So for the good part of August and early September, I was wondering how I was going to fill up a blog post for this month. It turns out I didn’t even need to try because I managed to score a hospital visit and earned an appendix removal achievement!

Basically on a Friday night I was out and about being my usual crazy energetic self and training super hard. Got home at about 11:30pm,went to bed shortly after.

Saturday morning I woke up with a sore tummy, which I thought was just hunger pains, since I hadn’t had a meal since 4:30pm the day before. I’d only eaten some fruit and had some milk. So I decided I’d make some breakfast, except I couldn’t figure out why I didn’t want fried bread. It seemed like too heavy of a foodstuff, so I just cooked up some eggs and ate it with smoked salmon, but for some reason that also wasn’t very appetising. I didn’t think too much more of it and just did my normal farmers markets rounds.

I still didn’t feel like eating so I figured maybe I had food poisoning. So eating clean would be the way to go. I seemed to be craving some hot ginger tea, but I found some “fermented turmeric ginger water” at the shops so I got that instead, and forgot about obtaining fresh ginger. I cooked some rice and it was a tad undercooked, but even then, I couldn’t eat much. It kind of hurt to eat once the food hit my stomach. I tried eating as much as possible though (which wasn’t actually more than a few spoonfuls) since I had dance practise shortly in the afternoon.

I was still hurting a bit as I hopped on public transport but I still didn’t think much of it as I headed into the city. I did figure something was wrong cause it was a constant pain that didn’t go away, so I hopped into a pharmacy to buy some panadol but the line was insanely long, and I kind of felt dizzy while waiting in the queue. Also having never had to take panadol before, I didn’t read the label and simply had a single tablet (the proper dosage is 2 tablets). Nothing happened so I was still in massive pain at dance practise and couldn’t even do basic exercises and moves. I gave up in less than an hour and went home.

I decided to take a nap in the afternoon since usually I recover pretty quickly; at this point I felt like I probably had a fever since I had muscle tingles and I felt slightly cold. But it also hurt to sleep… so I figured I should really get a doctor to check. By this point all the medical centres were closed though, so I called a home doctor. Good thing they bulk bill! Anyway, I waited around and one came over fairly quickly. Apparently I didn’t have a fever when he took my temperature, and also couldn’t figure out the source of the pain since I didn’t have any other symptoms of anything – no nausea, no issues. So he wrote me a prescription for a blood test and ultrasound, but told me if the pain persisted to go to this local hospital he recommended.

I couldn’t sleep well all night, because there was pain even while relaxed, and it hurt to move. It worsened towards morning and I actually found it painful to walk, too. At this point I also still didn’t feel like eating; dinner the night before was just less than half a papaya and half a glass of milk. Sunday morning I could barely eat the remaining bits of the half papaya and a banana. I figured hey, instead of taking a day off work on a weekday, I may as well visit the hospital.

So I hobbled over to the local hospital and checked myself in. The home doctor had referred me to a women’s hospital because my pain was in my lower abdomen, so I kept getting asked if I was pregnant, and if I was sure I wasn’t pregnant, and if I was sure there was no way that I’d be pregnant. Again, my temperature was normal here and apart from loss of appetite, I wasn’t displaying any other symptoms related to anything so the doctor was stumped. Last time I hurt a lot it was a dance injury, so both the doctors and I were inclined to conclude this was also a muscle injury and that all I needed to do was rest. But as a last precaution, they did a blood test just to be sure. I could waste half an hour and then come back for the results.

Still in pain, I got as far as the closest shopping centre to just sit there, and then head back. That’s when I heard the doctor ask the other one if I had symptoms of fever. I suspected that maybe there was something they found. They told me that my white blood cell count was really high, and that my C reactive protein levels were extremely high. They sent me straight for an ultrasound as a result. After they looked at those results, they decided that my appendix was probably the culprit and referred me to a different hospital.

The great thing about being such a curious coffee enthusiast is that it takes me places. So when I googled where this other hospital was, I immediately recognised the location since I had a preferred cafe near there! But I also knew it was a pain to get to. The doctors seemed to want me to go there straight away and were concerned when I said that I considered walking there, warning me that my appendix might rupture and to consider alternative methods. So I decided to be somewhat sensible and take public transport. They also did give me some painkillers (2 panadol tablets and one nurofen; I’ve never been so drugged up before!!) so I felt that I could manage the trip.

At this new hospital, I had no idea where I was supposed to go, since apparently the other hospital said I could skip the triage process. But because I didn’t know where to go, I lined up at the emergency department anyway. After waiting for at least half an hour, I presented my referral letter over. Yep, the triage lady said I could go to straight to a ward. Woohoo! She did seem a little annoyed that she had trouble finding someone who would escort me there though.

Everything here was actually fairly quick, I was impressed. The nurses were already aware that I was going to be there and had a bed prepared for me! They were all so nice! Some surgeons also came up fairly quickly to explain the process to me. They explained that they wanted to do a CT scan to verify what was going on (they later changed their mind on this and said not to do one as it was an unecessary radiation exposure risk), and then perform keyhole surgery to remove the appendix. I was really worried at this point since I knew that this would take me out for a good week or so, and longer to return to dance since it’s quite an intensive sport. But there wasn’t really anything I could do; the doctors seemed convinced they wanted go to ahead with this operation. So after getting a second opinion and telling everyone about it, I decided it was best to go ahead with it. After all, I haven’t taken a sick day in years so why not take a break from everything. The nurses also had me answer an extensive questionnaire and I got weighed in a fancy chair! I was given compression socks to wear and explained to me that surgery can often lead to blood clots so the socks were to prevent DVT. I was also given some cool bright red non slip socks to walk around in. How cool and fashionable!

I had to fast in preparation for the surgery, but that wasn’t even a challenge since I didn’t have an appetite and wasn’t eating much anyway. It was interesting getting the IV cannula inserted and being attached to a drip all the time though; this fasting meant I wasn’t allowed to drink water either; I would be hydrated via IV and would need to carry it to the bathroom. And they wanted to measure how much water was coming out too, so I had to go in a pan that was placed on the toilet seat and tell them every time. Also, since I wasn’t prepared to actually be properly admitted to hospital, I didn’t have anything more than what was in my bag… so no phone charger. I was really lucky that the nurse was able to find a spare one, so I managed to keep that for my stay. That afternoon I was just lying in bed and talking to everyone to let them know what was going on, so time moved fairly quickly. Some of the catering staff and nurses seemed apologetic when the other patients received food, but I didn’t mind so much.

I was surprised that their surgery schedule was fast; they were aiming to do the surgery that night if time allowed. I had multiple teams of surgeons visit due to shift changeovers and they poked and prodded me to see how I reacted, so that they could try and get and understanding of the issue. They were all confident it was my appendix. The consent form was pretty straighforward from what I saw, it had all the usual personal information details and also a list of possible risks and side effects. By 9PM, they did one more round but their schedule was full, so my surgery was rebooked for Monday morning. That meant I had a 3 hour window of not fasting, so the nurse managed to scrounge an egg sandwich for me. I was very impressed that I was able to eat the whole thing, though my tummy did hurt afterwards.

To prepare for my surgery, I had to shower with this special antibacterial liquid, and then just wait in bed until the surgeons were ready. Finally it was time, and I was wheeled into the waiting area. It’s kind of cool being wheeled around while lying in bed, but also kind of boring since you can’t see anything but the ceiling. In the waiting bay, the doctors checked to make sure I knew what I was having done, and the anesthetist did some final checks and gave a short description of what would happen. Essentially I’d be given a general anesthetic via IV and there’d be a tube down my mouth to allow me to breathe. For some reason, it wasn’t all that scary at this stage. I was more nervous on Sunday, mainly because I couldn’t quite believe what was happening, but I’d accepted the fact pretty quickly so the preparation for surgery wasn’t stressful at all. I was more worried that I’d accidentally poop while unconscious!

Again, the downside of lying down in bed while being wheeled into the operating theatre – I had no idea what anything looked like except the ceiling and the massive lamps. I also got asked if I was able to move myself onto the table, which I happily did. They hooked me up to a heart rate and blood pressure monitor and the anesthetist complained that my cannula was the wrong one and wasn’t compatible with his IV drip. After some fiddling, I was hooked up. An oxygen mask was given to me to breathe through and one of the surgeons put their finger on my throat and told me to swallow, I figured that was their indicator of whether I was conscious or not. Then they told me that the anesthetic was running and that I’d fall asleep shortly. So I waited patiently and then BAM. I’ve always been curious as to how it all worked, since I’m a little disbelieving when it comes to seeing TV programs showing people being knocked out in seconds… but it’s true! It hit quickly and efficiently. I probably only managed to blink once between realising that the anesthetic was in my system and then promptly blacking out, as if my eyelids had been forced closed.

I know I was dreaming while unconscious, though I don’t really remember what I was dreaming about. It felt exactly the same as being asleep and the dream type was no different from what I usually had. Waking up was a similar feeling – as if emerging from a deep sleep. For some reason I really didn’t feel like talking, though I couldn’t tell that they had placed a breathing tube in my mouth because there was no soreness. I was better at giving a thumbs up to the nurses than saying that I was feeling okay when they asked. I managed to hear a a really quickly spoken summary of my operation (they weren’t talking to me) which sounded like I had a gangrenous appendix. Woah, that was cool if it was true! Also, there was a lot of pricking of my fingers in my waking moments. Just little pricks like the ones diabetic people have. They took 3 samples from me. Everything moved so fast; I was then straight out of the post-op ward and then back into my regular ward by lunch time. I was finally allowed food, so lunch was peas, roast potato, beef stew, mashed sweet potato, and some epic level 900 custard:

Since I’d just had the operation, I did double check with the nurse to see if I was okay to eat. She said yes, but that I might need to take it easy. She was right, it still hurt to eat. I ate maybe a half a forkful of peas, the same of the potato mash and beef, but that was it. Unsurprisingly, it still hurt, but I definitely had my appetite back – the food was enjoyable and the beef was delicious, even if it was a tad saltier than what I prefer. I kept the custard for later cause who doesn’t love hospital dessert. It ended up being vanilla flavoured, super thick and had the canned whipped cream taste. Yum! lol.

I spent the afternoon recovering. I was’t on constant IV drips anymore but would need be hooked up every now and again for antibiotics. I also still had to tell them every time I went to the bathroom so they could check I was passing fluids nicely. I had family visit which was nice. The surgeons came to see how I was doing and that’s when I confirmed my appendix was in fact dead. They said it was pretty bad, and that for it to have gotten to that stage, it would have been rotting away for the last 2 – 3 years. Wow, I was definitely not expecting that. Apparently the reason I was never affected was because it was all wrapped around in fat and insulated from the rest of my body. I thought that was absolutely amazing. See kids, this is why fat is good for you! Slow release symptoms for a serious issue! Made everything so much more tolerable and difficult to diagnose!

I quickly found out out the most unpleasant part of my hospital stay though. Because of the surgery, I had to be given an injection containing an anticoagulant. I call it the tummy injection because they put it in your leg or tummy. I was given the option, so I said either or, and they said a fatty part of the body was best, at which point one of the nurses commented that my leg didn’t have much fat and I chimed in at the same time saying that they should definitely go for the tummy cause there’s plenty of fat there. Oh man, this injection. So much pain!!! It was not a nice injection at all, and the stinging persisted for several minutes after it was all done. Afterwards I learned that most patients had to get this every day just to prevent blood clots from lying in bed all day. It did get slightly less painful each day, but it didn’t stop me from commenting about the dreaded tummy injection to the nurse every time!

I was actually surprised that I didn’t need extra painkillers. I was given the maximum dosage for panadol and that was enough, and also extra anti inflammatory tablets. When the nurse checked the dressings that day, it turns out I was oozing (yes that’s the technical term they were using) a bit from my belly button patch so they reinforced it a bit. I think it was probably from the fact that sitting up and walking actually took stomach muscles. I ended up with three dressing stickers on me, one for the camera, one for the drain hole, and I don’t know what the third bandage was for. My vitals were also measured every hour just to make sure I was doing okay.

Oh also, here is a picture of my cannula! Funny story, I got it attached with just the one tube coming out, but after surgery, I’d magically acquired two more tubes somehow!

Dinner time came around, and my appetite was definitely back.

I think I know why a lot of people don’t like hospital food. The vegetables were generally overcooked (beans especially), though I really enjoyed the pumpkin. The potatoes were slightly under so they weren’t mushy the whole way through. The chicken was… well, not that great, but definitely edible. The gravy made it taste good. I managed to eat 75% of the plate, leaving behind the harder bits of potato and just less then half the chicken.

Also, having visitors immediately after surgery is a double edged sword. It’s great to see them, but it hurts so much to laugh! I was so worried I’d start oozing more or burst my insides. So as a tip, let your uninteresting friends see you first and have your mischievous friends see you when you’re more recovered :)

Because I was recovering well already, I had to move wards and was wheeled to another level. At first this new ward was pretty scary looking, there was an old lady sitting in a chair staring, making weird moaning noises all the time and the other two old patients were chatting to each other and about me. How odd. I was a little nervous at my new wardmates. Is wardmates a word? But it didn’t take long before I got used to them and didn’t mind them. Hospital fellows are always an odd bunch :D

Being in a new ward meant that I had to readjust my sleep that night to get used to the sounds and people’s habits, but it was more that I’m not very good at sleeping on my back that was the issue. I had thought maybe the hospital beds weren’t that great, however it was more because I am primarily a side sleeper that I found I was getting soreness around my neck and shoulders. Also, the nurse explained that my particularly sore shoulders that night was a result of gas passing through my body, since keyhole surgery involves pumping the area with gas. What an interesting tidbit! Also observing nurse rotations and handover was also cool, seeing what information they provide to the next people.

I was no longer getting my stats measured hourly, but since I was relaxed a lot, my blood pressure tended to be a bit low, so the nurse at one stage told me to drink lots of water and wiggle about to raise it, otherwise she’d have to measure me hourly again. Turns out it did work and I barely managed a pass on my vitals! I can’t help it if I’m super relaxed! I also managed to have a slightly elevated temperature on Tuesday morning so I was given some more panadol and got another blood test done, and my temperature returned to normal, even though I was feeling fine the whole time (by fine I mean no adverse effects; my temperature was probably not too stable cause I tended to shiver a bit when returning from my walk to the bathroom or drinking more than a glass of water).

Breakfast was pretty uninteresting, I haven’t had cereal in years so the cornflakes were a bit of a treat! Also the prunes made me laugh. The nurses are always eager to know when you’ve pooped, and I hadn’t done so since before the surgery so I imagine that’s why a packet of prunes were on my plate :D

I was actually able to move about on Tuesday and had much more energy in general, though even though my old lady hobbles in the 1m of my personal ward space took a lot out of me and I’d be short of breath and need to rest often. It was interesting for me to see what my body could do, I had full leg strength but I couldn’t use all my core so I just stood on one leg or walked about, but avoided any twisting. It was mostly an uneventful day, though I didn’t feel compelled to use my phone too much. I didn’t have a TV available since that would have cost $10 a day and I don’t really watch TV anyway. It was a nice time to just spend ages in my own head.

Lunch time!! This was pretty tasty stuff and I managed to eat all my food! It was a bacon and potato quiche with vegetables. This time the potatoes were pretty yummy too. The trifle was the least tasty of the desserts I received. After this I realised that all the “meat” components of the dishes were too salty and the vegetables were unseasoned. There was always a packet of salt and pepper if needed, though I didn’t use any.

I guess I was finally allowed to choose my own food, because now I was handed a piece of paper where I could make a meal selection for the next day. Some pretty interesting stuff, though since I was supposed to be discharged the next day, I probably wouldn’t get around to any of these interesting food choices.

Dinner time, yay! The dodgiest meal yet. These were boneless pork riblets in bbq sauce, roast pumpkin, brussel sprouds, mash potato. Flavourless mashed potato is weird. But not as weird as the pork. The texture was not one of real meat; it tasted like it was meat taken from actual ribs, minced, and then reformed to look like a rack of ribs. So kind of meatbally. It had good flavour so I ate it, even though the texture weirded me out a bit. Again, the pumpkin was great, and the brussel sprouts were uninteresting. Cleaned the plate this time!

And I finally hit the jackpot. Green jelly! Yeah!!! I saved that for just before bed and it was exactly how I expected. Probably the best hospital dessert, followed by the level 900 thick custard, and the trifle came in last place.

I slept really well that night, probably because my recovery process was well under way, and I could finally lie on my side for short periods without feeling discomfort or wondering if my insides were wobbling about. My tummy was still really swollen though, so that, paired with the fact they labelled me as a Mrs. on the bedhead, almost made for an amusing story of getting married in surgery and then being pregnant the day after!

And my final meal in hospital. This was my “choose your own breakfast” attempt, and I can tell you it wasn’t how I pictured my food to come out. I made a selection of porridge, white bread, vegemite, butter, milk, yoghurt and prunes. I didn’t expect my porridge to be slightly salty and not at all sweet, and I was disappointed that my one slice of bread came in plastic packaging. It was probably for hospital hygiene reasons, but still… all that plastic. Regardless, I ate all the porridge because it’s a healing food and vegemite bread was my little treat. I didn’t have room for the yoghurt and I didn’t actually need the prunes anymore since I was back to normal.

The surgeons did one final check on me and were happy for my to be discharged. Yay! The nurse changed my bandages and put on some waterproof dressing for home, then I received my medication and got wheeled down to the discharge bay in a wheelchair, which was pretty cool, especially since I still couldn’t walk much. And from there, it was only a short wait before I got my paperwork and was allowed to go free into the yonder! Farewell, hospital!

Overall I feel really lucky that I was actually sensible enough to realise I needed a doctor, and that for such a serious condition (it got marked as acute appendicitis), I actually had really mild symptoms, though it was borderline undiagnosable without a blood test and ultrasound. The hospital process was really efficient, probably because I had a potentially life threatening situation, since I received surgery less than 24 hours after being admitted. All the nurses were fantastic and I really appreciate how hard they work, especially because a lot of hospital patients are old, some couldn’t speak english and others were on so much medication they kept forgetting things or getting disorientated, and yet they manage to smile all the time and take care of everyone.

So now I no longer have an evolutionary weakness and hopefully that was my first and last serious hospital visit!