Mindful Monday#54: When Fibro meets appendicitis

Note: I am not a medical professional. My blog is describing what happened to me during my hospitalization for a ruptured appendix. Below is a link that hopefully will answer any questions you may have. Please seek medical advice if you begin to feel ill! 
 
*This is an updated blog of the one I wrote last year. I hope you will enjoy it.*
 
Happy Monday y’all! 
 
It’s taken me much longer than usual to compose this particular blog for you. For the life of me, I couldn’t understand what was holding me back. It wasn’t because I was still ill, or I didn’t feel like writing. It didn’t occur to me, until this past week exactly what was holding me back. It was the simple fact of not wanting to relive what happened. I reminded myself that my blog isn’t just about me talking to you, it’s a part of my therapy too! I know blogging about my experiences with my ruptured appendix and Fibro can help someone else. If you follow me on any of my social media sites, you may remember that I updated you as much as I could. Here is my full story. 
 
Tuesday night of Thanksgiving week, I started to have horrible stomach cramps, but I stupidly dismissed them. Wednesday, I felt even worse (like the flu) and could hardly move. To make things worse, I started having flare ups and my hands were shaking. I could not hold anything for long. I was also vomiting, but I did not have a fever. I should have gone to the ER that night, but I thought it was a stomach bug and it would pass. I knew I would be more comfortable at home, rather than being in the hospital. Little did I know I would soon be there! I told Dale if I’m still sick Friday, we’re going to the ER.  Boy, am I glad I did! I was so not prepared for them to tell me the diagnosis!  Of course, my flare ups were happening nonstop during this time. They tested me for COVID to which I had to say good night to Dale. I could have one guest in my room per twenty-four hours, if I was negative for COVID (which I was). For anyone who has stayed in a hospital by themselves, you can understand how scary and uncomfortable it is. All I wanted was to go home. Luckily, I had some understanding doctors and nurses who took excellent care of me. They went out of their way to listen, as well as understand my needs.  Even when I broke down and cried out of frustration, they were there for me. Thank God for technology! Being able to stay connected to my friends and family was a life saver. The doctors prescribed a lot of antibiotics because my wbc (white blood cell count) was very high, and they were concerned. I was also given pain medication. It was explained to me, because of my age they were optimistic that I could fight off the infection. My infection was not spreading, so knowing this did make me feel better about my situation. I wish they had taken the appendix out while I was still admitted. I realize now, they were avoiding complications due to the infection. I definitely did not want to have complications during any of my surgeries! I stayed in the hospital until cyber-Monday. I found it incredibly hard to get a good night’s rest. Tuesday, very early in the morning, my doctor woke me by asking me if I’d like to go home! I nearly jumped out of the bed and told her yes! I reminded her I was still sore. She told me that was normal, but if it got any worse to come back. I had a follow up appointment with my physician, where I was told to get another CT scan. My doctor informed me if everything was looking good, they were going to take my appendix out sometime in January! I had a CT scan of my appendix on the 29th. 
 
I am happy to tell you I was feeling so much better for a while! Then February 14th, Valentine’s Day, we had the worst ice/ snowstorm Dallas had seen in years. Guess what happened? I started to have that familiar pain again. I’m convinced my appendix just loved holidays. This time I didn’t mess around. I told Dale about my tummy, and he called 911. The paramedics arrived and off I went to the hospital. Once there, they ran the same tests on me they did last time. They were almost certain it was appendicitis. It was frustrating because I was being told two different stories. Yes, I was having surgery that night. No, I wasn’t going to have surgery until the next morning. As you can imagine, I was slowly going out of my mind. Unlike last time, I was all by myself with no one to keep me company until they took me upstairs. I was in such a hurry to get out of the house I forgot my phone charger, so I had to keep turning my phone off and on. Yet one more thing to add to my frustration list. 
 
Finally, they decided I would be having surgery the next morning. Hallelujah! This was not before they asked me if I would like to go ahead with the procedure. Um, yes! Hello? No, I think I’ll go for round three. I was taken upstairs sometime around midnight. I’ll never forget this night. The storm was so bad that Dallas was having blackouts. I was trying to sleep, even though, I knew I would not get any sleep that night.  It was a combination of pain and excitement. This little bugger was finally coming out of me! My surgery was at seven o’clock. I was so ecstatically happy I could have danced down to the OR. My surgeon and his team could not have been nicer. Just like when I went in for my back, I don’t really remember anything past them giving me the “good drugs.” 
 
After my surgery, I was in recovery for a couple of hours. They called Dale to take me home with instructions on the do’s and do not’s during my recovery time. Recovering from an appendicitis surgery with Fibro was very painful. I would have to say on a scale of one to ten, my daily average pain was a seven. Luckily, I had pain medication to help me get through it. Even though I was uncomfortable to say the very least, I was so incredibly relieved it was all over. This year couple of my New Year’s resolutions was to take it one day at a time. The other, was to not stress over non important things. Even though there are times I go through boughs of depression, I’ve never taken life for granted. I am so thankful and blessed that I have survived my situation. 
 
It could have been so much worse if I had waited. Have you ever been in a scary medical situation? How did you handle it? I’d love to know so, please share any experiences you’ve had in the comments down below! Please continue to stay safe purple butterflies! Thank you for taking the time to read my blog today! If you’re enjoying my blogs, why not subscribe to my website? My blogs will go straight to your email. It’s free to sign up! Tell your friends! Tell your friends to tell their friends!

Till next time! Be well!
~Rachel

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