A Whole Lot More Than Food Poisoning

So, Halloween weekend was a blast. Monday's festivities at work were also a blast. We all dressed up--I wore Sean's leprechaun costume from my previous post--LOL--and had a potluck at work. There were food, games, and fun.

Then I went home as usual, handed out some candy to trick or treaters, vegged in front of the TV, had a glass of wine, and went to bed.

Well, for some reason, Monday night I could not fall asleep. My stomach was bothering me, and I thought maybe I had eaten too much candy and too many rich foods at the potluck. I ate some pretzels and tried to sleep it off...to no avail. The pain in my belly kept getting worse, and permeated throughout my entire torso and chest.

Good thing Sean was there with me. He--bless his heart--drove at 4am to Walgreen's to buy me ginger ale, crackers, and pepto bismol. I tried all of the above remedies--more than once--and if anything, my pain only got more intense. I tried laying on my side, my back, my stomach, sitting up, walking around...you get the picture. By this time it was around 6am...I hadn't slept all night, and something in my gut (NO PUN INTENDED) was telling me to go to the Emergency Room just to be safe.

Sean and I headed to a nearby hospital (not the one where I work) that he knows and trusts from some family stuff in the past.

At the ER, it wasn't too busy and I was admitted by 7am. I explained my symptoms: abdominal pain, chest pain, nausea--and was immediately taken back fro X-rays, being asked a zillion questions, and getting blood drawn and my urine tested (for signs of possible pregnancy--negative, by the way!).

When the chest scans were fine, they did CAT scans of my abdomen. I knew something was up when about an hour after the first one, they told me they needed further scans. By this time, it was past 11am.

Around 12pm, while Sean and I were waiting for results of the scan, I began experiencing the sharpest pains I have ever felt in my life. Right in my lower abdomen. It was so intesne, I begain to cry. Once we finally got the nurse's attention (it was crowded in the ER at this point), she immmediately brought in the doctor. He started poking my stomach in various places, and when he poked on the left, it hurt on the right. When he poked me on the right and then let go, I felt a piercing pain and screamed.

"That's not just something you ate." he said. "I believe that's appendicitis."

At this point he began talking about morphine drips and surgery and overnight stays and scars...so Sean finally called my parents to give them the scoop. I had held off on telling them because I honestly thought it was a virus and that I'd be given antibiotics and told to go home.

There was a major delay for my surgery, which was a very painful few hours--even with morphine--but I finally got to surgery around 7pm. And hour later, my appendix had been successfully removed--and according to the surgeon, it was extremely inflamed and I am lucky I came into the hospital when I did (if left ignored/untreated, your appendix can rupture, causing lifelong complications and even death).

So, last night I stayed overnight. I wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything--even water--until around 12 noon today. I hadn't eaten dinner since Monday night! I am still on the most restricted liquid diet they have here though--for "lunch", some broth, juice, and an italian ice--all of which I couldn't even finish. For dinner I switched it up with a hot tea and some jello to go with my broth.

Right now it is 1:30am and I have been in and out of sleep. The nurses come to check on my every few hours, to check my vital signs and give me meds. They are all super nice and attentive to my needs. They are personable and truly care about me. It is so nice.

I am in a loooot of pain and discomfort, and it takes all my energy just to go to the bathroom. I have a constant IV drip of sugar/saline/salt to replenish me, and that helps a bit.

I am hoping that I will be able to eat a bit more in the morning--maybe I will be allowed to have oatmeal or yogurt. i just hope I can handle it.

In any case, I hope to get discharged tomorrow, and my parents and boyfriend will take turns caring for me. I am so lucky and loved. I received flowers from family members and friends, and it brightened my day.

Meds are kickin in and I am about to zonk out. Later gators...