larryhammer: pen-and-ink drawing of an annoyed woman dressed as a Heian-era male courtier saying "......" (argh)
Larry Hammer ([personal profile] larryhammer) wrote2011-07-16 09:46 am
Entry tags:

"There's pain in parting, and a kind of hell / When once true lovers take their last farewell"

For a few days, there was no pain at all -- more of a discomfort in my gut, as if some gas was blocked up, knotted in a kink of my colon. Only unlike gas, it never moved from that one spot in my lower right abdomen. No fever, no problems with bowel movements. But the discomfort slowly grew.

Late Sunday night, it started to hurt. Not a sharp pain, more like a steady pressure from someone's knuckle. Still in that one place, and firm. Hard. Significant. So in the morning, I called in sick, and when it opened went to the nearest urgent care center, where the nice doctor took two looks at me and ordered me off to the emergency room down the road: "likely appendicitis." At the hospital, a CT scan agreed -- "likely appendicitis." A surgeon was assigned, an operating room put in for, and waited for, and waited for -- the OR was backed up by a string of emergency cases. Finally, just after midnight, I was rolled into the OR, was shifted over to the table, started to say something, and woke up around dawn, slightly incoherent.

Slightly.

Three incisions: two on the left side, just below the ribs and closer to the groin, and a smaller one a little below my navel -- none of them near the place that no longer has a red, inflamed appendix, or indeed any appendix at all. Laparoscopic surgery is fascinating. As is the bloating from the air they pump in so the camera and tools have space to move around. Though that interest is less intellectual and more ... personal.

Pain can be hard to judge. Through the day, I reported 5 on a scale of 0 to 10, even though actually it kept growing. Because, well, it still felt about halfway to the worst pain I could imagine. A little after sunset, I finally gave in and accepted the offered morphine -- and then a minute later, an anti-nausea drug to counter that.

I'm napping less than the first few days, but still taking it slow. The day before yesterday, I actually left the house. I am starting to get restless, though. Not bored though, or not yet -- I have a virtual stack of novels by Dumas père to entertain me. At some point when I feel I can stay for a full day, probably next week, I'll return to work. But no rushing.

In fact, another nap sounds good right now.

---L.

[identity profile] swan-tower.livejournal.com 2011-07-16 06:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Yowie. Glad they got to it before anything really bad happened; rest up and feel better soon!

[identity profile] thistleingrey.livejournal.com 2011-07-16 06:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Yikes. Rest well!

[identity profile] alpha-strike.livejournal.com 2011-07-16 06:19 pm (UTC)(link)
We wish you well, and hope you have a speedy recovery.

[identity profile] azang.livejournal.com 2011-07-16 07:25 pm (UTC)(link)
Sending you best thoughts for a complete recovery. I hope you feel better soon.

[identity profile] azang.livejournal.com 2011-07-16 11:54 pm (UTC)(link)
That's good to hear, be patient with the stamina.

[identity profile] maryosmanski.livejournal.com 2011-07-16 07:33 pm (UTC)(link)
I hope you have a speedy recovery.
ext_27060: Sumer is icomen in; llude sing cucu! (Default)

[identity profile] rymenhild.livejournal.com 2011-07-16 08:16 pm (UTC)(link)
That sounds like a lousy week, I have to say. I hope the next one improves!

[identity profile] gillpolack.livejournal.com 2011-07-16 08:36 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm pleased to hear you're safely through it. You do know that you don't actually have to go into full mourning for an appendix. Half-mourning will suffice.

[identity profile] kateelliott.livejournal.com 2011-07-16 10:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Glad it was a fairly smooth ride.

And, yes, the gas in the stomach thing is totally weird (I had that not from appendicitis but from a tubal ligation).

[identity profile] galeni.livejournal.com 2011-07-18 09:12 am (UTC)(link)
Did you have the pain migrate to your shoulders from the gas? I gather it's common but it was very uncomfortable.

Best wishes that you heal quickly, L.

[identity profile] kateelliott.livejournal.com 2011-07-18 06:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes! The weird shoulder pain. Strangest thing ever.

[identity profile] galeni.livejournal.com 2011-07-18 09:18 pm (UTC)(link)
I've never broken a bone but it gave me an idea of what a broken collarbone might feel like. And all I could do was wait it out.

No fun. (But loads better than being pregnant again.)

[identity profile] kateelliott.livejournal.com 2011-07-18 09:30 pm (UTC)(link)
I don't recall mine hurting super bad, just really weird.

[identity profile] galeni.livejournal.com 2011-07-18 09:36 pm (UTC)(link)
It was a very LOUD dull pain that I could not ignore (my usual way of dealing with pain). I don't know how bad it was as my personal scale is...idiosyncratic.

snakypoet: Line drawing of dragon plus 5-pointed star (Default)

[personal profile] snakypoet 2011-07-16 11:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Wishing you a good recovery, with commiserations and some envy — years ago I was persuaded to part with my Dunas collection and have only been able to replace The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Christo. Admittedly my favourites, but still....
snakypoet: Line drawing of dragon plus 5-pointed star (Default)

[personal profile] snakypoet 2011-07-17 04:11 am (UTC)(link)
Oh good, thanks for the tip.

[identity profile] sartorias.livejournal.com 2011-07-17 12:34 am (UTC)(link)
Glad you are okay! (I lost my first boyfriend to that, so it's still scary, half a century later.)

[identity profile] starlady38.livejournal.com 2011-07-17 06:36 am (UTC)(link)
I was glad to hear that you made it through okay, and am glad to hear that you're on the road to recovery. Take care of yourself.

[identity profile] casacorona.livejournal.com 2011-07-17 01:42 pm (UTC)(link)
coming in late, but glad you're feeling up to posting again! And very glad you got the thing out swiftly.

As I said to Janni, if you need anything, just holler.

[identity profile] http://users.livejournal.com/_twilight_/ 2011-07-17 07:15 pm (UTC)(link)
Glad they got it out in time, and hope you heal up.

In lieu of "Get Well Soon!" flowers, a funny involving pain charts: http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/02/boyfriend-doesnt-have-ebola-probably.html
ext_7025: (cure for anything)

[identity profile] buymeaclue.livejournal.com 2011-07-17 08:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Aiieeeee! A good friend of mine had a similar thing happen in the spring. She's back to normal now; hope your recovery is similarly swift.
kate_nepveu: sleeping cat carved in brown wood (Default)

[personal profile] kate_nepveu 2011-07-18 02:07 am (UTC)(link)
Feel better soon!

[identity profile] oracne.livejournal.com 2011-07-20 08:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Goodbye, Larry's appendix!

Hey, can you now get a bionic one? That makes the bionic noise?

I'm glad you're feeling better.
sovay: (Psholtii: in a bad mood)

[personal profile] sovay 2011-07-31 11:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Late-coming, but: yikes. I'm glad you're all right!