SO, Friday May 7th was my last day of work. It was really hard to say goodbye to the wonderfully sweet people I worked with, but I know I made the right decision in going back to school!
On Saturday, May 8th I had two of my wisdom teeth removed (the top ones). It was no big deal and I was up and running after the sedation wore off. No pain medication. I even floated in the pool that evening!
On May 15th I moved into my new apartment in Houston. It was a really rainy day and let up just enough for Lee and his Dad to move stuff in while Lee's Mom and I made a very necessary trip to Target and Hungry's, one of the best places to eat near Rice, I am digressing and will try to keep that to a minimum. Oh and a huge 'thank you' goes out to mine and Lee's families. Without their help I would not have gotten moved in and set up as quickly as I did. Lee and I planned on staying in Houston until Monday when we would go back to DFW and to a Ranger's game! Sunday evening I went to dinner with a very good friend, more like a relative than a friend, Darla. We went to Raven Grill which was delicious! Lee and I went to sleep, no problems, had a great weekend, oh, wait....OK on Saturday afternoon when Shelley and my parents got to my apartment I totally tripped and face planted into the middle of the street {I was excited to see Shelley since she got to Texas the night before from Japan} and really bashed my knee. Other than that, no problems.
So I go to sleep and wake up around 3am with horrible stomach pain, nausea, chills to the point of shaking uncontrollably with my teeth chattering, etc... and I'm thinking it was the food. I am the first person to get sick from food. I was half asleep so I shook for quite a while, contemplating if I needed medical attention and where I would go, should I wake up Lee, who should I call to tell me which hospital to go to {Laura you were at the top of my list} and fell back asleep after about an hour. When I woke up Monday I told Lee how horrible I had felt in the night and chalked it up to a bad dinner. My stomach still hurt a little bit and it changed from being all over in the night to the lower right quadrant, about half-way between my belly-button and hip bone. I told Lee I thought it could be anything, but was worried about appendicitis. Not wanting to have to go to the doctor, hospital, or anywhere since I was about to start school and wanted to go to the Ranger's game, I decided it was just a little tummy issue and would resolve itself. Lee and I drove back to DFW, and when I got out of the car and leaned over the seat of his truck to get my purse, a stabbing pain seared through my abdomen. At that point I called my Dad, who didn't answer, and then his nurse, and also my Mom's best friend, who told me I should have already gone to the doctor but if it got any worse to go to the ER. I went to the Ranger's game thinking it was a gas bubble, ovulation, something....ANYTHING but appendicitis.
I woke up Tuesday and could still feel a little pain, but it wasn't very bad unless I pushed on it. I made a 2 P.M. doctor's appointment just in case and started to run all of the errands I needed to run in order to finalize my move to Houston and start school 6 days later {oh and let's be honest, I had reading assignments and things to do for school already; when they say school starts May 24th they really mean you have to physically be there May 24th but if you don't work on some of this before then you'll be really behind}. Well, long story short, I went to my doctor's appointment fully expecting to be told I had gas {or something ridiculous}, and ended up being sent straight to the ER @ Baylor Hospital in Grapevine {do not pass go, do not go home and get your things together, call your husband and get over there, do you want an ambulance and are you sure you don't want an ambulance} to check out my appendix. I drove to the ER in tears, not because I was scared of surgery or concerned about my health {or life}, but because I had to start school in 6 DAYS and DID NOT have time to have any major health problems. I had errands to run, syllabi to print, binders to organize!
The wonderful {and I mean wonderful} doctors, nurses, techs, PAs, and the EMT student who brought levity to the situation @ Baylor made things a lot better. They tried to keep my mind off of school and remind me that it could be anything and I was more important than school {um, yah but I just left my job to start school and I can't have anything happen to me because I HAVE TO start school}. I took my 3rd pregnancy test of the day, got my kidneys tested, got a CT scan, had 4 people come and press all over my abdomen, and then found out it was appendicitis and that I would need immediate surgery {I was thinking they'd wait until the morning because hey, I wasn't in that much pain; I turned down paid meds for goodness sakes}. Lee calls my parents, they get in the car to make the 6 hour drive to DFW, I get antibiotics started, and the entire time I'm asking the surgeon and nurses if they're SURE I have appendicitis because I really don't have time for this. My anesthesiologist gave me some 'I don't care' medicine before wheeling me away from Lee, Kathy {my aunt}, and Becky {my cousin} which made me very talkative until we got into the OR. As I was moving over to the table and they were putting the anti-embolism stockings on, that stuff finally hit. Before I knew it he told me he was giving me oxygen and then that I was going to go to sleep and wake up fine. I smelled and tasted something kind of nasty but before I could say anything about it, I was OUT. LOVE the anesthesiologist, hate being put under. It really is quite disarming. I'd never been put under and I woke up scared, confused, and STILL asking if I really had appendicitis or if they cut me open for nothing {I'm hard headed and I didn't think it was appendicitis}! I was scared and in disbelief that I had appendicitis before he put me under, so I think I just woke up like that. Oh, and I think I was kind of fighting waking up and wanted to do it faster than I could. I was super groggy, had a hard time keeping my eyes open, and remember thinking I had to focus to take breaths. Note to self: think about happy things pre-general anesthesia next time, which hopefully isn't soon.
The pain pre-surgery really wasn't all that bad. I expected appendicitis to be much more painful, although mine was less painful because it hadn't burst. Evidently my immune system is fantastico because my white blood cells weren't elevated and I didn't have a fever {although I think it might have been different if I had gone Monday @ 3 A.M.} or any other indications other than tenderness and the CT scan. The pain post-surgery was another story. I had a laparoscopic procedure with 3 incisions and the umbilical {belly-button} one really hurt. I had surgery at 7:30 P.M. and was released from the hospital at 3 P.M. the next day. I'm 2 weeks post-op and doing great {my surgeon's exact words today} but I can't bend, squat, swim, float, jump, roll, hurdle, do anything else that uses my abdominal muscles, or lift anything over 10lbs. {about a gallon of milk} for 4 more weeks. Two of my books individually weigh >10lbs!!! Basically I can only walk {which I've done a lot of}. In any case, I've tried to be VERY good because I don't want a hernia and want to be able to do anything and everything in 4 more weeks.
I'm sure all of you have enjoyed this extremely detailed post, but my intent was not to bore, it was to document my experience so when it becomes a funny story of the past {not quite there yet; had a nightmare they didn't get it all and I had to do it again} I can look back on it. If anything, you should know that appendicitis doesn't always result in searing, unbearable pain, and if you do get it, the morphine pump will be your best friend for the first few hours after surgery!
Everyone is well, my family took fantastic care of me, and I have started school in Houston. I am incredibly busy, but LOVING every minute of it. I am so happy to be immersed in the medical community. Oh, and I was assigned to The Methodist Hospital for the summer {my grandparents always go to one of the surgeon's there and have had such amazing experiences}. Lee and I are going back and forth to see each other and although the next 11 months will be difficult, we have an end goal and are working towards it {with lots of prayers along the way}. Future posts may be short and sporadic, but I'm trying to stay up to date with this blog {one of my resolutions}. Have a happy day!
