Goodbye Appendix

Who needs their appendix? Apparently not me.

Intense pain woke me up around 2:30am Monday morning. It was really bad... I could hardly stand up straight. It felt as if someone was ripping open my stomach. Yes, I know... lovely. Imagine how it felt. That pain lasted for a couple of hours. I did go into work but only worked half a day because I was still having the pains. I tried to make an appointment with my physician but she wasn't in the office on Monday.

Tuesday the pain diminished but it was still present. I went to work for the day... that wasn't too much fun but since I'm the only nurse it's hard for me to take off. That afternoon I had my appointment with my physician. She did an exam and was like okay, "I'm sending you to the hospital for a CAT scan now."

The CAT scan was awful. And I mean awful. It wouldn't have been so bad if I didn't have to drink close to 1000mL of disgusting barium prep solution. It was nasty... I gagged on every sip I had to take. They really should come up with a better way...

Soon after my CAT scan was finished the results were in... acute appendicitis. I was whisked away to be admitted to the ER and then eventually admitted to general surgery. Oh what fun. Not what I or Nick was expecting for a Tuesday night.

The ER was bustling with people... luckily Nick and I were able to get a semi-private waiting room. I met with the general surgeon resident and he explained the surgery and everything that went into it. And then we waited. The OR was backed up so I probably wouldn't be getting to surgery until 1am.

It was about 2am and I was finally taken upstairs to the OR. I have to admit it is a little different being on the other side... the patient side. It just all felt really backwards... The surgeon was great though. He kept me at ease because I was a little nervous once they pulled me into the OR. But before I knew it I was waking up in recovery and Nick was right there beside me. Drugs... it's amazing how well they work.

I was discharged later that afternoon and I've been home resting. Pain hasn't been too bad... Nick has been the most amazing, attentive, and helpful husband/nurse. I really don't know how I've gotten so lucky. I don't think most men would be as attentive as he has been. He even missed his first bike race this weekend because I asked him to stay. And you might not think that's a big thing but he's been looking forward to this for months. So thank you honey... I love you!

Bandages come off on Wednesday and then hopefully I'm on my way back to normal!