Appendicitis

OK so I know it's been a long time since I've updated but I've now had a NEW AND UNIQUE experience abroad: surgery!

So here's the story:

On Friday 13 February I was due to go out to dinner and bowling to celebrate my birthday. I had felt sort of iffy all day but after a nap I attempted to man-up and make the most of it. I met Katy at about 6:30 and after one Long Island I REALLY started to not feel well. I had completely lost my appetite and didn't even feel like drinking. Red flags all over the place! I managed to get through the bowling (which I, of course, WON) but then I really had to go home. I got myself in a cab and got home. Walking up the three flights of stairs to the flat has never seemed quite so agonizing as it did right then.

So I climbed into bed and basically suffered from fevers and chills all night. I normally sleep on my front but I was so uncomfortable that I couldn't, so I had a very miserable night sleep. Over the course of Saturday morning I felt an increasingly severe and localized pain in my abdomen. I couldn't walk standing straight up, I didn't want to eat, and I was absolutely miserable. I called my parents every two hours begging for them to come up with something to make the pain go away. They asked about my symptoms and stressed that I drink a lot of water.

Katy came over for some 6 Nations action at about 2:30, and she confirmed that I didn't so much look well. I sat through the first game, but after about an hour of nagging from Katy we decided to call NHS Direct. They said the phone lines were really busy, so we entered my symptoms into the website and it basically said, "CALL 999 IMMEDIATELY, GET AN AMBULANCE AND GO TO THE HOSPITAL." I called my dad and he was like, "Laura, you're unemployed. What else are you going to do with your time there?"

We took a cab to St Thomas and Guy's Hospital at Waterloo, where I went through the A&E (ER). I had a fever, sweats, and abdominal pain. By this time I strongly suspected I had appendicitis but was hoping to come into the hospital in order for them to tell me I had a stomach ache and go home. WELL, I saw a 2nd year resident first who went through all these diagnostic tests which I knew were to check for appendicitis (and hernias, etc), and she was like, "Soo... do you have your appendix??"

AWESOME.

So I saw a few more doctors, had an IV put in (OMG I HATE NEEDLES), and they moved me to the ward at about 11pm. I saw an anesthesiologist, another doctor. Katy was with me the whole time which was awesome, and by about 11 my cousin Elissa and her boyfriend Shawn caught up with me. They stayed as late as the nurses allowed them to, and I was taken into surgery at about 1:30am on Sunday morning. I had a laproscopic appendectomy, which means I have three small incisions in my lower abdomen as opposed to the standard 2-3" incision over my appendix. It went without complication and I was back up in my bed (and next to the crazy lady - a story for another day) by about 5am.

Now I have been recovering for a couple of days and I am starting to feel better. I feel less like I was hit by a truck when I stand up (now it's more like a slow moving car), and I'm on less potent pain medications. I have been told I won't be able to run for four to six weeks (oh. holy. jesus.), but I'm hoping I'll be able to be up and walking around by the end of this week because lying around is booooring.

So, there you have it. My body is on a mission to slowly but surely remove all my extraneous organs. Tonsils, appendix... I still have an extra kidney so we'll see when that goes. ;)