rjyoon
04-20-2004, 05:20 AM
Sat. evening I started to have pain in my lower abdomen. I tried to ignore it, then self treat it with antacids (even though it didn't feel like heartburn) & then ended up talking with my primary care provider at 2:00 a.m. He knew that I had Vicodin in the house from something else, so he told me to try that, & if I was still in pain after an hour, to head for the ER. It didn't touch the pain, so off I went. Nothing like checking into the ER in the middle of a Sat. night behind some really drunk kids who were horsing around & hurt themselves.
I had a CAT scan to confirm appendicitis. After the first part of the scan, the tech asked me if I'd take whatever it was out of my back pocket. Keep in mind that at this point I was in a hospital gown. So, I got to explain Interstim to the tech. When speaking with the surgeon I had to explain "no electrocautery" to him. He was annoyed, said he'd have to use it if it was bad enough as he'd rather mess up my Interstim than have me bleeding. I understand his point, but it was frustrating as he then lectured me about how I needed to put "no electrocautery" on my Medic Alert medallion. I repeatedly explained that the information was on file with Medic Alert & all medical personnel had to do was call to find out, and that I already had "Implant. No MRI." on my medallion & that there wasn't room for all the things that shouldn't be done. He just didn't get the concept that medical personnel should call for more information & thought that EVERYTHING should be on the medallion. Get real!
I still had on my underpants when I went in to surgery. They quickly realized this, and a nurse tried to yank them off of me, while I was yelling that I'd just had Interstim surgery & they were pulling on the incisions & it hurt. She backed off & let me get the elastic over the incisions myself.
The appendectomy went very smoothly, for which I am extremely grateful. I sent the staff into a tizzy over all my medications, as they didn't have drugs like Elmiron in their pharmacy & were scared to substitute drugs on their formulary for other drugs I take, because of all my allergies. They finally decided that I could bring in my own drugs & they'd check that they were what they were supposed to be.
Anyone else hate the amount of IV fluid they pump into you? I kept explaining that I had IC & what they were doing to me was extremely painful. It didn't phase anyone. I had three bags put into me in less than 24 hours, plus I was drinking to take pills, relieve dry mouth, etc. My bladder was so distended & it feels really weird from IV fluid. I can't push correctly to void after an IV, so it takes a long time to empty & my sensations are all messed up so I can't tell if I'm really empty. I could really do without that part of medical experiences.
They released me about 24 hours after surgery, and I'm back at work today. I'm a bit sore, but I'm not using anything stronger than Tylenol for the pain. Nothing like trying to protect healing incisions on both the front & back of the body at the same time.
I had a CAT scan to confirm appendicitis. After the first part of the scan, the tech asked me if I'd take whatever it was out of my back pocket. Keep in mind that at this point I was in a hospital gown. So, I got to explain Interstim to the tech. When speaking with the surgeon I had to explain "no electrocautery" to him. He was annoyed, said he'd have to use it if it was bad enough as he'd rather mess up my Interstim than have me bleeding. I understand his point, but it was frustrating as he then lectured me about how I needed to put "no electrocautery" on my Medic Alert medallion. I repeatedly explained that the information was on file with Medic Alert & all medical personnel had to do was call to find out, and that I already had "Implant. No MRI." on my medallion & that there wasn't room for all the things that shouldn't be done. He just didn't get the concept that medical personnel should call for more information & thought that EVERYTHING should be on the medallion. Get real!
I still had on my underpants when I went in to surgery. They quickly realized this, and a nurse tried to yank them off of me, while I was yelling that I'd just had Interstim surgery & they were pulling on the incisions & it hurt. She backed off & let me get the elastic over the incisions myself.
The appendectomy went very smoothly, for which I am extremely grateful. I sent the staff into a tizzy over all my medications, as they didn't have drugs like Elmiron in their pharmacy & were scared to substitute drugs on their formulary for other drugs I take, because of all my allergies. They finally decided that I could bring in my own drugs & they'd check that they were what they were supposed to be.
Anyone else hate the amount of IV fluid they pump into you? I kept explaining that I had IC & what they were doing to me was extremely painful. It didn't phase anyone. I had three bags put into me in less than 24 hours, plus I was drinking to take pills, relieve dry mouth, etc. My bladder was so distended & it feels really weird from IV fluid. I can't push correctly to void after an IV, so it takes a long time to empty & my sensations are all messed up so I can't tell if I'm really empty. I could really do without that part of medical experiences.
They released me about 24 hours after surgery, and I'm back at work today. I'm a bit sore, but I'm not using anything stronger than Tylenol for the pain. Nothing like trying to protect healing incisions on both the front & back of the body at the same time.