The appendix must have burst a couple days back and it was free-floating in my abdomen. It had also blown a hole into my colon which made stool leak all over my abdomen. A couple hours later and I would have been in ‘septic shock’ and all help would have been too late.
The surgeon just shock his head, wondering why I had waited for so long to come in. I explained the situation to him, mentioned the fact that I thought it was IBS and the acupuncturist story. He could not understand how I handled the pain for so long.
I expected to be out of the hospital within a few days, but the surgeon warned me I’d be there at least four or five days. I ended up staying for five days. Five days with lots of pain and discomfort. For three days I was given morphine for the pain. I suffered from fevers for two days. Fever as high as 103.5. Anti-nausea medicine, Morphine, Anti-biotics were given intravenously and Tylenol by mouth to lower the fever. The Morphine gave me psychedelic dreams and visions. I did not sleep on that stuff. Every time I closed my eyes, I was transported to another planet. It got kind of annoying after a while, but it surely helped the pain. A drain was also left in my abdomen, puss drained out for seven days.
The second day in the hospital, I called the acupuncturist (on Morphine) and informed him about what happened. He acted dumb, but admitted he should have picked up the typical symptamology for appendicitis. In the meantime I have written a letter to him, asking for a refund for his near-deadly treatment.
Only days after the surgery I realized how close I was to death. I am grateful and lucky to be alive. I ended up in a great hospital with wonderful care – thanks to my boyfriend who reacted quickly.
Now, two weeks after the surgery, I am still hobbling around, but getting stronger. Total recovery is six weeks. I can’t lift anything over 10 lbs, can’t work out. I am trying to gain the weight back that I lost in the days after surgery. My appetite is only slowly coming back. It is amazing what kind of grief a little appendix, a remnant from the past, can cause. Remember, sometimes a real Dr. is the only one who can help. Natural medicine is great, but it nearly killed me. If surgery is needed, only Western medicine can help.
If you ever suffer from a pain in the lower, right corner of your abdomen – go to the ER right away!
3 David Lister // Dec 19, 2007 at 12:23 pm
I too had a ruptured appendix May 15 2007.
The Sunday before I was at Church playing in the band and about half way thru the service I felt a sour feeling in my stomach. When I left I got something to eat and it seemed to feel a little better.
The next day-Monday I started to feel pain in my stomach and I was constipated. I just thought I had eaten some bad food.
Tuesday the pain got worse but because I have no medical insurance I didn’t go to the doctor. But I did say to myself if this doesn’t clear up by the next day I’ll go to the doctor.
Wednesday the pain was really bad so I drove myself to the hospital-Barely.
Once there I checked in to the E.R. About 5 hours later they did an MRI. about 10 min. later the doctor came in and said my appendix was swollen and had to come out. He left the room and about an hour later it ruptured. On a pain scale of 1-10 this was 1000. I had no idea this kind of pain existed. If I had a gun I would have blown my brains out to stop the pain.
They now rushed me to to the operating room.
They saved my life. The doctor said she had never seen anything like it, anytime,anywhere.
I was in the Hospital 17 days. I’ve been told I almost died.
The bill was $113,000.
It took me about 8 months to recover.
I’m glad to be alive but I’ll never be able to pay this bill–We need national healthcare!!!!!
Good luck to all—Dave Lister
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