Ouch Appendicitis Owwie Owww.... (1 Viewer)

[Moe Maishlish]

Appendicitis SUCKS!!!
(This is a long one... I've been through HELL in the past couple of days, and I must vent!)
So Saturday night I go out on this blind date (let's just say it sucked bigtime). We had a sushi dinner, and then went to see The Panic Room, where I had some popcorn. I take her home finally, and drive home relieved that the experience is over.
I wake up Sunday morning, at around 4 a.m. to some mild to moderate stomach cramping. Thinking it's just the popcorn talking (popcorn does that to me sometimes), I try to get back to sleep. Tossing and turning for the next couple of hours as the pain progressively get's worse, at around 7:00 a.m. I call my mother (I don't live with my parents), and she gives me the number of MedVisit - a doctor housecall service.
I place a call, tell them I think I have foodpoisoning (Sushi the night before, during the Date From Hell) and they tell me a doctor will be here to see me within six hours. I then call my mother back to tell her what's going on, at which point she tells me she's on her way to my place.
As I hang up the phone, my stomach is getting worse and worse. At this point it's bloated beyond belief (think pregnant), and hurts like hell.
Basically, think of someone squeezing your balls for 4 hours straight. I can't sit, I can't stand, I can't lie down without constant pain. As my mother walks in, I'm leaning against the wall, practically in tears. She proceeds to shove me into the car and drive me to the nearest hospital.
Now, thanks to some downsizing our now former Provincial Premier Mike Harris (spit, spit) has done to the hospitals, the lineup to register with the nurse is pretty long, and the particular hospital I end at which I arrive does not take emergency calls. Regardless, I wait my turn, and when I get to the nurse I'm in such visible pain that she rushes me in front of everyone else, and straight onto a gurney.
About 20 minutes later, someone comes by, takes some blood, and asks me some questions. 20 minutes after that, I get examined by a doctor, who then instructs someone to put in an IV.
Next, I get x-rayed, and ultrasounds... which tell the doctor that I have accute appendicitis, and need surgery as quickly as possible, as they want to avoid a rupture and any further complications.
At this point, I'm on a Demerol, which is dulling some of the pain. I'm shoved into an ambulance, and taken to another hospital. As I arrive, I'm moved into emergency where a nurse proceeds to ask me questions concerning my condition. The Demerol is making me somewhat woozy, so I do the best I can to answer, but I don't remember much. I'm then taken to an examination room where I meet with the surgeon, and he tells me he's going to be operating on me, and removing my appendix via three small incisions (instead of one incision) called laparoscopy. I'm then prepped for surgery, where I'm given consent forms to sign (which I never even had a chance to read). As I'm wheeled into the operating room, I can see both my parents standing outside the doors looking pretty worried.
In the OR, they doctors connect me to some tube, at which point I'm out like a light. The next thing I know, something is being pulled out of my throat and I can hear my mom's voice "... the surgery is over...", as I'm wheeled up to my room.
I don't remember much after that, other than some people taking my pulse, blood pressure, temperature, etc. All in all, the surgery was a very weird experience.
The next day SUCKED BIGTIME. Lots of pain... lots of pain medication... and my roommate constantly whining and screaming at the nurses. My meals consisted of Jello, and Apple/Orange/Pineapple juice. Yum.
Recovery consists of a lot of walking so that I can get the gas in my stomach to "exit" the body (they had to fill my stomach with air to operate). Very painful, as farting after having surgery on your abdomen is incredibly painful.
I was discharged today, and I'm expected to take about three weeks to fully recover. This really sucks, considering that I'm an active person, and like to work out every day. It's hard to walk around, and my diet is limited to watery foods and wheat-bread. I have a prescription for Tylenol 2 to dull the pain.
All in all, a crappy experience I wouldn't wish on anyone.
At least I don't have to go to work for the next week though.
Thanks for letting me vent....
Moe.

 

[Bhagi Katbamna]

Glad you are feeling better.

 

[Bill Cowmeadow]

In about 4 days you will have the strangest pain in your upper left shoulder. That will be the remaining gas exiting your body cavity. Did I mention it will be painful.

 

[Moe Maishlish]

Bill,

You're kidding me, right?

No one told me about that. How exactly does gas exit from one's shoulder?

The only pains I'm experiencing right now are focused squarely in my lower abomen. Sort of a mix between gas pains, and pains from the incisions.

My mother is bringing me some chicken soup, as well as other liquidy substances. Yum.

Anyone have any suggestions for what to eat?

Moe.

 

[RobertR]

My experience was quite different. I had nausea and vomiting, but no pain. I drove myself to the emergency room (no waiting), and was notified of the diagnosis after xrays. All of the hospital staff was quite pleasant, including my surgeon, who was both thoroughly professional and quite attractive.
I don't remember a great deal of post surgical pain (I also had the laproscopy), except for the staples, which pulled and binded a bit. I had to sleep elevated 30 degrees for awhile. When my surgeon took out the staples, she said I had a remarkable recovery. I thanked her for how the hospital staff treated me the entire time. Dare I mention this was an HMO?

 

[CameronJ]

As my father almost died of a ruptured appendix many years ago, I've always been extremely paranoid about contracting it. To that end, I've pretty much memorized every sympton, false positive, indications, etc. of appendicitis.

So a couple of years ago, I've got stomach pains for a couple of days and I'm constipated. After lunch on a Friday, the pain suddenly moves down to the lower right quadrant. At this point I know I have appendicitis.

Drive myself to the hospital and undergo the standard tests (blood - looking for an elevated white count) and ultrasound. The first guy on the ultrasound can't find anything, he keeps telling me that I have a kidney stone. Now, I'm not a patient person, so I'm getting pissed. After much, much, much poking and prodding with the ultrasound, he finally gets the attending radiologist in to take a look. Voila, the guy finds it, to which he tells the first guy "If you look in a book under Appendicitis, that's exactly what you'll see."

Have surgery that night, at which point I realize that I am just a piece of meat to all the people arrayed around me while I'm on the operating table. I go under to their discussion of someone's blind date the previous weekend.

Spent a miserable night in pain, when I figured out that I could get more morphine every four hours, but it took a nurse 15 minutes to get it for me each time, I was hitting that call button every 3 hours 45 minutes on the nose.

I spent a week at home, not doing much of anything. I'm an active cyclist, and it took me a good 6 weeks to really feel as good on the bike as I did before the surgery.

Good luck.

 

[Shayne Lebrun]

Have surgery that night, at which point I realize that I am just a piece of meat to all the people arrayed around me while I'm on the operating table. I go under to their discussion of someone's blind date the previous weekend.

I used to find that annoying, until I realized that it's just their defense mechanisim to the fact that they're (literally) holding lives in their hands.

When my wife was having her last C-section (she had two) I was in the OR with her. The knock-out drug guy (I'm not even going to try spelling the A word) was humming a merry tune; the two operating surgeons were discussing a Hawaii vacation.

My wife, who was fully concious, with a local anastetic (damn, I had to try to spell it!) kept getting a 'hey, quit poking/pinching me there!' look on her face as they sliced layer after layer.

For you appendix loving or hating people, track down an old video game called Life&Death (out of print for ten years, probably; but I won't tell you to go look on abandonware sites) and go nuts. Designed by a surgeon, you get to perform an appendesectomy and something or other else. Life&Death 2: The Brain is, of course, about brain surgury. Good stuff.

 

[Mark Lee]

No one told me about that. How exactly does gas exit from one's shoulder?

Though my first-hand experiences with "acute appys" have been limited to my surgical rotation during med school and the occasional ER shift during residency, I presume that the pain he's referring to is the result of diaphragmatic irritation/stretching by the excess intra-abdominal gas. Though the actual technical explanation is obviously more involved, the 50-cent version is that the body's sensory neurons in this case have "their signals crossed" to an extent, in that the pain signals from the diaphragm get "confused" by the brain for pain signals coming from the shoulder (a similar mechanism lies behind why so many descriptions of heart attacks involve pain in the shoulder and left arm).
So don't go listening for some hissing sound coming from your shoulder, Moe -- the gas is coming out the way it always has....

 

[Bill Balcziak]

...my roommate constantly whining and screaming at the nurses...

For any particular reason?

 

[Steve Schaffer]

Been there, done that, but didn't have any left shoulder pain.

My pain started about 10 am on a work day and by noon I had to leave work. Intermittent nausea and lotsa cramps and pain until 3 pm when my wife (luckily off work that day) insisted on taking me to my doctor who sent me directly to the hospital. I was put under about 4pm and woke up around 9:30. Worst pain was the raw throat from the anesthetic. I had the do-it-yourself morphine drip button.

I went in on a Thursday and went home on Sunday morning. My roomate was a real trip--he was in for a hip replacement due to an accident he'd had in Sri Lanka. He'd actually had dinner with Arthur C. Clarke, who wrote 2001 and lots of other good sci-fi.

It's important to walk around a lot as soon as possible, but do not attempt anything remotely strenuous for at least a couple or three weeks.

I went back to work after only a week and my back went out almost immediately.

Seems that your abdominal muscles sorta shut themselves down for a long time and don't help support your back.

Good luck with your recovery!!

 

[Moe Maishlish]

Update...
OWWWW!!!
I can't do a whole hell of a lot that involves any kind of bending. Walking is possible, but very slow and strained. I'm sorta hunched over, as my abdominals are very very weak and can't support my torso.
The pain medication (Tylenol 2) lasts... oh... 10 minutes. I get to take 2 tables every 4 to 6 hours.
The best part is that I can't wear pants! :frowning: Because my tummy is so bloated, it hurts to buckle anything up. Considering that one of my incisions is right on my beltline, I put considerable stress on a very tender part of the body.
And my stomach can't seem to hold stuff in for more than 20 minutes...
(I know, I'm whining)...
Bill - my roommate was suffering from Gall Stones. But the majority of his whining had to do with the quality of the hospital food, and the frequency of the nurses visits. He was just not very pleased with their bedside manner, and made it very clear this morning as he launched into a tirade at the head nurse.
I'm going to go see if my strawberry jello is ready. Highlight of the evening!
Thanks everyone for your kind words, and sharing your experiences with me. It's good to know that I'm not alone in my pain.
Moe.

 

[Jeremy Allin]

Nobody else is saying it so I might as well get it over with:
"Misery loves company".
Hang in there, Moe.

 

[Jeff Braddock]

Moe,

It will pass. I had an apendectomy about 10 years ago when they still did the one incision. Just be sure to keep the area clean (I got an infected incision even though it was kept clean). Unlike some of the others I never had shoulder pain. Get better soon and keep walking.

 

[ace peterson]

Moe-

My question is "Why the heck are you getting Tylenol #2?" What a whimpy pain pill! (It's only half the strength of a Tylenol #3). You should get something stronger than that, especially if you're still in pain. Nobody should have to be in pain. Call your doctor and ask for something else like hydrocodone (generic Lortab) or better yet, Percocet.

Ace

 

[Moe Maishlish]

Funny enough, I woke up this morning and my right shoulder hurt. I don't know if it's what was described by a previous post, or a result of my bed-stiffness (why are those hospital beds so uncomfortable?!?), but I did feel a throbbing pain.
Good news is that I feel a lot better this morning, and some of the abdominal swelling apears to have subsided. I'm still in some pain, but I'm sure it'll pass eventually.
Ace, to answer your question, Tylenol 2 is what they prescribed for me... it's what I was taking in the hospital as well after the stopped with the Demerol. My understanding is that most powerful pain-killers leave a lingering hangover type effect (which I felt after the Demerol wore off after the operation!), so I'm happy with the Tylenol 2. I'm actually trying not to take too many of them, as I'd rather not build a dependency on them.
Of course, if the pain comes back with a vengeance, I'll be popping them on a regular basis once again.
Thanks again everyone for your kind words!
(It's jello time....)
Moe.

 

[ace peterson]

You won't get a dependency on Tylenol #2 when you're only taking them short term. I know they prescribed it to you, I'm just saying if you're still in pain have them prescribe something else. You can request other pain killers, and you don't have to settle for one.

 

[Joseph S]

My understanding is that most powerful pain-killers leave a lingering hangover type effect (which I felt after the Demerol wore off after the operation!), so I'm happy with the Tylenol 2. I'm actually trying not to take too many of them, as I'd rather not build a dependency on them.

Demerol has a short half life. Are you sure it wasn't just pain you were feeling?? I think you want some prescription fentanyl lollipops, unfortunately I believe they were taken off the marktet.

 

[ace peterson]

I think you want some prescription fentanyl lollipops, unfortunately I believe they were taken off the marktet.

No, they are still available. They are called Actiq lozenges. Good luck getting the Dr to write for those!

 

[Evan S]

Man, do I know what this feels like. I thought the few days AFTER my appendectomy were worse than the day or so leading up to it. You have trouble getting up and down out of chairs, it's almost impossible to sleep and everything is painful (how can that be? How can every part of your body hurt when there are only three tiny incisions?).

I wouldn't wish it on anyone. In fact, a co-worker said his mom thought appendicitis was more painful than childberth. I find that hard to believe, but still!

The knock-out drug guy (I'm not even going to try spelling the A word)

Would that be the anesthesiologist?

 

[Francois Caron]

I guess I was pretty lucky. I was 17 when my appendix was removed (single scar non-laproscopy method) and the experience was nowhere near as bad.
I've had many minor attacks in the years preceding the operation, normally attributed to stomach flue. Then during one of my attacks, I threw up green vomit!
Less than an hour after arriving at the hospital (a Saturday night), I was on the operating table at about 10 PM ready to get that sucker removed ("Get that thing out of there damn it!"). The next day at lunchtime, I was fully awake -- or as awake as one can be following a major operation and a general anesthetic.
Recovery was pretty quick. On Sunday, I was basically fighting off the groggyness. That night, I made the mistake of watching a very funny episode of the TV show "Alice" where the homely waitress Vera goes out on a date with this incredibly geeky guy. Basically, I was going "Ha ha! Ouch! Ha ha! Ouch!" during much of the show. Then while trying to blow air in Vera's ear during a movie, the geek lets fly a mouthful of popcorn on the side of Vera's head! By then, I was going "Ha ha! Owwww! Ha ha ha ha! Oh my GOD I'm dying!" Later on that night, I had a bout of intense pain that lasted no more than half an hour. I don't know if this was due to the operation or the TV show...
I spent Monday on a liquid diet. However, my system was regaining strength very quickly and my intestins were already starting to "wake up". On Tuesday, my recovery was so quick that I was taken off the IV in the morning, and upgraded to solid foods by dinner time.
On the third day following the operation, I was discharged. I took it easy for the first couple of weeks and have been fine ever since. After hearing the stories about your gas filled guts and migrating gasses, I find my appendix scar to be a reasonable trade-off when compared with the thought of pockets of air travelling all across my body and causing plenty of pain! Ick!
Moe, don't worry. You'll live. The experience may have sucked, but that appendix will never bother you ever again. And it shouldn't affect your appetite one bit!