The ugly
hematoma that formed after my appendectomy |
On the evening of Monday, April 13, something didn't feel right. I never get sick, and my abdomen is feeling a bit queasy. Did I pick up a bug in one of our properties? I touch dozens and dozens of doorknobs, bathroom fixtures, light switches, and the like every day. Could some germ have gotten into a cut in my dry, cracked hands? Did I pick it up in our office? A couple others had some pretty bad colds in the last week. I struggled to down some dinner and called it a night.
Well, last night was a nightmare. My abdominal pains kept me up all night. I felt like I had a heavy bed of shiny, sharpened steel nails laying across the top of my stomach. My groggy red eyes gazed at my clock radio every half hour or so, anxiously waiting for daybreak. I went to work the next day, expecting things to improve. The sharp pains continued, and I felt like keeling over and collapsing onto the floor several times. Towards the end of the work day, as the temperatures dropped into the 40s, I started shivering uncontrollably. I couldn't hold down any food, and when I reached home, I went to bed without dinner at 6pm.
April 15: I can't even remember the last time I've taken a sick day, but this is going to be it. My standard health insurance stops at the end of the month, and I'll start my no frills catastrophic plan for the summer. I'll rest today, and head in for a physical first thing tomorrow.
April 16: The soreness and mild, annoying pain is still here, and the Doc wants me to get a CT scan to look at my abdomen. Great idea. Ok, so it looks like I'm headed straight to the Vail Valley Medical Center for a CT scan—there's a good chance I have
appendicitis. After less than fifteen minutes in the machine, I patiently waited for the results. ...and it looks like I'm having emergency surgery to remove the appendix in the next few hours.
I spent most of the following day in the hospital, recovering nicely, getting up after 24 hours to walk the hallways, and do some laps around the parking structure. After being chased around by hospital security, I headed back to my room. On the way from ADZPCTKO, Pickles gave me a new name.