Might as well make my first post about ONE of the various Health issues that I have experienced first hand!
March 2001; I’m in night school and I have a small test in my accounting course; no big deal, I’m doing great in the course and not stressed out at all. But mid test, my stomach starts to HURT. This ache sort of in the middle of my stomach. So I ignore it, head home and I feel gross! So I try to poo (TMI), no luck, have a bath no luck, my stomach pain is getting worse. So I try to go to bed, hoping it will go away. My boyfriend comes home from the hockey game, drunk, and passes out on the couch.
Now the pain is getting pretty unbearable, and as I’m lying in bed, a voice in my head says “this is not normal, go to the hospital”. I had to agree with that little voice. Well my boyfriend wouldn’t wake up, must have been a good hockey game. So I did what you probably should NOT do and I drove myself the 15 minutes or so to the hospital!
Stupid nurse in triage was like “did you try taking a Tylenol?” NO I DIDN”T TAKE A FRIGGIN TYLENOL I NEED SOMETHING STRONGER LADY. She said to me; “the wait here is at least 6 hours, maybe you should go home take a tylenol and go to bed”………………….I swear I almost did exactly what she said, and I actually walked outside (IN TEARS)…….but I stopped and said to myself, “no way you need to stay”. So I waited in the waiting room for maybe 1/2 hour in agony, as my pain got worse and shifted down and to the right. Pretty much beyond myself at that point at hating the triage nurse, I walked directly into the ER and grabbed a passing nurse. I said to her; “Please help me my pain is getting worse I really need some help!!!”. Thank GAWD she actually listened to me! Of course it was my damn APPENDIX ready to burst! They promptly hooked me up to MORPHINE………..awww sweet relief! Within 12 hours they took that gangrenous sucker OUT and I was all better!
(While they were in there I should have asked them to take out my gallbladder too, but that will wait until another post)
A few morals of my story:
1. Listen to your own instincts
2. Unexplained stomach pain especially if it is lower right should be taken very seriously
3. Listen to your own instincts (worth repeating) and take management of your own health care
Some great information from Wikipedia:
Appendicitis is a condition characterized by inflammation of the appendix. All cases require removal of the inflamed appendix, either by laparotomy or laparoscopy. Untreated, mortality is high, mainly because of peritonitisshock.[1] Reginald Fitz first described acute and chronic appendicitis in 1886,[2] and it has been recognized as one of the most common causes of severe acute abdominal pain worldwide.