so, that happened.
So Sunday, after a lovely brunch, I was suddenly stricken with stomach pains. I thought they were going to be the kind that passed, but after a nap at home, they didn't. They were so grouchy that I didn't sleep well Sunday night. Finally, Monday, pain still persisting, I got Julie to come wait for Gracie's school bus, and Alex took me to the emergency room. Skip past long wait/shift change (he had to leave for work, and once my sister heard I was in the ER, she came right down), I had appendicitis. It hadn't ruptured or anything, but they were going to need to take it out asap.
I was admitted, and the cool part was that they were so on top of it, that I went straight from the ER to the OR with very little waiting. Beth, who is a world-class patient advocate btw, arranged with my mom for mom to stay with Gracie at my house, and get her off to school the next morning. She called so that Gracie could talk to me right before I went into the OR, and mom later said that once she talked to me, Gracie was fine.
So apparently while I was on the table, here's what happened. They went in laparascopically (or however you spell that), and it turned out that my appendix HAD ruptured after all. Apparently while it was doing its thing and getting ready to burst, it did so in some out-of-the-way area of my insides, so I didn't get the acute pain that normally goes with an angry appendix. This of course is a good thing for me, but a pain in the ass for the surgeon, who, rather than open me up the regular way to deal with a ruptured appendix, stuck with the laparoscopy to clean me out. The surgery thus took an hour longer than expected, and I had to stay in hospital an extra day.
The time in hospital was as well as could be expected. Mostly I slept (well, dozed...it is difficult to actually sleep in hospital, with things beeping and your roommate either having extremely loud visitors or puking). My sister had been thoughtful enough to bring both my laptop and my chargers, so I was able to read all the lovely messages folk had left for me (it helped). Rob, bless him, came up the second afternoon, and stayed overnight with Gracie. The worst part of this whole thing (aside from the not being able to eat solids) is the headache that comes with it - I have given up on the codeine I was given and have been sticking with the migraine meds I had from before, which seem to help with the belly too. I got visitors (Beth, mom, Alex, Julie, Michael, Jonna), through whom I mostly slept. My mom would've brought Gracie by so I could put on a good face for her, but she didn't want to come to the hospital (scared, I think), and preferred to talk to me on the phone, and I was fine with that.
Anyway, I was allowed to come home yesterday (Wednesday). Alex came over immediately - this whole thing had happened over our 6-month anniversary, dammit, and while we didn't have a lot planned, it was a bummer of a way to spend it. We did hang out in the bed and watch I, Claudius, but really it was him watching it while I dozed (not like I can't recite practically the whole thing, but still). Gracie's face when she saw me standing in the doorway as the schoolbus dropped her off was a thing of joy to behold.
This morning, I got up and got Gracie off to school as usual, then went back to bed for most of the day. Rob came back and was a huge help, including an errand to the drugstore and taking out the trash for me. I was allowed to take a shower and change my bandage, though not eat anything interesting yet. I am bored, which I take as a sign I must be getting better.
The freaky thing of all of this is, since my appendix decided to do its thing in such a weird way, I never got that awful awful pain, and it is just that I am enough of a stickler about my health that I was paranoid enough to go in to the ER - if I wasn't that paranoid, I might not have gone in, and then it would have ruptured, the pain would have briefly gotten better, and then - gah. Best not to think about it, and I'm really not. Mostly I'm hardcore resting and trying to not fret about getting better fast enough - I have shit to DO this week, dammit, and Philly Comic Con on Friday. Life to get back to.
I was admitted, and the cool part was that they were so on top of it, that I went straight from the ER to the OR with very little waiting. Beth, who is a world-class patient advocate btw, arranged with my mom for mom to stay with Gracie at my house, and get her off to school the next morning. She called so that Gracie could talk to me right before I went into the OR, and mom later said that once she talked to me, Gracie was fine.
So apparently while I was on the table, here's what happened. They went in laparascopically (or however you spell that), and it turned out that my appendix HAD ruptured after all. Apparently while it was doing its thing and getting ready to burst, it did so in some out-of-the-way area of my insides, so I didn't get the acute pain that normally goes with an angry appendix. This of course is a good thing for me, but a pain in the ass for the surgeon, who, rather than open me up the regular way to deal with a ruptured appendix, stuck with the laparoscopy to clean me out. The surgery thus took an hour longer than expected, and I had to stay in hospital an extra day.
The time in hospital was as well as could be expected. Mostly I slept (well, dozed...it is difficult to actually sleep in hospital, with things beeping and your roommate either having extremely loud visitors or puking). My sister had been thoughtful enough to bring both my laptop and my chargers, so I was able to read all the lovely messages folk had left for me (it helped). Rob, bless him, came up the second afternoon, and stayed overnight with Gracie. The worst part of this whole thing (aside from the not being able to eat solids) is the headache that comes with it - I have given up on the codeine I was given and have been sticking with the migraine meds I had from before, which seem to help with the belly too. I got visitors (Beth, mom, Alex, Julie, Michael, Jonna), through whom I mostly slept. My mom would've brought Gracie by so I could put on a good face for her, but she didn't want to come to the hospital (scared, I think), and preferred to talk to me on the phone, and I was fine with that.
Anyway, I was allowed to come home yesterday (Wednesday). Alex came over immediately - this whole thing had happened over our 6-month anniversary, dammit, and while we didn't have a lot planned, it was a bummer of a way to spend it. We did hang out in the bed and watch I, Claudius, but really it was him watching it while I dozed (not like I can't recite practically the whole thing, but still). Gracie's face when she saw me standing in the doorway as the schoolbus dropped her off was a thing of joy to behold.
This morning, I got up and got Gracie off to school as usual, then went back to bed for most of the day. Rob came back and was a huge help, including an errand to the drugstore and taking out the trash for me. I was allowed to take a shower and change my bandage, though not eat anything interesting yet. I am bored, which I take as a sign I must be getting better.
The freaky thing of all of this is, since my appendix decided to do its thing in such a weird way, I never got that awful awful pain, and it is just that I am enough of a stickler about my health that I was paranoid enough to go in to the ER - if I wasn't that paranoid, I might not have gone in, and then it would have ruptured, the pain would have briefly gotten better, and then - gah. Best not to think about it, and I'm really not. Mostly I'm hardcore resting and trying to not fret about getting better fast enough - I have shit to DO this week, dammit, and Philly Comic Con on Friday. Life to get back to.