What a long, strange week it's been.

[embyquinn]

You know, I didn't have any definite plans for this week, but never in my wildest imaginings could I have envisioned what would actually happen to me.

I don't make a big deal of my health issues generally, but I am a longtime asthma sufferer and over the past few months I have been really struggling with a severe bout of bronchitis. Happily, I have responded well to treatment and this past Friday (22 January) I had my final follow-up visit until March. At the time of my doctor visit, I had a bit of a fever and a slight tummy ache, but since everyone in my house was sick I put it down to a bug we were passing around. No big deal.

On Sunday I didn't feel well enough to go to church. My fever was persisting and the stomachache was a sort of on-and-off thing. I didn't have a very good appetite and I had a couple of bouts with nausea, but I didn't feel too bad and I wasn't terribly worried. I decided if I didn't feel better by Monday morning I'd go to the doctor just to ensure there was nothing seriously wrong.

I didn't feel better Monday. I felt worse. A lot worse. The pain in my belly had made itself more or less at home in the lower right side of my abdomen, and the fever was getting steadily worse. When I went to the doctor, I was hoping against hope that I was overreacting.

I wasn't.

The doctor took one look at me, probed my belly a couple of times, and said "Get to the hospital. NOW." When I asked him to elaborate, he told me that he couldn't prove I had appendicitis, but his instincts told him that I did and I was in an advanced state of infection. That scared me enough to do what he told me to. A few hours later, I had an emergency appendectomy. Fortunately, they managed to do a laparoscopic procedure on me, which meant not only did I get out of the hospital quicker, but my healing time is going to be much shorter too.

I came home Tuesday afternoon, and I should be able to go back to work on Monday 1 February. It all happened so fast and was over so quickly it still doesn't seem real, somehow.

But I'm doing much better, I'm getting around okay, and other than some lingering soreness, I'm not in any pain.

[Kirahfaye]

Wow, so glad to hear you are doing better! I guess there's a lesson in there for us all to not assume "it's nothing"!

[SetsunaKou]

Oh, emby-san! :hugs: I'm so sorry to hear you had a scare like that! But thank goodness you caught in time and are on the mend! :hugs again:

I'll be praying for your comfort and continued speedy recovery!!

God bless you!

[ShortNCuddlyAm]

I am so glad it was caught in time! And wow - that's a good recovery time. Glad you're feeling better.

[K2!]

Yay for short (successful) hospital visits!

Glad to hear you're on the mend!

[embyquinn]

Kirahfaye: Yes, absolutely the lesson to be learned here is not to assume it's nothing. We're kind of educated to think that lower right abdomen pain equals appendix trouble, but when it actually happens, it's amazing how fast we start swimming with the crocs (you know, in deNile?).

SetsunaKou: *hugs* Thank you so much, tomodachi. It was astonishingly scary. I've only had two surgeries in my entire life, both of them were emergency, the last one (in 2002) was fraught with complications, and the last thing I wanted to do was go under the knife again. Happily, everything that could go right with this operation did so. Yesterday I called the doctor's office to thank him for his good advice and to let him know that everything worked out fine. (Fun fact: My current primary care physician is the older brother of the surgeon who operated on me in 2002. Also, let me hasten to add that none of the nasty complications in 2002 were the fault of the surgeon; they were all a result of me putting it off until it was damn near too late. It's very likely a testament to Dr. Lightfoot-the-younger's skill that I even made it through back then.)

ShortNCuddlyAm: I was pretty delighted at the fast turnaround. I had been warned before surgery that I could expect to be in the hospital for three or four days and on a liquid diet for at least a week. As it turned out I spent a single night in the hospital and I was doing so well the doctor put me on a normal diet immediately. And yes, all the plumbing is working just fine. :B

K2!: Glad to BE on the mend, believe me. As I said, it all happened so fast I didn't even get a chance to tell anyone before it was already a done deal. My supervisor at work knew I took the day off to go to the doctor, but imagine his surprise when I called him and said "Well, I'm out for the rest of the week...I got my appendix taken out!" Thankfully the people at work are being really great over this and are working with me until I get back on my feet.

I want to thank everybody here for their prayers, positive energy and support. That's another thing I love about this forum. <3

[kenaiqueen]

Yays for modern medicine! Glad to hear you are on the mend so quickly.

[richila]

I am so glad your doctor has good instincts and you had surgery in time. {{Hugs}}

[Eseme]

So glad to hear you have a great doctor who listened to you. So glad everything went well!

All the best,
Eseme

[maywong]

I'm glad your better.