My past week in a nutshell...
*looks at F-List in dismay* 1 week in the hospital and it's at skip-300 to get back to where I was before... thank god I have a fairly small f-list.
So, or those that didn't already know, yes, I've been in the hospital since last Sunday. And before I go any further, yes, I'm fine now and am getting better so no worries. ^_^ Anyway, here's what happened: Last Friday night I got a really bad pain in my abdomen, but since this had already happened to me 3 weeks earlier and been diagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome by the doctor I saw, I just assumed that something I had eaten didn't agree with me and that's all it was. The pain didn't go away this time, though - it kept up all day Satuday, and was still there on Sunday. Very generalized pain, sort of like gas pains but also with constant sharp pain up around the navel. I couldn't walk, cough, laugh, or even breath too deeply without it hurting. But, since something similar had already happened to me (3 weeks before, I had really bad abdominal pain and threw up all night, then it got better over a few days) and been diagnosed as a re-ocurring, painful but not dangerous syndrome, well, I didn't think it was anything to worry about.
When I was still in a lot of pain on Sunday, though, we went to the clinic (we were up at Bowen before, otherwise we probably would have gone in earlier... should have, anyway. -_-). The woman at the clinic examined me and sent me straight to Lions Gate Hospital, where after several hours, an ultrasound, and a CT scan, they announced that I had a burst appendix and had to go to surgery immediately. Turns out that they think it burst 3 WEEKS EARLIER at the first pain, then my body had somehow surrounded the area in fat tissue and prevented me from realizing that anything was wrong. This still amazes me, because I felt fine during those three weeks. I mean, I went out to a club on Halloween and drank. Thank god I don't drink much (at all). Grahgh. Thanks a lot, Mr. Doctor-at-UBC-who-said-I-had-IBS. Still, I can't really blame anyone - my symptoms were very abnormal. Usually when the appendix starts to swell it causes very localized pain in the lower-right abdomen, and within a few hours it becomes very painful and bursts. And while it was certainly very painful, it wasn't at all localized, which is why I assumed it was digestive. Even on Sunday, the doctors doing the ultrasound had a hard time figuring it out. I had two of them standing over me staring at the screen spouting medical talk and trying to figure out what it was. o.o;
Anyway, they got me into surgery nearly immediately, and I've spent the past week in hospital recovering. Because it had burst, they had to keep me on antibiotics for at least 5 days to ensure that there wouldn't be any infection. All in all, it's been a shitty week. I felt great Monday, thanks to adrenaline I guess, then promptly crashed on Tuesday and felt pretty crappy for several days. Started feeling better by Thursday, and I felt fairly good Friday and Saturday. Got let out this morning, finally, and already feel a million times better being OUT of that place. ^_^; Am still tired and weak, but I'm up and about more and I can eat fairly normally. rainbowpegacorn came and visited me today. *huggles* On her way to Harry Potter tonight, the lucky girl. I had plans to go opening night with her but they obviously died. :( Going to go in a week or so.
Plus side of all this was that I got spoiled rotten. ;p Mom bought be new nightclothes, new bedclothes, a funky new squishy chair thing to sit in while I recover, Star Wars Ep 3 (not quite sure why, but it was nice of her. ^^), various stuffed animals while I was in hospital... and she came and stayed with me every day I was there, for most of the day, which was really really nice. Everyone's been great this past week, I just want to hug them all. *sends out hugs and gets all squishy*
I'm not sure what's going to happen with my schoolwork. Mom called UBC right away and let them know, and I'll e-mail all my profs tomorrow to discuss what I should do. She also called work for me on Monday, so I don't have to worry about that for awhile. Probably going to quit, anyway. ^^; I think I'll be well enough to start going to some classes at the end of this week or early next week, so as long as I can get extensions on all my papers I should be okay. I really want to be able to finish this term up and not have to worry too much about it. As it is I'm already stressing about my program and what I should do next term/next year, so right now I just want to get this term out of the way and not have to worry about it.
Whew. Guess that's it. I'm getting tired, so I should probably lie down for awhile. Still, I really do feel remarkably good considering how I felt even yesterday. I think just getting out of the hospital atmosphere really helped. ugh. So glad that's over... anyway, nothing to worry about everyone. I'm fine, and I'm going to be up and pretty much back to normal fairly soon. Love you all. *sends out more hugs cause she's feeling ridiculously squishy and blames it on all the drugs*
So, or those that didn't already know, yes, I've been in the hospital since last Sunday. And before I go any further, yes, I'm fine now and am getting better so no worries. ^_^ Anyway, here's what happened: Last Friday night I got a really bad pain in my abdomen, but since this had already happened to me 3 weeks earlier and been diagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome by the doctor I saw, I just assumed that something I had eaten didn't agree with me and that's all it was. The pain didn't go away this time, though - it kept up all day Satuday, and was still there on Sunday. Very generalized pain, sort of like gas pains but also with constant sharp pain up around the navel. I couldn't walk, cough, laugh, or even breath too deeply without it hurting. But, since something similar had already happened to me (3 weeks before, I had really bad abdominal pain and threw up all night, then it got better over a few days) and been diagnosed as a re-ocurring, painful but not dangerous syndrome, well, I didn't think it was anything to worry about.
When I was still in a lot of pain on Sunday, though, we went to the clinic (we were up at Bowen before, otherwise we probably would have gone in earlier... should have, anyway. -_-). The woman at the clinic examined me and sent me straight to Lions Gate Hospital, where after several hours, an ultrasound, and a CT scan, they announced that I had a burst appendix and had to go to surgery immediately. Turns out that they think it burst 3 WEEKS EARLIER at the first pain, then my body had somehow surrounded the area in fat tissue and prevented me from realizing that anything was wrong. This still amazes me, because I felt fine during those three weeks. I mean, I went out to a club on Halloween and drank. Thank god I don't drink much (at all). Grahgh. Thanks a lot, Mr. Doctor-at-UBC-who-said-I-had-IBS. Still, I can't really blame anyone - my symptoms were very abnormal. Usually when the appendix starts to swell it causes very localized pain in the lower-right abdomen, and within a few hours it becomes very painful and bursts. And while it was certainly very painful, it wasn't at all localized, which is why I assumed it was digestive. Even on Sunday, the doctors doing the ultrasound had a hard time figuring it out. I had two of them standing over me staring at the screen spouting medical talk and trying to figure out what it was. o.o;
Anyway, they got me into surgery nearly immediately, and I've spent the past week in hospital recovering. Because it had burst, they had to keep me on antibiotics for at least 5 days to ensure that there wouldn't be any infection. All in all, it's been a shitty week. I felt great Monday, thanks to adrenaline I guess, then promptly crashed on Tuesday and felt pretty crappy for several days. Started feeling better by Thursday, and I felt fairly good Friday and Saturday. Got let out this morning, finally, and already feel a million times better being OUT of that place. ^_^; Am still tired and weak, but I'm up and about more and I can eat fairly normally. rainbowpegacorn came and visited me today. *huggles* On her way to Harry Potter tonight, the lucky girl. I had plans to go opening night with her but they obviously died. :( Going to go in a week or so.
Plus side of all this was that I got spoiled rotten. ;p Mom bought be new nightclothes, new bedclothes, a funky new squishy chair thing to sit in while I recover, Star Wars Ep 3 (not quite sure why, but it was nice of her. ^^), various stuffed animals while I was in hospital... and she came and stayed with me every day I was there, for most of the day, which was really really nice. Everyone's been great this past week, I just want to hug them all. *sends out hugs and gets all squishy*
I'm not sure what's going to happen with my schoolwork. Mom called UBC right away and let them know, and I'll e-mail all my profs tomorrow to discuss what I should do. She also called work for me on Monday, so I don't have to worry about that for awhile. Probably going to quit, anyway. ^^; I think I'll be well enough to start going to some classes at the end of this week or early next week, so as long as I can get extensions on all my papers I should be okay. I really want to be able to finish this term up and not have to worry too much about it. As it is I'm already stressing about my program and what I should do next term/next year, so right now I just want to get this term out of the way and not have to worry about it.
Whew. Guess that's it. I'm getting tired, so I should probably lie down for awhile. Still, I really do feel remarkably good considering how I felt even yesterday. I think just getting out of the hospital atmosphere really helped. ugh. So glad that's over... anyway, nothing to worry about everyone. I'm fine, and I'm going to be up and pretty much back to normal fairly soon. Love you all. *sends out more hugs cause she's feeling ridiculously squishy and blames it on all the drugs*