My appendix did rupture, according to the surgeon's bill, but I guess they caught it right away. I was in the hospital for three days, on bedrest for a couple more, and then right back to grad school with the injunction that I could not climb stairs or lift heavy objects for six weeks. I was too sore at the incision site to wear my jeans for about three weeks, and just went everywhere in yoga pants and hippie skirts. But I could easily see how it could get more complicated. Also, in the olden days when AMM was growing up, people did stay in the hospital for much longer times.
Oooh, Slim Goodboody. I always wondered if he was a national thing or just a local monstrosity. I mean, most people wouldn't let their kids watch a naked man on television, but if the man is 10 times worse than naked, with his internal organs visible for all to see, it's suddenly educational? Chilling. Just chilling.
You're in the States, right? Now, okay, I think it's a bit much to have been in the hospital/off his feet for three weeks or what have you, but out of the hospital in three days? That seems too soon to me. Hooray for American health care. Thanks for sharing your story; the only appendix tale I knew of was my dad's from 50 years ago. And I don't think his burst.
Slim Goodbody, local monstrosity--I like that. :P I just...have issues with grown men dressing only in skintight bodysuits. And we watched him in school! More power to him, I suppose, and I think maybe I learned something, but I was too busy rocking back and forth in a corner to keep that memory past my junior high years.
Yep, I'm in the states. Generally here, 2-3 days is normal for a surgery with no complications where you can walk afterward. But they do send you home with a bunch of high powered painkillers and you spend at least a few days resting and tripping on painkillers there. (I understand that in Europe they make do on a much lower painkiller dose but have longer hospital stays.) The nastier the surgery, of course, the longer the stay. My appendix was pretty straightforward. Same with my Cesarian and my gall bladder. But for the cecal vovulus that no one caught for four days, well, that was a 4 1/2 day stay with a week's recovery afterward. (yes, I have been through surgery often enough to know the drill... let's just say it's best to catch Celiac's or NCGS before things reach that point!)
See, I disagree. Most of Europe has Universal health care so the taxpayer is footing the bill. They kick you our ASAP. I had my appendix out around midnight and was released just before 1pm that day. They won't release you if you're still on morphine, but the nurses dealing with me just stopped offering it - and put me straight onto codeine so I could be released. Maybe Scandinavia where everything seems a bit cushier, but the NHS will run you out the moment you seem somewhat okay.
Interesting, because here in NZ my mother has had experience with both the public and private systems and thought the public was way better. She had to have her hip replacement, which was done on the private system, revised and the surgeon would only do that in the public hospital - something to do with the public hospital having the right equipment (WTH? You pay a lot of money for private health insurance, you'd think that they'd have the tools to do hip replacement revisions.) Anyway, she said that the private hospital seemed dead keen to get her out of there ASAP to make way for the next paying customer, but the public was a lot more willing to let her take her time and wouldn't let her out until she was really ready. Apparently the food was better in the private hospital but she wasn't in a fit state to eat anything anyway.
Oooh, Slim Goodboody. I always wondered if he was a national thing or just a local monstrosity. I mean, most people wouldn't let their kids watch a naked man on television, but if the man is 10 times worse than naked, with his internal organs visible for all to see, it's suddenly educational? Chilling. Just chilling.
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Slim Goodbody, local monstrosity--I like that. :P I just...have issues with grown men dressing only in skintight bodysuits. And we watched him in school! More power to him, I suppose, and I think maybe I learned something, but I was too busy rocking back and forth in a corner to keep that memory past my junior high years.
For those of you unaware of him, he has a website: http://www.slimgoodbody.com/
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