Quit yer bellyachin'!

I was discharged from the hospital yesterday following a successful appendectomy. Just when I was starting to feel back to normal after the c-section. Yar! At least this surgery was not as invasive, nor as painful. I am most thankful that everything went well and that my recovery is going smoothly thus far. So I'll never be an abdominal model; not a big deal. :-)

How it all started...

I went to work Thursday to straighten out a glitch with my time sheet and to meet with the lactation nurse for a back-to-work consult. (I'm not saying that work threw my system out of whack, but I am not ruling it out as a possibility either.) Afterward, Rowan and I went to lunch with Jeremy. I wasn't feeling too great after eating my BBQ chicken sandwich from Sonny's but didn't think much of it. I did consume a large amount of pink lemonade. 

Later that night I was feeling a bit worse. I thought I had gotten a mild case of food poisoning. I didn't sleep much at all that night - maybe a half hour. My abdomen hurt all night. I vomited several times. It wasn't good. By Friday morning I was starting to suspect that maybe something else was going on besides food funk. Jeremy took me to the ER around noon. 

Fun in the ER

I had to submit to the usual diagnostic tests - urine, blood, temperature. The results from these tests prompted more tests including a cat scan. The worst part about that was drinking a liter of nasty lemonade flavored barium drink. Gack! I think I'll be taking a break from lemon flavored beverages for a while. 

Midway through my lemonade drinking they moved me out into the hallway of the ER. Apparently they were very busy and needed my room. This is a most humbling and slightly scary experience. I did not enjoy being gawked at by the more mobile ER patients and their guests. Nor did I like hearing moaning and crying drifting from the surrounding exam rooms. But, the people watching was pretty good (I saw a male patient trying to pick up a much younger female patient. Who does that?) and I could sort of see the TV. Why is it that public waiting room TVs seem to always be showing Jerry Springer? Thankfully, Jeremy had left to take Rowan to Lynn and LIsa's house. I did not want him to spend any more time in that looney bin.

Jeremy returned with my breast pump and some clean socks. By this time, things in the ER had settled down and they were able to put me into a room so I could pump. I have the most caring nurse tech, Virginia, to thank for that. She was awesome throughout my ER visit. She checked on me often, always with a pleasant smile on her face, and made me feel at ease. I noticed that she treated all her patients with the same respect and gentleness. I cannot say the same for the rude be-atch that barged into the room where I was pumping, unplugged my pump from the wall without even a how-do -you-do and injected antibiotics into my IV line. Jeremy and I both pointed out to her what she had done but she showed no remorse and offered no apology. This was totally unacceptable in my book. Unfortunately, it would not be the only incident to royally tick me off during my stay at the hospital. 

Checking In

They finally admitted me and moved me to the third floor around 8:00pm. I suppose that 8 hours is a pretty average length of stay for the ER. It turns out that one of the hold ups was that they had misplaced my chart for about a half-hour. Grrr....

I had a private room, praise be. At this point, I still did not know if I would be having my surgery that night or on Saturday.

The surgeon showed up around 9:30 to tell me that I would have my surgery on Saturday sometime in the late morning or that afternoon. He said that he could not be more specific than that because Saturdays are hard to call. So, Jeremy went to collect Rowan and to try to get some rest at home. I watched TV and drifted in and out of sleep. Of course I was poked and prodded all night long. The tech came every four hours to check my vital signs. A nurse came by at 3:30am to move my IV from the crook of my arm to my hand. I had to pump at 4:00am. (I was dumping the milk but had to pump to keep my milk supply up.)

Farewell, appendix

By 2:00pm on Saturday I still had not heard when I would be going to surgery. Jeremy and Rowan came to see me and I was immediately cheered up. It's no good hanging in limbo for all that time. At least I was not in any pain. But, I was starting to get ravenous. I had not eaten anything since lunch on Thursday. 

They came to get me for surgery at 5:00pm. That was pretty uneventful. Thank goodness! I remember moving from my gurney to the extremely narrow OR table and being strapped in. I sort of recall having a mask put over my face and being asked to breathe in. The next thing I know, I was in the recovery room. I was back in my regular room by 8:00pm. They told me that everything had gone well. Yea!

Going Home

That night's stay was pretty uneventful. I had the usual interruptions and had to pump, but nothing too crazy happened. The surgeon came by around 9:00am and said I could go home! By 11:00-ish, I was ready to be rolled down to the van. 

While Jeremy went to pull the van around front and I waited on the transporter to arrive, my nurse and another nurse came by and asked me for my prescription. I told them that Jeremy had taken it with him to put in the van. They told me that the man in the room next door to me had had the same procedure and that he had called them saying that he had my prescription. Sure enough, I had his. The crazy nurse wanted me to wait for my neighbor to come back to the hospital and swap scripts. Obviously she had been using narcotics. I told her no way was I waiting, that they needed to call in my prescription or figure something else out because I was leaving. Something in my tone or facial expression must have alarmed my nurse because she told the lunatic nurse to be quiet and came over to me to pat my hand and tell me she would take care of the situation. I was so livid. Then I started getting paranoid that they had screwed up other things of mine. Did they give me the proper meds, had they removed something besides my appendix!? Unbelievable!!! The hospital will most certainly receive a strongly worded letter from me. 

Home Sweet Home

I am so glad to be home! My mom is here to help with Rowan and me. I am not allowed to lift anything or drive for the next week. I'm feeling okay for now. An appendectomy is much easier than a c-section. I hate that one of my last weeks of maternity leave will be so crummy. I was just getting to enjoy my time off. We were supposed to meet up with Jeremy's parents in Asheville, NC this coming weekend but we're going to postpone. Dang it! 

Despite these minor inconveniences, I am very happy that all went well with my surgery and that it was something easily treatable and routine.