my APPY

So...

I had my first general anesthesia surgery on April Fools Day... People totally thought we were joking. This was not a joke, unfortunately.

Yep, I awoke at 4am on March 31st, Evie's birthday (for goodness sakes!), with abdominal pain. I thought it would go away after I curled up in a ball on the couch and went back to sleep. I had plans that afternoon so I continued on with them. I drove to Kearney, an hour away, and felt worse when I got there. It wasn't nausea. It was just pain in my belly, specifically around my belly button and the right side if I pressed on it.

I did some shopping for Evie, got my haircut, etc. but the pain just got more severe. When I finally left town at 3, I was bent over in the car crying b/c I thought it was serious. I was actually thinking, Great I have appendicitis and I'm going to have to have surgery! Yuck. Perhaps the self-diagnosis made it worse.

Anyway, I went to the clinic as soon as I got home and Dr. Dave said what I was thinking. My white count was up and I had all the symptoms of appendicitis. There was no surgeon in town so we had to travel to North Platte. That was a long drive.

Once in the ER, we had to wait longer to make sure I wasn't pregnant b/c of all the tests and drugs that were necessary. I wasn't. And now I know why I haven't gotten pregnant all this time =) God really is sovereign. Thank you for watching over me Lord.

Anyway, once that was out of the way, I was able to have morphine. Dude, that stuff was good. Then I had to drink the narsty contrast for the CT scan, which further clarified the appendicitis. At 1145pm they finally wheeled me out of the ER for surgery.

(this isn't actually my appendix. i just borrowed this pic to give you an idea... sorry if it grossed you out)

Terry was such a trooper. He stayed there even though I didn't wake up till after 2am and didn't get to my recovery room till after 3am. He didn't get home to bed till like 4am! I slept pretty good b/c of the great morphine PCA pump. Oh yeah.

I got to come home shortly after lunch and was pretty wiped. Today, the day after returning home, I'm pretty darn sore. My incision sites are painful and bruised, but I think by tomorrow I will be on the mend... I hope.

This is what I read online (http://www.medicinenet.com/appendectomy/article.htm) about it:

What is the appendix?

The appendix is a closed-ended, narrow tube that attaches to the cecum (the first part of the colon) like a worm. (The anatomical name for the appendix, vermiform appendix, means worm-like appendage.) The inner lining of the appendix produces a small amount of mucus that flows through the appendix and into the cecum. The wall of the appendix contains lymphatic tissue that is part of the immune system for making antibodies. Like the rest of the colon, the wall of the appendix also contains a layer of muscle.

What is appendicitis?

Appendicitis is inflammation of the appendix. It is thought that appendicitis begins when the opening from the appendix into the cecum becomes blocked. The blockage may be due to a build-up of thick mucus within the appendix or to stool that enters the appendix from the cecum.