appendix

01-04-2007, 07:17 AM

Long time no posting. Life gets in the way. But now I have a question.

Anyone have an appendix removed who can give an opinion on the recuperation
time? Mine is coming out shortly. [Spending Xmas and New Years in the
hospital hooked up to an IV isn't as fun as riding bike.]

01-04-2007, 07:24 AM

recycled-one wrote:
> Long time no posting. Life gets in the way. But now I have a question.
>
> Anyone have an appendix removed who can give an opinion on the recuperation
> time? Mine is coming out shortly. [Spending Xmas and New Years in the
> hospital hooked up to an IV isn't as fun as riding bike.]

I was back on the bike in about a week, IIRC. In my case, there was no
discomfort while actually riding.

I did have to be careful getting on and off the bike. But I had to be
similarly careful while getting in and out of an easy chair. The wrong
move would cause some sharp pain, but my doctor said that was
absolutely normal.

Within a few weeks, there were no problems at all.

- Frank Krygowski

01-04-2007, 12:09 PM

recycled-one wrote:
> Long time no posting. Life gets in the way. But now I have a question.
>
> Anyone have an appendix removed who can give an opinion on the recuperation
> time? Mine is coming out shortly. [Spending Xmas and New Years in the
> hospital hooked up to an IV isn't as fun as riding bike.]

Had mine out in a few months ago - it could not have been a smoother
operation. You should view my experience as the best possible outcome.
Any leakage or infection will delay your recovery by a long time.

Timeline: Mild pain Tuesday morning to severe pain Tuesday afternoon.

Doctor office visit Wednesday at noon ->cat scan ->X-ray ->ER.

Laparoscopic surgery 1am Thursday morning, walking around by breakfast,
discharged That afternoon.

I was signed up for a local Century ride on Sunday but the doc advised
against it. He said I could do anything that didn't hurt but I had to
realize I was still a little fragile and a crash might rip some internal
stitches and that would be serious.

I started riding again on Monday, so less than a week post-op. I still
felt sore and weak for ten days or so.

01-04-2007, 01:12 PM

"Diablo Scott" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:459d6cca$0$390$[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]...

> Had mine out in a few months ago - it could not have been a smoother
> operation. You should view my experience as the best possible outcome. Any
> leakage or infection will delay your recovery by a long time.
>
>
> Timeline: Mild pain Tuesday morning to severe pain Tuesday afternoon.
>
> Doctor office visit Wednesday at noon ->cat scan ->X-ray ->ER.
>
> Laparoscopic surgery 1am Thursday morning, walking around by breakfast,
> discharged That afternoon.
>
> I was signed up for a local Century ride on Sunday but the doc advised
> against it. He said I could do anything that didn't hurt but I had to
> realize I was still a little fragile and a crash might rip some internal
> stitches and that would be serious.
>
> I started riding again on Monday, so less than a week post-op. I still
> felt sore and weak for ten days or so.

You already have me beat:

Xmas eve: nausea & vomiting.

Xmas: slept and drank water.

Boxing day: Felt fine. Thought it was a 24 hr stomach thing or a bad
mushroom or something. Had breakfast, biked, swam and did some weights.
After lunch I had a nap and when I woke up _everything_ came up.

I still figured it was something I ate. I felt a little abdominal pain but
figured it was muscle soreness from vomiting.

[According to the surgeon this is atypical. I should have felt pain before
the vomiting and nausea. Go figure, no one told the bacteria in my gut.]

Wednesday: I went back to work but I still wasn't eating much. The only
thing I could eat was peanut butter toast and even that made me feel queasy.
And _nothing_ was coming out the other end.

Thursday evening: the pain had localized to the appendix and thanks to
Google I matched the symptoms up. [What did people do before Google?] It
really was amazing. I could almost feel the movement of the pain as it
migrated from all over to the appendix - like a swarm of nanobots - which I
guess it is.

Friday morning after seeing the doctor covering my GP [he's off on holidays
naturally] I was sent to the ER. You can imagine what that's like - unless
your internal organs are actually exposed you wait and wait and WAIT. By
afternoon I am finally seen and CTed - first time for me. It's a little
creepy to drink something you know is radioactive not mention the
radioactive dye they inject into your IV. Yup I have a bouncing baby
appendicitis.

The surgeon says I'm right on the bubble between operating now if it flares
up or beating the infection back with antibiotics so that they can do it
lathroscropically when my gut isn't a swollen infected puss-filled mess. I'm
admitted and prepped for surgery just in case while they pump me full of
cipro and two other antibiotics.

Saturday: No food in or even water, nothing out but the drugs beat the
infection down I guess

New Years Eve Sunday: Same thing but by night time I was allowed a
POPSICLE!!!! First food or drink I've had since Friday morning. Damn that
tasted good!

Monday: I'm upgraded to clear fluids: APPLE JUICE and JELL-O for
breakfast!!!! I also am finally able to eliminate as well. Lunch was more
juice and clear chicken broth. Mmmmm!!! I was drooling over hospital food.

Tuesday: I was upgraded to normal food and since I keep it down I'm
released. The plan is that I go back in a week to have the surgery. Supposed
to be 2-3 days in the hospital and 2-3 weeks 'recovery'.

What a fun holiday. On the plus side I lost that 10 lbs I want to make a
resolution about by Jan 2.

01-04-2007, 02:33 PM

recycled-one wrote:

> You already have me beat:

I heard a lot of horror stories from friends and colleages after mine
came out. I never had nausea at all, just a lot of pressure - like an
alien was going to burst out of my gut. The scary part is, if the thing
does burst you actually feel better so if I'd toughed it out another day
and that happened I would have been in real trouble.

I didn't mind the barium stuff too much, and I hadn't eaten in quite a
while anyway because of the pain. But the iodine injection for the CT
scan was like taking a huge swig of whiskey - felt like my whole body
was peeing my pants.

Anyway, best wishes for a complicationless surgery and speedy recovery.

01-05-2007, 12:40 PM

Diablo Scott wrote:

> Any leakage or infection will delay your recovery by a long time.

That is putting it mildly. I had mine out in August, and it had
ruptured while I was sleeping at the hospital for observation. "You'll
be home in 2 days." Started out with lathroscopy, when they found it
was ruptured, and much messier than expected, they went for
conventional. I had a strong reaction/side effects from the heavy
antibiotics used in the case of rupture, and I was in a world of hurt
for a while. I ended up staying in the hospital for 14 days and lost 14
kilos. I started riding a few days after I got home, but I didn't have
any strength for a while, and didn't feel "normal" for 2 months.

Waiting to see if it gets better runs the risk of it rupturing. This is
a bad bet, if you ask me.

Joseph