Our trip to the ER

Most of you that know me are well aware of how I end up in the ER frequently due to my klutziness. Well, I woke up Thursday morning around 1:30 with the most intense abdominal pain and bloating. I spent 2 hours writhing around on the floor unsure of what to do or how to relieve the bloating and pain. Malox, Tums and Midol didn't work, so I woke up Tom who's first instinct was to google the symptoms to see if there was anything else we could do at home. Finally we gave in, woke up Stasa and headed to the ER. 


Lucky for us the ER wasn't too busy and the doctor came in pretty quick. After checking me over, a nurse came in to insert an IV and administer some drugs: Dilaudid for pain and a medicine for bloating and another for nausea. Before she gave me the drugs she took some blood for tests and had me drink a liquid contrast in case the doctor ordered a CT. In the meantime, Tom dropped Stasa off at daycare so we wouldn't have to worry about her running around hospital. 


I was finally taken back for a CT scan and the technician told me they'd have to inject more contrast for the final image and that I would feel flushed and would also feel like I had peed my pants. It was the weirdest feeling and I was so happy when it was over. After the doctor had a chance to read the CT results, he came in, SMILING and announced that I would need an appendectomy. My response was less than polite. 


The next couple of hours were kind of a blur of pain meds and waiting around. Finally we were wheeled up to a waiting area and the surgeon and anesthesiologist explained everything to us. The anesthesiologist injected the first round of what I call the "pass out" drug in my IV and told me I'd probably not remember anything after that and I really don't. Tom told me that I cried the whole way to the OR, which doesn't surprise me because I was worried about something going wrong as soon as they said "appendectomy." 


The next thing I remember is waking up in Recovery with pillows all around me and a heavy feeling in my head. They took me to my room where Tom was waiting with some flowers my boss had dropped off. After that it was pretty much the norm for hospital living: nurses checking my stats every hour, clear liquid diet, forced activity and deep breathing. Tom and I were so happy when I was discharged on Friday, especially since I had been home less than 24 hours after my trip to Chicago. 


Recovery has been a bit of a pain. I've only ever had my tonsils removed so I've never had to deal with recovering from being cut into like this. I'm not sure I'd be able to handle having a c-section. And I only have 3 small incisions since they removed my appendix laparoscopically. I'm still on an antibiotic, taking pain meds at night so I can sleep comfortably, doing my deep breathing exercises and trying to walk around when I can. Mostly it just hurts to take a deep breath and move quickly. I thought I would be ready to go back to work on Monday, but I really don't think I could manage sitting up straight for an entire day. Not to mention lugging my laptop bag in to the office. I can't wait until I'm fully healed so I can get back to my normal routine, like picking up my daughter.