If you've read my health update for this month, you already know that two weeks ago I had surgery for a ruptured appendix.
We don't know if my appendix ruptured at home before we went to the emergency room or a few hours later while waiting in the emergency room lobby. But I do know that I delayed going because of my UC.
About 10 a.m. on that day, my lower stomach started feeling uncomfortable. I attributed it to our dinner the night before as we had gone to a restaurant we'd never been to, and my dinner turned out to be more spicy than anticipated.
The discomfort grew during the day and by 3 p.m. it really started to hurt. At 4 p.m. I laid down, hoping that would help. At this point, I figured the spicy meal from the night before had thrown me into a painful flare.
At 5:30 p.m. my entire stomach area, especially the lower right, was in excruciating, worst-of-my-life pain. I had no diarrhea, no blood, no urgency, and the bowel movements I'd had for weeks were really good.
At 7 p.m. I tried to go the bathroom, but only urinated. I dry heaved while on the toilet. When I sat back on the bed, I threw up. It was a small amount and I was able to catch it in my hands, but I yelled for my husband to grab a garbage can, and I threw up again in that.
That was when I told my husband that we needed to go to the ER.
By then, I couldn't stand because of the pain and was completely bent over. I could hardly walk and barely talk. When we arrived at the ER, I was put in a wheelchair and was bent over so far sitting in it that the staff worried I would topple forward head first onto the floor. They kept saying, "I know it hurts, but you need to sit up so you don't fall." Sure, right. (Maybe if I had hit the floor, my head would have started bleeding and they would have taken me into a room sooner.)
We were in the ER lobby for four and a half hours. I felt bad for the other people in the lobby because I was moaning in pain the whole time. It must have been very uncomfortable for them.
An hour after finally being taken into an ER room, they did a CT scan and said it looked like my UC was flaring. I told the ER doctor that when I'd had previous flares, I'd had extreme diarrhea, blood, and urgency, in addition to pain. (Although nothing like the pain I was experiencing then.) The doctor still insisted the CT scan showed a flare.
They said they didn't have room to admit me for IV steroids (small hospital) so they sent me to the big university hospital. Once there, THEY said, after looking at the same CT scan, that it was more likely appendicitis, especially since I was NOT experiencing diarrhea, blood, or urgency. This was after consultations with the hospital surgeons and G.I. team. They took me into surgery around 5:30 that evening and that was when they realized my appendix had ruptured. And I'd had that ruptured appendix for 20-24 hours.
I have shown no sign of infection, which is a tremendous blessing. My follow-up was a few days ago and they said my healing is going well, but because of either my UC or the medications I'm taking for it, or both, my healing is more slow than the average person. So I need to be patient with my healing.
As I said in my health update, some UC patients who have appendicitis surgery (or any other surgery) are thrown into a flare by the surgery, medications, healing procedure, or all of the above. So far, I'm not experiencing any flare symptoms.
But I am frustrated with myself. I should have gone to the ER at the first sign of that horrible, agonizing pain. If I had been experiencing diarrhea and blood with the extreme pain, I would have gone to the ER sooner. But then again, if I didn't have UC and was hit with that pain, I would have gone to the ER immediately. Instead, I decided to wait because I thought it was part of a flare and that it would soon pass. I just had to "tough it out."
Don't tough it out! I know we tend to shy away from bad experiences, especially if we had a bad experience with a doctor. Despite being in tremendous pain, it is hard to go the ER if they have accused you before of being a hypochondriac seeking attention or an addict trolling for drugs. But don't wait. At least you'll know that you did everything you could on your end.
My appendix is gone! I don't have to worry about it anymore. But I will never try to "tough out" that kind of pain again!
© Colitis Senioritis 2025
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