The Pain, the Idiocy, the Resolution

On Saturday the 23rd I started having severe, knifing, pain in my right side. It was to the right and slightly above my belly button. It didn't feel like any ovarian pain or any other pain I'd ever had. And the pain didn't go away no matter what I tried.

That night Mark took me to the ER. The ER doctor tested my gallbladder and did a CAT scan to rule out appendicitis and kidney stones. He also gave me lots of drugs to help with the pain. He couldn't figure out what was going wrong so they transferred me, by ambulance, to the big hospital in town.

By then it was Sunday morning. I was in the hospital until about 2pm that day. The doctors at the big hospital basically forgot about me. Finally a condescending bastard came in, said "Women sometimes have pain in the middle of their cycles. Or, you could have a UTI". He ignored my rather furious protests that I knew this was not a UTI and sent me home with darvocet and antibiotics for a UTI.

Monday the pain was horrible. The darvocet helped by putting me to sleep. I should mention that Mark's Mom and sister were in town on Saturday and Sunday but had to leave Monday. Taking care of the boys on Monday, while in pain, was hell on Earth.

Tuesday I had an appointment with my OB/Gyn. I didn't think it was a gynecological problem, but I knew my OB would at least listen to me. She checked me over, declared herself stumped and sent me to a family practice doctor. She did tell me that all the tests from the hospital and her own lab tests indicated I did not have a UTI.

This was 5pm Tuesday. The family practice doctor takes one look at the CAT scan from Saturday night and snorts. "This doesn't even SHOW your lower intestines or your appendix. I can't tell anything from this." She sent me back to the ER ( a different one, this one at the hospital were I delivered Ian. yeah, 3 hospitals in a week- WEE) for another CAT scan and a full pelvic ultrasound.

Within 5 minutes of the CAT scan being done the ER doc strolls in says "You have a very enlarged appendix. You don't have classic appendicitis but I'd say your appendix needs to come out, and soon. I'm admitting you and the surgeon will schedule surgery tomorrow morning."

I was the happiest woman ever to be told she had appendicitis, because at least I had answers. Also, appendicitis, while scary sounding, at least had a very immediate and effective "fix". I wasn't looking forward to surgery, but an end to days of killer pain made surgery worth it.

Except the surgeon, on Wednesday morning, showed up and said "You don't have appendicitis. Your appendix looks fine. I don't know whats wrong." He left me lying there crying, being pumped full of pain meds ( which made me itch like mad) and said he would consult with my OB.

She showed up that night and said "Look, no one knows what's going on. You ultrasound showed no cysts and no ovarian or uterine abnormalities. But the only way to tell at this point is to go in there and look around."

Oh- and by this point I hadn't had ANYTHING to eat since Monday and nothing to drink since Tuesday morning. IV fluids just aren't the same as a steak, ya know?

So Thursday at mid-day I had exploratory laproscopic surgery. During which the surgeon found that I had just "a small nub" of my appendix left, a ruptured ovarian cyst that was still bleeding into my abdominal cavity, and severe endometriosis. He cleaned up what he could, took pictures for the OB and removed what was left of my appendix.

They hopped me up on tons of pain meds Thursday night and Friday morning, but I left the hospital Friday mid-day. I'm home with three small incisions: one under my belly button, one about halfway down my stomach and one right at my pubic bone. I don't know how women who have a c-section survive this kind of trauma to their stomachs AND care for a new baby.

The percocet makes me itch horribly and makes me slightly nauseated. So, no appetite.
But, the knifing pain is gone. The pain I have now is manageable and is similar to post childbirth aches and pains. I'm crampy, sore, feel like I've been beaten up, but healing. I have lots of questions for my doctors when next we meet, not the least of which is "how did you not notice on the CAT scan that I barely had an appendix left?"

And that's the abridged ( yeah, scary thought) version of my past week.