Posted on 02/22/2014 11:23:26 AM PST by TurboZamboni
There is Korean,, but where is the Farsi, Arabic and Tagalog?
Mine’s been like this for months.
I wonder if surgery will hurt more than when I had a double bernia fixed. That sucked.
I had my appendectomy on November 22, 1963 at 11am PST. I was 12. John Kennedy had just been shot in Dallas and while waiting for the surgery I saw Walter Cronkite reporting and crying on the TVs in the emergency room. Afterward I spent 4 days in the hospital recovering (it was very major surgery back then, remember).
Needless to say all I had to watch on TV during my stay in hospital was pretty depressing.
I had a drive-by appendectomy. Had bad abdominal pains starting in early morning, but mostly towards the back as if I had kidney stones. Around 8 pm it got so bad my wife drove me to the emergency room. They quickly did a CT scan. There was a delay in interpretation because their Y2K-era network was slow at transmitting the bits from the CT lab to the radiologist, but by 1 am I was in surgery, out by 2 am, and left the hospital by early evening. Door-to-door-to-door in less than 24 hours.
They poked three small holes in my belly to remove the appendix. Apparently the first two were in the wrong place ;-) The only problem, post-surgery, was when my cat, surprised by something, decided to launch himself off the belly-button incision. I thought I might have had to have it patched up, but it decided to heal on its own.
By the way, I blame my appendix problem on 9/11. I was on one of the first flights post 9/11 from Phoenix to Washington. Security was tight as a drum so I don’t think I got up during the 5-hour flight. My appendix flared the day after I got back from my short trip.
Symptoms: I had bad indigestion & mild abdominal pain. for a couple of days before I went to the doctor. Ate Rolaids like candy. I was kinda hunched over to minimize the pain. I figured it was my hard partying that gave me a sour stomach. WRONG!
There is a sure fire method of determining appendicitis called REBOUND. Press hard into your stomach with your finger tips just below the navel then release quickly. If you get a sharp pain upon release, that is rebound, & you likely have appendicitis. My doctor checked my vitals, did the rebound test, & sent me straight to surgery.
Surgery: It was emergency surgery. Same day I saw my doctor. Surgeon said I had about 4 hours before it would have burst, which would have caused serious problems.
Recovery: 2 days in hospital, then about a week at home. The big problems were the staples, which were right at my underwear/pants line, catching in the threads. Uncomfortable.
In addition to external staples that must be removed, you will have internal stitches which will dissolve, but you must restrict your activities to avoid pulling them.
If you think you have appendicitis DO NOT wait until tomorrow, go to the doctor NOW. A burst appendix can easily kill you.
Funny story: While in hospital one night, one of my girlfriends dropped by to visit. I was watching an interesting movie at the time, so she crawled into the bed to watch, too. Another of my girlfriends visited & got into the bed, too, to watch the movie. I had one on each side. We turned the lights out for better viewing. In comes a nurse, turns on the light, takes a look, turns off the light, says "well, you don't need anything, do you Mr. Da", & leaves. I swear it is true.
Started with gradual pain on the left side and progressively got worse over a course of 3 to 4 hours.
Went to the hospital on a Thursday night, had surgery. They made a small incision in the abdomen and a hole just below the belly button. The incision was just below the bikini line.
Got released from the hospital on Saturday.
Really don’t remember much .The drugs were great.
Last July I had part of my colon removed. My appendix was stuck to that part so they took that out too. My symptoms were related to my diverticulosis. I was in the hospital for 5 days. Good as new 2 weeks later.
“If you think it’s appendicitis, go to your doctor or ER.
I waited a little and when they got to it, it had ruptured.
Nearly killed me, in and out of a coma for nearly a month till the antibiotics took hold.
If they get to it before it ruptures, no big deal now days.
If it ruptures, it can kill you. “
What he said....
I’ve been in healthcare for 37 years...I’m not a doc but
I know a great deal from experience. Appendicitis can
have symptoms from virtually nothing to debilitating pain.
ANY abdominal symptoms can be ANY problem ranging from the
flu to life threatening. Only a workup can be sure and
today that workup includes the gold standard test of an
Abdominal CT scan.
Even knowing what I know I waited four days after I started
feeling poorly to go to my ER....and the CT showed I had
perforated the appendix. I had to have surgery...got an
abscess....had another surgery and was in ICU for bacteremia. Don’t wait see a doc.
Me too - as long as they don't take out the sports section.
Cordially,
I took him back to the ER and this time was going to find out what was wrong. After hours, (yes I do mean hours, we got there around noon and it was after 8:00pm before they would do an abdominal scan) they finally did a correct diagnose. A couple of hours later he was in surgery, it ruptured, he was in the hospital for 2 days, got an abscess, had a drain, 7 days later got cellulitis at the drain site, was ignored for 3 days, (he was just getting addicted to the pain meds they assured me. There was no reason for him to be in that much pain) I was no longer a trusting soul and insisted on getting another doctor. Ended up with the CDC showing up and he was on major antibiotics for 4 days and on the 16th day was allowed to go home.
Such fun!
Thus hath the Lord commanded with Thy Pen and Thy Phone.
Mine actually blew up. Well, more like a slow leak. During the day, I began to feel nauseous, and then, that night, I began to vomit as violently as I’ve ever vomited before or since. By morning, a subtle band of pain around my mid-section gradually worsened until I couldn’t move. Had to roll off the sofa and crawl to the phone to dial 911. Bad stuff. Lucky to be alive. Also developed a staph infection from the removal operation that also nearly killed me.
they think it’s my gallbaldder. but all I’ve been told is “we see what may be some sludge in your gallbladder”(via ultrasound)
no remedy or other suggestions were made to me nor did they suggest further tests/scans.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.