Left a little piece of me in Florida...
Trip to Florida last week was interesting...
Barry and I spent a good three days in Disney... got to tour MGM on our first night... Had dinner and rode the rides we really wanted to see. It was a nice evening and the Port Orleans resort we stayed at was just beautiful. Monday we spent the day fighting crowds at Magic Kingdom. Wouldn't have been so bad if we had taken a break in the middle of the day... but kept putting-off the break until it was too late and Barry was exhausted. We managed to recover and go back to the park in the evening... I did well "holding back" and remembering to not try and do everything. Barry didn't like the crowds, but seemed to enjoy that I was enjoying the place. Tuesday, we went to Epcot... and managed to see several things before we got run-down and couldn't walk much anymore. Had a good dinner at Rose & Crown and had amazing seats to see the fireworks from our table.
That evening, I awoke with stomach pain... felt awful... I just wanted everything out of me (puke, crap, etc)... and I just couldn't feel any better... up every half-hour or so... no sleep... felt terrible... Thought it was indigestion or hangover... but it felt "different"... something about it made me uneasy... It wasn't normal feeling of upset-stomach... it didn't move at all... it didn't go away after puking... Wednesday was the day we were checking out of Disney and meeting my family at Universal. Guess that all worked out for the best because didn't miss out on Disney... and figured I could recover in time for Universal... but...
Tried feebly to eat something for dinner... my mom said something's wrong and did some basic symptom-finding on me... and said "Appendicitis, we're going to the hospital NOW." OMG... Me? sick? hospital? I'm actually going to a hospital?
We sat in the ER waiting area from 8:30pm until midnight... waiting... my mom said I didn't give them a high-enough pain level... frigg'n kidding me, right? No... if you are ever in the hospital... and they ask you a pain level on scale of 1 to 10... say 8... no matter what, even if it doesn't really hurt.
I got poked and prodded and stabbed with needles more in that evening than I have ever in my whole life combined. KNEW I would hate getting an IV line put in... and I was right... they had to try 5 times before they got one to stay. I went into surgery around 7am on Thursday... So the 12 hours was spent in a ER room, getting drugs, and fading in-and-out of sleep.
Surgery was laparoscopic, so that went very well. But coming out of the anesthesia, I took-in some liquid or something into my lungs, and almost didn't make it... wheezing and coughing for hours... so the doctors were really upset with this and thought I had pneumonia or something... and kept me 2 days to watch my breathing and all. Spent two days in the hospital... looking forward to each little step forward that I took... like the first time I stood-up, the first time I pee'd into a toilet, the first time I ate jello, the first time I ate real food, the removal of my IV lines, the disconnection of my oxygen line, etc. Saturday afternoon, the doctor finally released me.
There, by my side, throughout the whole thing, was Barry and my parents. My mom double-checked the doctors and nurses and made me feel like I was in good hands. Barry spent the days with me... entertaining me... keeping my spirits up... holding my hand... eating by my side... *choking-up* I don't know what I would have done without him there with me. Seriously...
So after the hospital, I FINALLY got to spend a little time with my whole family: brother, sister-in-law, niece, nephew, sister, brother-in-law, mom, dad, & Barry... we had a nice dinner and they got me an electric scooter so I could ride along with them to Universal Studios for the evening. Got to see three of the rides there and a parade. Not the Universal I expected to see for the trip, but at least something.
Flight home went OK. Working from home yesterday and today... taking it easy. Still not 100%... stomach is tight and a little pain... general discomfort and such... and on top of the physical recovery... there's a lot of emotional recovery that I find myself going through too. Really mixed feelings... feelings of insecurity, vulnerability, helplessness, etc... I don't know how to put a finger on it... For example: I feel like I ruined the vacation for my family... even though logically I know it wasn't anything I could control. Don't get me wrong... I'm happy to be alive... very happy... so the fear/upset feelings are mixed with the happy/comfort feelings... leading to a very mixed, uncomfortable state of mind.
So... I left a little piece of me in Florida... a little, useless, terrible, infected appendix. May it rot in a Florida medical-waste site forever.
Barry and I spent a good three days in Disney... got to tour MGM on our first night... Had dinner and rode the rides we really wanted to see. It was a nice evening and the Port Orleans resort we stayed at was just beautiful. Monday we spent the day fighting crowds at Magic Kingdom. Wouldn't have been so bad if we had taken a break in the middle of the day... but kept putting-off the break until it was too late and Barry was exhausted. We managed to recover and go back to the park in the evening... I did well "holding back" and remembering to not try and do everything. Barry didn't like the crowds, but seemed to enjoy that I was enjoying the place. Tuesday, we went to Epcot... and managed to see several things before we got run-down and couldn't walk much anymore. Had a good dinner at Rose & Crown and had amazing seats to see the fireworks from our table.
That evening, I awoke with stomach pain... felt awful... I just wanted everything out of me (puke, crap, etc)... and I just couldn't feel any better... up every half-hour or so... no sleep... felt terrible... Thought it was indigestion or hangover... but it felt "different"... something about it made me uneasy... It wasn't normal feeling of upset-stomach... it didn't move at all... it didn't go away after puking... Wednesday was the day we were checking out of Disney and meeting my family at Universal. Guess that all worked out for the best because didn't miss out on Disney... and figured I could recover in time for Universal... but...
Tried feebly to eat something for dinner... my mom said something's wrong and did some basic symptom-finding on me... and said "Appendicitis, we're going to the hospital NOW." OMG... Me? sick? hospital? I'm actually going to a hospital?
We sat in the ER waiting area from 8:30pm until midnight... waiting... my mom said I didn't give them a high-enough pain level... frigg'n kidding me, right? No... if you are ever in the hospital... and they ask you a pain level on scale of 1 to 10... say 8... no matter what, even if it doesn't really hurt.
I got poked and prodded and stabbed with needles more in that evening than I have ever in my whole life combined. KNEW I would hate getting an IV line put in... and I was right... they had to try 5 times before they got one to stay. I went into surgery around 7am on Thursday... So the 12 hours was spent in a ER room, getting drugs, and fading in-and-out of sleep.
Surgery was laparoscopic, so that went very well. But coming out of the anesthesia, I took-in some liquid or something into my lungs, and almost didn't make it... wheezing and coughing for hours... so the doctors were really upset with this and thought I had pneumonia or something... and kept me 2 days to watch my breathing and all. Spent two days in the hospital... looking forward to each little step forward that I took... like the first time I stood-up, the first time I pee'd into a toilet, the first time I ate jello, the first time I ate real food, the removal of my IV lines, the disconnection of my oxygen line, etc. Saturday afternoon, the doctor finally released me.
There, by my side, throughout the whole thing, was Barry and my parents. My mom double-checked the doctors and nurses and made me feel like I was in good hands. Barry spent the days with me... entertaining me... keeping my spirits up... holding my hand... eating by my side... *choking-up* I don't know what I would have done without him there with me. Seriously...
So after the hospital, I FINALLY got to spend a little time with my whole family: brother, sister-in-law, niece, nephew, sister, brother-in-law, mom, dad, & Barry... we had a nice dinner and they got me an electric scooter so I could ride along with them to Universal Studios for the evening. Got to see three of the rides there and a parade. Not the Universal I expected to see for the trip, but at least something.
Flight home went OK. Working from home yesterday and today... taking it easy. Still not 100%... stomach is tight and a little pain... general discomfort and such... and on top of the physical recovery... there's a lot of emotional recovery that I find myself going through too. Really mixed feelings... feelings of insecurity, vulnerability, helplessness, etc... I don't know how to put a finger on it... For example: I feel like I ruined the vacation for my family... even though logically I know it wasn't anything I could control. Don't get me wrong... I'm happy to be alive... very happy... so the fear/upset feelings are mixed with the happy/comfort feelings... leading to a very mixed, uncomfortable state of mind.
So... I left a little piece of me in Florida... a little, useless, terrible, infected appendix. May it rot in a Florida medical-waste site forever.