post by … m.lauren

Last Thursday was probably normal for most of yall… going to work or class… finding out what the weekend has in store… hittin up that new chick for a “movie night”… preparing to screen calls from skinny jeans all weekend.. whatever… I too had plan for the weekend.. and they did NOT include being laid up at Mt. Carmel/St. Ann’s with a hole in my gut…

Figures that just as things start going right in my life.. my health takes a sharp.. and I mean SHARP turn left… Thursday I woke feeling less than the best… but I had mad stuff to do… so I tried to ignore this achy pain in my belly…

The longer the day went on the worse it got… I was in bed… with a heating pad (which I later learned was a bad idea) popping aleve thinking… oh.. it’s just these pesky ovarian cysts (a medical minute for another day)… Unfortunately… the pain persisted throughout the night… shooting through my belly like flaming arrows and causing me to miss out on 80% of my much need beauty rest… the next morning at the screaming persistence of my dear mama.. I drove myself to the ER at St. Anns.. (shouts out to the staff!!)

After waiting for 8492048230 hours… drinking nasty cups of contrast… enduring the same questions 32093 times… being threatened with rectal machinery (again … another story… another day) and wanting to die from the thought of being pricked with needles (which is why my arm looks like an amateur heroin addicts now..)… The doctor walks in… and very matter-of-factly says:

“Well… you have Appendicitis! We’ve gotta get that sucker outta there”… (OMG I knew it) … “So what is Appendicitis Dr. So and So?!?!” and he goes: “your appendix is clogged and no one even knows why you have an appendix it just has to be removed” (WTF @ having a body part with no function)..

Anywho… the surgery is emergency and lasts about 45 minutes… They extract something the size of your pinky finger through a hole near your pelvis.. and then you can’t really do anything strenuous for 2 weeks…

So… here’s the skinny on Appendicitis according to my favorite self-diagnosing (which is bad for you obviously) website… webmd

Appendicitis:

Appendicitis is an inflammation of the appendix, a 3 1/2-inch-long tube of tissue that extends from the large intestine. No one is absolutely certain what the function of the appendix is. One thing we do know: We can live without it, without apparent consequences.

Appendicitis is a medical emergency that requires prompt surgery to remove the appendix. Left untreated, an inflamed appendix will eventually burst, or perforate, spilling infectious materials into the abdominal cavity. This can lead to peritonitis, a serious inflammation of the abdominal cavity’s lining (the peritoneum) that can be fatal unless it is treated quickly with strong antibiotics.

Appendicitis occurs when the appendix becomes blocked, often by stool, a foreign body, or cancer. Blockage may also occur from infection, since the appendix swells in response to any infection in the body.

Symptoms:

The classic symptoms of appendicitis include:

Dull pain near the navel or the upper abdomen that becomes sharp as it moves to the lower right abdomen. This is usually the first sign.
Loss of appetite
Nausea and/or vomiting soon after abdominal pain begins
Abdominal swelling
Fever of 99° F to 102° F
Inability to pass gas

Almost half the time, other symptoms of appendicitis appear, including:

Dull or sharp pain anywhere in the upper or lower abdomen, back, or rectum
Painful urination
Vomiting that precedes the abdominal pain
Severe cramps
Constipation or diarrhea with gas

If you feel ANY of these symptoms.. be safer than dead (because a ruptured appendix can kill you.. duh!) … go to the ER… if they keep you overnight.. you dont pay the co-pay

And this has been your medical minute with m. lauren… take care of yourself

via … webmd