What started out as a stomachache and nausea for my son Alex on Friday, landed us in the hospital ER on Sunday afternoon. Thus began a long diagnostic process to find out what was wrong with him. He couldn’t eat, drink or move without terrible pain.
What we thought was the stomach virus was confirmed as appendicitis at 2am. This was a shock for us. “Why didn’t we know that?” We wondered. “He had all the symptoms!” But then, it occurred to us, we aren’t doctors and even though he had all the symptoms, we only realized it after the diagnoses - neither of us would have any idea what the true symptoms were before the doctor told us…Keep in mind, I write this after very little sleep so it may make no sense.
He would have to have emergency surgery to have his appendix removed at 3am. Although the surgery went quickly and was successful, his appendix had ruptured which meant his hospital stay and recovery time would be tripled.
Thankfully, he’s doing quite well considering all he’s been through, but as a family we aren’t sleeping. He is still in terrible pain. He has trouble walking and moving. We are taking it one day at a time.
So although I am keeping up with email, I probably won’t have too much time to blog for the next few days.
Hope to see you back when things get back to normal.
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Brad, there’s a great resource out there so you can quickly assess the danger of just about any disease and its symptoms and help you decide whether you should see a doctor immediately (e.g. appendicitis) or it’s just a temporary condition that’ll pass quickly (e.g. stomach virus). It’s called the Healthwise Handbook, and I dont think any family should be without one
http://www.healthwise.org/p_selfcare.aspx
They’re distributed gratis by hospitals, because they help reduce demand for medical services by helping patients determine whether they really need to come into the doctor or not. Contact them and see if any hospitals in your area give them away.
Brad,
Thanks for sharing with us of the emergency. Sending you and your family healthy and wellness thoughts.
John
Brad:
Best wishes for a speedy recovery to your son, and return of equilibrium to the entire family.
Alex
I hope your son gets well soon and that you and your wife can get some much needed rest
Best wishes for a speedy recovery!
Hope your son feels better soon.
Thank you to all for the well wishes.
It looks good for Alex to be getting out of the hospital today!
I hope little Alex is fully recovered.
Kind regards
Jonathan
Thanks Jonathan, it will still be a week or so due to the pain and antibiotic treatment. But every day gets a little better.
Brad, you never know. You did the right thing going to the ER.
I used to work for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute at NIH, and we kept getting evidence of people who didn’t go to the ER because they weren’t sure if their symptoms meant they were having a heart attack. They put it off, called their doctor, looked things up on the Internet, took aspirin, and even drove themselves to the hospital. Bottom line, many of these delays caused permanent damage or death.
I understand the difficulty of going to an ER. It’s embarrassing, intrusive, uncomfortable. But the importance of it came home to me when I had a similar experience to your son’s just a few weeks ago, except with me in the ER. I had terrible stomach cramps. Tried to wait it out. After 8 hours, finally broke down and went to the ER. Turned out to be an inflamed gall bladder. Ended up in emergency surgery. Could have been worse.
I’m all for health information online. In fact, I’ve spent seven years providing it through government Web site contracts. But they are no substitute for a physician. In case I needed a reminder of that, my gall bladder surgery scar will be there.
Best to you and yours. Stay healthy
brad hope your baby is better those ERs can be a long wait. DId you go to IKE 76?
Winthrop – yes, he’s doing much better. I hope you are. Gall bladder sounds pretty painful as well.
Lynn – what do you mean by IKE 76?
I’m glad your son is better. Thanks for letting us know.