Happened earlier in the week, Tuesday to be specific. All last week I felt like I had a bad case of indigestion and constipation. Wednesday during the day my stomach hurt pretty good, but by late afternoon it felt a little better, even went on a short bicycle ride with some friends (20 miles). Saturday my wife and I were going to do a 60 mile ride but I could only do 40, I was flat out exhausted and couldn’t figure out why. Sunday I was really out of it, exhausted, hardly got off the couch or my bed, and had taken a shit since Thursday. And it wasn’t much of one given how much I had been eating.
My wife rocks and went to the store and got me some laxatives, as we were getting a little nervous, we were scheduled to go on a vacation to Norway with my mom, sister, and her husband and kids on Wednesday. I wanted whatever was going on resolved before then because I didn’t want it to fix itself while on the 12 hour flight if you know what I mean. No one wants to be the guy that forces a transatlantic flight to do an emergency landing because they shit all over the place. I drank all that she brought home and prayed for the best.
I hardly slept at all Sunday night on into Monday morning anxiously waiting for the laxatives to do their thing. Finally early Monday morning it was game on. I felt so much better after recreating that one scene from Dumb and Dumber. I called in sick to work just to be safe as in if the laxatives had a round two or three in store for me, and because I needed the rest. Progressively through the day my stomach started to hurt again and I was thinking uh oh.
I woke up Tuesday morning around 4:30 due to the pain and decided to go in. The Urgent Care at the hospital didn’t open until 7:00 so I got myself comfortable on the couch and drank a little coffee. As I was heading out the door my wife asked if I wanted her to come with and at first I said no, but then thought for a second and changed my mind.
We made the hour drive to the hospital (we live in a rural area) and got there just before they opened. I got checked in and was seen by a Dr right away, and I explained my symptoms. He ordered a blood test and did the usual things like listened to my stomach, put a finger up my butt, etc. He also ordered a CT scan, which piqued my curiosity about what was really going on.
Shortly after the blood draw and CT scan my wife asked for my phone and she opened up our hospitals app and saw that my blood sample results were already live on it. A couple things were off the charts so we googled it and everything came back saying that I had an infection. At this time we started txting my family saying something is up and we’ll keep them posted.
The nurse came back in and hooked me up to an IV with a hurried pace which further made me think that things weren’t quite normal. The Dr. came back in and introduced us to another Dr., the surgeon on duty. The surgeon said he wasn’t sure how I was walking, talking, and didn’t have a fever because my appendix had burst. As in last week, possibly as early as Wednesday. The CT showed that the infection had spread to my colon and that if they operated right then and there I would lose about 1/3 of it.
I’m thinking welp, looks like I’m not going to Norway. I end up getting admitted to the hospital, put on a clear liquid diet, and started a regiment of antibiotics. The surgeon said that during COVID hospitals were slammed and couldn’t always do appendix surgery right away, so they would give patients a heavy dose of antibiotics until they could fit them in and found that in about 90% of cases it worked really well. He said that if all goes well with me going this route then when he does operate on me he’ll only need to remove my appendix. We’re all for this as the recovery time is significantly shorter and there’s less chance of complications.
My brother in-law is a rockstar not only because he did all the planning for the trip, but he was able to cancel everything and get refunded. And to top it off everyone came up to visit me in the hospital.
During my three day, two night stay I got stable enough to go home so here we are now. Taking it easy, eating antibiotics like they are Pez candies, and waiting for my next Dr. appointment when we can reassess my status and schedule the surgery. I’m hopeful to get it done sooner than later because sitting on the couch in summer is killing me. I just want to go ride my bike.
Looks like we’re going to shoot for next June for attempt number two for Norway which we’re all really looking forward to. I’m glad I went in before we left too because who wants to end up spending all of their vacation in a hospital in a foreign country.
TL;DR: Had a burst appendix, didn’t display normal symptoms so I didn’t bother getting it checked out, and eventually wound up getting admitted to the hospital the day before my entire family was supposed to go on a trip to Norway.
Comments
Wow just wow, new fear unlocked 🔓
I’m glad you are alive and well
awww get well soon! im praying for an easy and fast recovery. i am so glad you were able to catch this before hopping on that flight…can you imagine?? btw, your wife is a rockstar!
I have only a downvote to give.
I had mine out when I was in 5th grade. Another 5th grader thought it would be funny to gut punch me. This was in about 1972, so the surgery was more invasive than it likely is today. Anyhow, he didn’t hurt me, but I still remember who it was 52 years later. Hi Barry.
Dodged a disaster! Rest up, Norway will wait for you.
Glad you’re ok!
I remember in the early 2000’s when I was in grad school, my stomach started bothering me the week before Thanksgiving. I figured the stress of grad school had given me an ulcer or something – no big deal though. I was somewhat uncomfortable, but nothing more.
I was supposed visit family in another state for Thanksgiving, so after a week, when my stomach still wasn’t better, I went to the doctor, just in case she could give me a med so I could enjoy my trip better…my doctor examined me, seemed puzzled, then brought in a second doctor to examine me, then immediately sent me to a general surgeon’s office in the same building…after the surgeon examined me, I was sent to the attached hospital for an appendectomy.
The surgeon at my post-surgical appointment said my appendix was on the verge of rupturing – I too, had an atypical presentation and had been walking around for at least a week with appendicitis. I honestly would not have gone to the doctor if I hadn’t been planning to travel later that second week.
We do exist!
You are lucky to be alive.
Men, if you don’t feel right, see a doctor. It’s not a sign of weakness, it’s a signal to your loved ones that you want to be there for them.
My appendicitis wasn’t painful either until the peritonitis set in. I wasn‘t feeling well, but everyone kept telling me how much pain they‘d been in so I ignored the symptoms. Lost some of my GI tract, too. 🤷♀️
Omg – I was reading this and was thinking this sounds just like me! I totally didn’t think anything was really wrong other than digestive issues but then bam, my appendix had burst. Thankfully it wasn’t quite as bad as yours. Wow. It really can sneak up on you