I haven't posted in a while, again, but this time I have a legitimate excuse: on Father's Day I had to have an appendectomy. I'm feeling much better now but for a while the thought of sitting up at a computer exhausted me. I stayed "connected" via phone for a while because I could look at it laying down.
I am fortunate at how all this appendix stuff went down, although it did put a cramp in some of my plans. Cory and I went to the beach with my family and would have stayed until Father's Day but I had my high school 10 year reunion planned for the Saturday before so we came home 2 days early. On Friday night I went to bed at about 1 AM worried/stressed about something and I woke up at 3AM with a super bad stomach ache. I couldn't go back to sleep and thought that I had finally pushed myself to the limit with stress that I had caused a stomach ulcer. The pain was at the top of my abdomen and I had had a feeling like that before when I was stressed so I thought it would just go away. I went to the class picnic but was still in pain and had to stay seated the majority of the time. After the picnic, I took some Tums and a little nap so I could go to the actual reunion at 7. I woke up still hurting but decided to go on anyway. Cory and I were not there but about 30 minutes when I realized that the pain was not going to let up and that I needed to go to the emergency room. I really hated to leave the reunion because I had been looking forward to it. I saw one of my good friends, who is a nurse, as I was leaving and told her about my condition. She said it sounded like my appendix and to go to the hospital so they could give me a CT scan.
Cory and I got to the ER at about 8:00pm. We sat in the waiting room until 11:00pm and by that time the pain had shifted down lower. The nurse explained that I needed to get an x-ray and a blood sample. If you know me well, taking blood or getting shots totally grosses me out. I'm such a big squeamish baby and have been ever since I can remember. I tried to negotiate the drawing of the blood and begged them to give me an x-ray first and to rule out that it was just gas (which I was praying was the case) but it didn't work. She told me that if my white blood count was elevated that it could mean that I needed my appendix out. We did the tests and waited for a few hours. At about 2:00 AM the doctor came in and told me that my blood looked fine but I had a bladder infection, which he said wouldn't cause the pain I was having, but maybe it was stress so he gave me medicine for the abdominal pain and for the infection.
The next day was Sunday and Cory & I were supposed to teach Sunday School. Since I had such a sleepless night before and still felt bad, Cory went on to teach by himself. As I laid in bed that day I had the worst pain I have ever experienced. I was literally screaming and begging God for relief. Cory didn't stay for the service and came home to be with me. I was moaning and groaning and I knew he thought I was being dramatic but I was in so much pain. I couldn't stand up straight to save my life. He kept offering to take me back to the hospital but I didn't want to go back and wait for FOREVER just for them to tell me it's a bladder infection. My temperature went up and the pain got so bad that I finally told Cory to take me to the ER. I made him go back to the same hospital so they maybe wouldn't have to take blood again. My friend who's a nurse told me what to put on the form at the hospital and they sent me straight back. Again, we had to do blood testing and this time a CT scan. The nurse informed me that my white blood count was actually elevated on Saturday night. After the CT scan they said it was definitely appendicitis. I was so upset that the doctor had misinformed me that night before. I was also super scared because I didn't want to have surgery.
Fortunately Cory was there, my parents made it in from the beach, my mother-in-law came, and best friend showed up right before they rolled me down to surgery. Having my loved ones there really calmed my nerves. I told Cory to sue the doctor that misdiagnosed me if I didn't make it....I'm a little over dramatic.
I made it out of surgery fine and had a room full of friends and family who had showed up during the surgery.
I thought I was so fortunate that the appendix didn't rupture and kept telling people who visited or called that. The doctor kept me in the hospital for 3 days and I had a drainage bag attached to me that they kept checking. Apparently my appendix did start to rupture so I had an infection and that is why they kept me for so long. My family didn't want me to worry, because I would, so they didn't let me in on that little fact.
Cory and my mom were sweet to stay by my side the following days and I am finally back on my feet and feeling more normal. I really appreciate the calls, visits, dinners, and texts checking on me. So, that's the reason I've been MIA lately.
On a crazy note, my sister had to get her appendix out on Wednesday. I thought it was a joke at first. I guess we have a strong bond. :) Fortunately, they caught hers before it started to rupture and she was out of the hospital by the next day. She's much tougher than me.
All of this medical stuff made me remember a crazy website that one of my students showed me last year. It's a virtual surgery interactive game where you get walked through the steps of certain surgeries and you perform them. I can only bring myself to doing the dental stuff and tattoo removal but if you're brave you should try and do a c-section or a tonsillectomy. Check out the weird site here .
