Lessons learned, and lessons remembered, during a medical emergency last week...

Long story short, I exploded my appendix Monday.  Did a huge number on it, I'm told.... appendix bits, goo, germs, pus, the whole nine yards.  6 days in the hospital, IV everything, etc etc.  When I do something, I don't do it half way :)

So first, what I learned:

I had fallen into the habit the past few years of assuming all abdominal pain, discomfort, gurgling, diarrhea, vomiting, constipation and so forth were related either to my RNY in 2011, or my ongoing gall bladder issues (which was finally removed this year).

It was a dangerous habit.  By the time I insisted someone properly see me (I endured one half-assed assessment by a rushed ER triage person and then waited in the ER for 8.5 hours before they took me back), it was too late... the appendix had ruptured and I was laid out moaning on the waiting room chairs.  I had assumed it was some stupid RNY/gall bladder thing because it wasn't the classic appendix symptoms.  As a medical professional, I of all people should have known better.  I am sure that my own attitude about the non-seriousness of my condition rubbed off on the triage staff.

So lesson to you all... if it feels bad, go to the ER and don't just chalk it up to your re-arranged intestines.

And then, lessons remembered:

By throwing in an extra port hole or two, the surgeon was able to keep the surgery closed.  I adore her for that.  But anyway, we all know what lap means... being filled with gas and then later suffering as that gas starts to fill all the tiny places around your body.  My shoulder in particular suffered greatly.  And once they pulled my catheter, my pee was the color of a rotten pomegranate.

So I remembered the old RNY mantra.  As soon as that catheter was gone: walk walk walk.  Sip sip sip.  I thrilled the staff.  Walk walk walk.  Sip sip sip.  The pain disappeared.  My pee now looks like Minute Maid.  And all was well and I came home today... sadder but wiser, and minus a few ounces of tissue and pus.

And a bonus lesson: I also came home 20 pounds heavier.  It's fluid, and it will go away... I literally ate nothing for 5 days but IV tpn and saline.  But there are so many freak-out posts on this forum about weight shifts that can only be fluid-related, I had to smile as I saw the scale.  And maybe freak out down deep inside ;)

Cheers

Audrey

Glad you are ok!

Damn..I can see you out in the ER moaning on chairs. Do ER nurse ever look out?

Glad you survived. I too have seen many people assume everything wrong with them is related to RnY. Someone posted that was 13 years out!

And yes it's fluid. Surgeons love fluid!

Deb

This particular ER is notorious.  I came to that hospital though because both my GI doc and surgeon were based there... and again I assumed this was just "some stupid" GI thing.  Had I gone to another hospital (there are three nearby), I have no doubt they would have caught it before it blew.

I truly remember the old expression now: never assume anything.  You make an ASS out of U and ME.

Audrey

Oh my, glad you are on the road to recovery.  Lessons we should all heed.  Sip, sip, sip, walk, walk, walk and pee, pee, pee and soon that 20lbs will be gone. Happy trails.

Audrey, you've had a heck of a week! I'm glad they got you straightened out, but that was a close call. Please learn to make a bigger stink if you ever need to go to an ER again.

And thanks for the lesson. Too many people assume that every headache, fart, and tummy rumble is because of WLS. Odds are, it isn't.

I am a little hurt though. I mean, you were in agony, appendix about to burst -- why did you go to a useless ER, when you could have logged on to OH and asked "What's wrong? What should I do?" We'd have diagnosed it for you, and fixed you right up.

Bwahahaha!  Don't make me laugh... I'll split my glue!  Bwahahaha, ouch!!!

Audrey

DOCTOR INTERNET FOR THE WIN!!

Close call. Glad you are OK. Think you for reminding us that not to ignore pain. And not allowing others to ignore it when we know that something is not right. 

With so many of us dealing with constipation and gas, it is easy to ignore a serious issues.  I deal with IBS now and think I would have a hard time to differentiate between my colon/guts spasms and something more serious. 

My brother was 42 and a tough Vietnam vet.  We had not seen him for a few days and my mom went over to his house to check on him.

He told her he felt sick.  He had an upset stomach, headache, and diahhrea.  My mother called his doctor and the doctor said it sounded like the flu and to bring him to the office the next morning.  My mom went down the basement to do his laundry, she heard a crash upstairs.  When she got there he was lying on the floor in agony, she tried to comfort him and he died in her arms.

At the time we thought he had taken something and committed suicide.  It was a shock for someone who was perfectly healthy one day to die that suddenly.  The autopsy showed a ruptured appendix.  If he had gone to the hospital instead of trying to tough it out he would still be with us today.